Network Certifications.

[ibex333]

Well I just got my A+ Certification, and I'm looking to add some more certifications to my resume.

This time, I want to go for one of the difficult, "high demand" certs.

I heard the CCSP and CCNP certs are in high demand, but I want to see some more opinions from people actually working in this field before I go for it. If you have any personal experience with these, would you suggest to first go for the Associate and then Professional, or can I just go straight for pro? (I have only limited, knowledge of networks atm, and I am pretty clueless as far as network certs go)

Can I study at home from books for these, just like I did for the A+? Taking classes is really not an option for me at the moment.

If you know other good certs that I might want to get instead, please let me know.

Thanx.

 

[drebo]

In order to get the Cisco Certified Professional certifications, you must already have a valid CCNA certification*. You can take the tests, but they will not award you the certification until you complete the CCNA. Also, it would probably be wise for anyone looking to get into networking to start at the bottom, with conceptual material (CCENT/CCNA) and then move in to the more advanced concepts and implementations (Professional) after they've already done the other.

Note*: the CCDA and CCDP certifications are in a different class, where the CCDA is a prerequisite to the CCDP.

 

[unholy414]

Here's the cert chain for the cisco certs. As said above, you need to start at square 1 (CCNA). The most popular chain is the Routing & Switching.

And yes, Cisco certs are self-study, but I have heard of classes that can offer help.

Networking is one of the top most (if not, THE most) growing IT fields today of all careers, IT or not. Our lives are becoming more and more integrated with technology, and you need people to build those virtual highways to move that data around. 90% of the internet is Cisco.

 

[drebo]

Originally posted by: unholy414
90% of the internet is Cisco.

I don't know if I'd go that far...although the vast majority of internet edge and enterprise equipment is Cisco.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: unholy414
Here's the cert chain for the cisco certs. As said above, you need to start at square 1 (CCNA). The most popular chain is the Routing & Switching.

And yes, Cisco certs are self-study, but I have heard of classes that can offer help.

Networking is one of the top most (if not, THE most) growing IT fields today of all careers, IT or not. Our lives are becoming more and more integrated with technology, and you need people to build those virtual highways to move that data around. 90% of the internet is Cisco.

Quick correction 50% of the internet is cisco the other 50 is juniper.

But the CCNP/CCDP and the CCIE are all about the principles and not necessarily cisco specific stuff.

 

[ibex333]

Would it help in any way to get the Network+ Cert first, and then go for CCNA, or can I skip the Network+? Are they in any way related when it comes to the stuff included in the test?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: ibex333
Would it help in any way to get the Network+ Cert first, and then go for CCNA, or can I skip the Network+? Are they in any way related when it comes to the stuff included in the test?

Honest question - what do you want to do, how old are you and where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years from now?

 

[Brovane]

Personally myself I got my MCSE first to make me more well rounded and then went and got my CCNA and CCNP certification.

 

[Jeff7181]

Doesn't one typically put in 3-5 years of relevant work experience before looking for certifications of that caliber?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Doesn't one typically put in 3-5 years of relevant work experience before looking for certifications of that caliber?

I'd put it at 2 years depending on what you're exposed to. I've personally mentored and trained many folks though the NP and DP certs. I'm not gloating or trying to stand on a high horse. I enjoy lifting others.

Networking is a very tough field and experience is everything. You will see a lot of pros on this board repeating the same mantra over and over and over again. It's not that they like to read their own posts, it's what is ingrained into their head after experience.

I'd put it at about 3 years for the lightbulb to finally light up in understanding networking and at the heart of this understanding is the OSI model. So live it, learn it, love it. Otherwise you'll never get it.

 

[ibex333]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: ibex333
Would it help in any way to get the Network+ Cert first, and then go for CCNA, or can I skip the Network+? Are they in any way related when it comes to the stuff included in the test?

Honest question - what do you want to do, how old are you and where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years from now?

Honest answer - I want to obtain an entry level position in the IT field, and I don't really care if it's networking or general PC maintenance, as long as I have a good chance of getting a job and "growing" there. I'm 26. And 5-10 years from now, I'd like to see myself having a job, and not being afraid to lose it at any moment.

Thanx for all the answers.

 

[drebo]

Look at the CCENT exam material, buy a book, and go through some of it. If it clicks and you enjoy looking at it, take the exam and get the CCENT. If it doesn't, maybe look into another area of IT.

 

[netsysadmin]

ibex333,

What kind of education do you currently have? Also do you know anyone in the business already and what part of the country are you in? Regardless of what certs you get getting that first job is the hardest! At the same time that you are studying and/or taking classes also make sure you are networking with people that will help your career. I would say get the minimum and get in the door somewhere. Then you may find that they will pay your way to your future certs. I am a MCSE and I recently took a CCNA class (Paid for by work). Experience is the most important thing, then comes education.

John

Originally posted by: ibex333

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: ibex333
Would it help in any way to get the Network+ Cert first, and then go for CCNA, or can I skip the Network+? Are they in any way related when it comes to the stuff included in the test?

Honest question - what do you want to do, how old are you and where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years from now?

