There are no official experience requirements to take the RHCSA. It will, however, be a lot easier if you have some form of real-world Linux experience whether at work or home.
Damian Tommasino’s rough guideline for the RHCSA is two years of experience. He advocates considering taking LPIC 1 first if you have little Linux experience. This seems a sensible recommendation as knowing the basic Linux commands will make the RHCSA exam much easier.
| Exam | Recommended years of experience |
| LPIC-101/102 | 0-1 year |
| LPIC-201/202 | 2 years |
| RHCSA | 2 years |
| RHCE | 3 years |
In any case, if you work hard and practise with your labs you can make up for any lack of Linux experience. As with most things, it takes some hard work and persistence but you will get there quicker than you expect!
By all means, get the RHCSA-related books together and set up your lab machine. You can start studying now and improving your Red Hat experience. Just make sure you conduct an honest self-assessment before taking the actual exam. At $400 it’s not cheap so you want to give yourself the best possible chance of passing.