Network certifications

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shogun

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Hey

If this is the wrong forum, would a mod move? I thought this would be the place with the most experience in this matter.

I'm doing some research for someone and would like to gather a few facts (they'll be doing theirs too, but i'd like to be informed). Someone straight out of school... what would be the best way for them to get a career in IT / networking for a company.

My impression would be something cisco based, but i'm a software developer, and networking qualifications are something I know little about. I assume like all qualifications out there, there are the decent ones, and the pretty pathetic ones.

Apart from the usual "gain as much experience as you can / practice" etc... which course / diploma / certification / whatever, would be a good starter to get them up and running, and what would be a good path to follow.

The goal is for them to gain employment in the IT sector, preferably with a position involving network management, but obviously other work will come with the territory. They're not picky.

Assume self study along with current full time job and no current working experience in networking... i.e. starting from the ground up. They obviously know their way around a pc pretty well... but it goes without saying that that's not enough for employment in this sector:P

Thanks peeps.
 
shogun said:
The goal is for them to gain employment in the IT sector, preferably with a position involving network management, but obviously other work will come with the territory. They're not picky.

Assume self study along with current full time job and no current working experience in networking... i.e. starting from the ground up. They obviously know their way around a pc pretty well... but it goes without saying that that's not enough for employment in this sector:P
Click to expand...

Well, whatever they decide to do, just know that it's going to be very difficult starting with something network related without experience, even if you have a qualification. Most people who's in networking / server jobs, normally started of doing normal techie work. Just don't expect to skip that step.
 
Roger.Wilco said:
Well, whatever they decide to do, just know that it's going to be very difficult starting with something network related without experience, even if you have a qualification. Most people who's in networking / server jobs, normally started of doing normal techie work. Just don't expect to skip that step.
Click to expand...

That much is to be expected. I think that would be a good stepping stone in any case... not expecting them to jump straight into network admin. "Ground up" is exactly that.

Now... back to suggestion in qualifications?

Thanks Khanya... anyone know if there is something similar in Cape Town?
 
shogun said:
Hey

If this is the wrong forum, would a mod move? I thought this would be the place with the most experience in this matter.

I'm doing some research for someone and would like to gather a few facts (they'll be doing theirs too, but i'd like to be informed). Someone straight out of school... what would be the best way for them to get a career in IT / networking for a company.

My impression would be something cisco based, but i'm a software developer, and networking qualifications are something I know little about. I assume like all qualifications out there, there are the decent ones, and the pretty pathetic ones.

Apart from the usual "gain as much experience as you can / practice" etc... which course / diploma / certification / whatever, would be a good starter to get them up and running, and what would be a good path to follow.

The goal is for them to gain employment in the IT sector, preferably with a position involving network management, but obviously other work will come with the territory. They're not picky.

Assume self study along with current full time job and no current working experience in networking... i.e. starting from the ground up. They obviously know their way around a pc pretty well... but it goes without saying that that's not enough for employment in this sector:P

Thanks peeps.
Click to expand...

this depends on what kind of a person this is. Self study will get him the certs, but I am not 100% certain he will actually learn enough from them.
Certs are cool to have, but I found that i got actual value out of the courses and books if i have been worknig with the product for a few months at least before hand.

RW is correct, get a techie job and work your way up.
 
I'd suggest following the MCSE route to get a good understanding of the Windows Server environment from the ground up. Self study is difficult if you're not in a class environment physically playing around with the server and doing little exercises. I'd also suggest he set up a test environment to mess around with while studying. He'll be lost with just theory.
 
tau1z said:
this depends on what kind of a person this is. Self study will get him the certs, but I am not 100% certain he will actually learn enough from them.
Certs are cool to have, but I found that i got actual value out of the courses and books if i have been worknig with the product for a few months at least before hand.

RW is correct, get a techie job and work your way up.
Click to expand...

Thanks tau1z. Assuming he'd be trying to get some xp while studying... he'd still need some place to learn / study so he can get to grips with the expected ground knowledge (even we did some networking in our degree). There must be a base level of knowledge that you are expected to have in IT / networking. I can't imagine that companies don't look for some form of qualification in this area. I'm trying to get past the point that he needs to get a techie job. That's a given.

My question is what is the tech that he should start with... and what courses are of value? Should he get a mikrotik and do a mikrotik course... should he study the cisco route? Something tech independent like a diploma?

If so, what are the options? Are there places in Cape Town that offer training that companies would find valuable?

I'd like to compare (think of a shopping basket) course x with x technology, course y with y technology, course z with a / b and c technologies.

Perhaps I should be phoning techs and other training institutions... but I was under the assumption that people here had studied something similar, and would perhaps have some insights about what to watch out for. The last thing I want is for them to study something that people in industry find useless.
 
hungrybeaver said:
I'd suggest following the MCSE route to get a good understanding of the Windows Server environment from the ground up. Self study is difficult if you're not in a class environment physically playing around with the server and doing little exercises. I'd also suggest he set up a test environment to mess around with while studying. He'll be lost with just theory.
Click to expand...

Thanks beaver. I think the server side of things will definitely be important.
 
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