Honest answer - I want to obtain an entry level position in the IT field, and I don't really care if it's networking or general PC maintenance, as long as I have a good chance of getting a job and "growing" there. I'm 26. And 5-10 years from now, I'd like to see myself having a job, and not being afraid to lose it at any moment.

Thanx for all the answers.

 

[kevnich2]

Originally posted by: ibex333

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: ibex333
Would it help in any way to get the Network+ Cert first, and then go for CCNA, or can I skip the Network+? Are they in any way related when it comes to the stuff included in the test?

Honest question - what do you want to do, how old are you and where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years from now?

Honest answer - I want to obtain an entry level position in the IT field, and I don't really care if it's networking or general PC maintenance, as long as I have a good chance of getting a job and "growing" there. I'm 26. And 5-10 years from now, I'd like to see myself having a job, and not being afraid to lose it at any moment.

Thanx for all the answers.

I've worked in IT for several years, being able to have a job and not be afraid to lose it, to me, is a mirage. I don't care how valuable you think you are, to the company or the boss, you can be replaced. If money gets tight, companies downsize. I haven't seen a job in IT that is immune from the chopping block. The best would be starting your own IT consulting business (IMO) as a lot of companies I know are getting rid of their in-house IT staff and going with consulting companies. But to start your own, you'd have to have over a decade of experience, lots of education and know a lot of people.

 

[kfranc9]

It goes without saying that experience is what you truly want; it is what your employer truly wants. You have the A+. Have you ever built your own desktop? Used tools to troubleshoot systems? Can you advise a friend or family member why a Pentium-based processor performs better than a Celeron? etc. etc. The certification enables you to understand the challenge and further explore that career/field. I strongly stand behind certification but I'll never forget the story of a friend of mine (who was MCSE certified) who went on a job and did not know how to telnet (even though he knew what it did). If you gain a certification before acquiring relevant experience, it is only a tool.

I personally recommend going either straight for the CCNA or spending no more than a few months on Network+ material. In my junior year of high school, I obtained the CCNA (thank you CNAP). It is by far more respected and it will include 95% of the material than the Network+ exam. While studying for any Cisco cert, I'd recommend using actual Cisco routers or Dynampis/GNS3 so you can gain both concept and application.

You can also work in "Networking" with Microsoft certs. It really just depends on what interests you and what is available to you. I've studied much of Microsoft's server technology without certifying myself on them and feel that, if I wanted to be a Sys admin, not having MS certs would not be much of a barrier (someone correct me if I'm wrong). To be hired to fool around with Cisco equipment without having anything to show for it, I would see this as a barrier.

In my perspective, there are 3 pillars to success in IT (ie not having to worry if you will have to find a job): experience, education, and certification. Two of those which are obvious. When I refer to education, I mean post-high school education. Employers want more than just hardcore IT skills, they want the soft skills that go with it...you don't need a college degree to prove this, but without it, you must prove you can work in a group, you can exist in a large social environment, etc. etc. Sorry for being so long guys, I hope this helps.

 

[Motorheader]

The number of suggestions given here are a great base to start from. Personally I've been across the whole spectrum - large employer, small employer, and self-employed.

In this day and age, certainty of job 5-10 years down the road is a moving target. Networking is a great field to be in, but once the infrastructure is laid down - large or small - it becomes a matter of maintenance. That is why personal skills play such a large role. You have to want to learn and continue learning. Getting certs is great, but willingness to learn is even greater. Personal skills build confidence in employers and customers, certs are a resume building tool.

Good luck in your quest.

 

[fishjie]

What classes would you recommend a developer who wants to improve his networking knowledge?

Background:
I have been a developer for almost 3 years now. My networking knowledge consists of everything I've forgotten when I took networking course in computer science. The code I write is mostly middle tier and back end database stuff, and so far, I don't really need to know much networking stuff. However, I feel like knowing this stuff would be handy. It seems the senior devs have a solid understanding of these things. And at any rate, it can't hurt. For example, I don't really understand how our production system is set up. I'd like to learn the basics, from DNS, NATs, firewalls, load balancers, and so on. I was toying with the idea of taking cert classes, not because I'd need them for my career as a dev, but because a class would be a good way to learn this stuff.

 

[kfranc9]

I agree. It could also be provided to you free of charge (from your employer) and give you access to an instructor. It would also diversify your skill set and could be seen as added value by your employers. On the other hand, I would say say for a developer (in which case you are probably able to understand concepts quickly), you might want to think about just getting your hands dirty at home. Check out Warriors of the Net. Setup an M$ server (or Linux if you have the experience). Find a guide and install DNS, DHCP, etc. Get in depth with your home-router; install DD-WRT and customize it completely (firewall, routing config, security, wireless etc) . More importantly, when you don't understand an option or a technology, research it.

 

[fishjie]

Yeah, in the tech industry, its all about constantly learning and relearning. I didnt really give much thought to that coming out of school, but now I realize I should have made that a top priority. I like classes better because sometimes its a question of even knowing what to learn in the first place, and its better motivation wise for me. I did just set up a linux box set up at home with mysql and rails, and I never thought about setting up a DNS server or DHCP. Good idea. I've also started lurking more on these forums to learn stuff. And its been working. For example, I had no clue what DD-WRT was until you posted. That sounds like an awesome project!