Looking to completely change career paths to a Salesforce admin.

(This is a bit lengthy, but here we go) I am currently an inside sales manager for an agriculture equipment company out of Portland Oregon. Just getting into my 30s I’m feeling stuck in my career, and a bit burnt out, and want to find a career in something I can grow and learn with that would be more rewarding. I have been in majority sales positions across the board for the better part of 10 years. I have also had leadership positions, and even some Wordpress experience as a quality control supervisor for a web development company. After high school I attended technical school and obtained an associates in IT, and yet have had any luck with it helping in previously applying for jobs, or landing anything in that field, which ultimately lead to me focusing on a career in sales. Having done some research on salesforce, and having used salesforce and other crms at previous positions, I have spent the past several months weighing the option of pursuing my admin certification, and have since started my admin journey through trailhead. I have recently finished the admin beginner, and study for the admin certification trails in the past month or so, and am looking to further my study resources with focus on force, video courses, and udemy before taking my exam. What I really want to know is, after completing certification how difficult is it to get an entry level position without any real hands on experience? I have read many people say that they are current admins for their company, without any prior experience, and then have completed their admin certification while in their position to help further their career. But just looking for entry level positions online, I’ve come across that most places want 1-3 years experience, and certifications for base level admin positions? After completing certification, what are the best ways to go about getting my foot in the door, and hopefully landing a job for a new career in salesforce?