Hey Everyone

[Kewlb]

Hey, I just joined this forum and looking forward to helping everyone with any questions they have that I might be able to answer. I think it would be good if someone started some certification threads for certifications such as MCSE or CCNP/CCIE. Anyway to give everyone the skinny on myself: my name is Brian Clark I am 20 (will be 21 August 25th) I am the director of networking for Valley Services, Inc (they are a food production company). I really do not feel like going into too much detail about myself as that is not even needed but I look forward to helping out anyone who might need it.

 

[spidey07]

go ahead and start one!

spidey
CCNP/CCDP/CCIE written, others I can't remember

 

[Kewlb]

Maybe I stated that a little wrong, I was talking about an actual forum catagory rather then just a thread.

 

[spidey07]

oh, gotcha.

doubt they'd add another category buy you could always try in the "forum issues" cat.

 

[TonTo]

I can just see the arguments now....
cert's are worthless....
cert's are everything!
back 'n forth back 'n forth
ping
pong
ping
pong

that's how i've seen every other "thread" about cert's go at least

 

[spidey07]

yeah, pretty much worthless.

or is it worthwhile? I can't remember

 

[Kewlb]

Most of them are worthless, although MCSE, CCNP, and CCIE are extremly valuable CCIE being the most valuable.

 

[Cenalian]

Everyone and thier brother have the MCSE nowadays, I don't consider that one too high.

What certification WILL get you is a much better job. Lets take a situation here: 2 guys applying for a job, both with the same amout of experience, both competent, 1 with cert, 1 without. Who gets the job? The one with certification.

It also gets you better pay. An employer sees that you've taken the time to learn your stuff from the actual manufacturer, and that gives them confidence in you. I mean, who would hire someone to configure thier switches without a CCNA certification???

Which brings me to a question for many of you out there. I'm fairly young (19) and have a fairly good knowledge of networking, programming and overall knowledge about computers.... but for some reason networking has always intrigued me. How hard it is to get the CCNA certification?? How long did it take you??? I mean, I have a fairly good background with my father being an HP_UX sys admin, and I've just picked up alot of stuff along the way. Heck, I knew the 7 layers of the OSI model before I even thought about CCNA.

My main questions would be:
is it worth it?
How long does it take?
How hard is it?
Would you do it again if you had the choice?

Thanks

Cenalian

 

[spidey07]

the ccna and ccda are relitively easy. you can pick up a book/study guide and read that maybe 2 weeks of light study. you'll pass, especially if you know OSI (you're drilled on this...and rightfully so)

 

[Kewlb]

Well, actually the windows 2000 track for MCSE is about 80% more difficult then the windows NT track, it is improving on the abundance of MCSE's as most will be decertified when the NT track totaly expires. It took me 3 months for the CCNA (with no cisco knowledge what so ever) It was not a very hard exam and I went way overboard studying for it (as I am installing and configuring 2601 routers, VPN concentrators and PIX's at work right now so I got a lot of hands on experience) I would certainly do the exam again if I did it all over. I plan to go all the way through the cisco certifications. I have 2 more exams left to obtain my MCSE (2000 track) and then I will focus first on CCDA then my CCNP (plus one extra exam for CCDP) I will then study for a few months and take the CCIE written exam. The CCIE is a MUST HAVE certification due to its demand. If you need any pointers or help for the CCNA exam I will be more then happy to help you out.

 

[spidey07]

watch out for the CCIE lab and even the written. It will bite you. I generally recommend 3 years of good cisco experience.

 

[Cenalian]

Well, with no real "practical" experience, I'm somewhat limited, and probably will take a little longer than 2 weeks to prep for it

I was just wondering if you could suggest any better program to simulate setting up and configuring a router with V-Lans and the like beside the actual Cisco one.... not sure if that one is the best, but its the only one I've found so far (haven't done a lot of looking first)


Kewlb, I'll definatly contact you if I have any questions. Thanks.

 

[Kewlb]

I used RouterSim when I did not have direct access to routers, they did a very good job of helping me learn the basic IOS commands and what to do. I have all my CCNA stuff left over (I just took the exam last monday) so if you need books or whatever I can send them just a little over shipping costs if you want. I also used Transcender and boson exam sim software (transcender helped out a lot)

 

[dyqith]

hey what's the RouterSim ?
is it from the Cisco Academies or from another source ?

 

[Kewlb]

"RouterSim CCNA Edition v2.0" is what I used. its by Todd Lammle and William Tedder. RouterSim

 

[ScottMac]

(Back from Vegas!)

Certs are OK, they have their place. No company is gonna hire a guy based solely on the certifications. Many/most/all are gonna run an interview process with some of their (potential) peers, who's job it is to grill the candidate on the protocols, topologies, and equipment to see if their qualifications are manufactured and their certifications exist on paper only. We've dusted a number of folks that look great on paper, maybe even know the book work, but given a troubleshooting scenario, they fall apart. So...get the certs if you want, but be prepared for a grilling when you interview and be prepared to discuss every item on the resume in detail.

FWIW

Scott

 

[Kewlb]

I have never been turned down for a job I applied for and never have been fired, that is one thing I take seriously is not just passing a certification but knowing why everything works like it does, because only then am I truly a good engineer.