Which path? Why?

NeonNinja

NeonNinja

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So I'm straight out of school. Took some guts to convince my mom I can get certified, a black and white certificate, without attending class.
So A+ and N+ out of the way. Which cert. do I go for next? I was eyeing MCITP - Windows Server 08. I could opt for self-study then book/write exams, but don't really trust my self. So in many places this course is around the R25k (+ varied international exam cost of +-R7k) mark, which is over the roof. Also eyed CCNA, apparently it's 1 long hard a$$ exam for only +-R1000. What a difference. Financial wise my folks can pay for MCITP. CCNA is peanuts. Do I take MCITP because I can? Or CCNA, because it has advantages over the MS cert maybe? I'm really not sure, I'm straight out of school, and have decent knowledge of networking (software/hardware)/server etc. I haven't touched CISCO stuff, so I don't know CISCO. Obviously MCITP includes MCTS. Which other networking certifications do I endeavor for? Security+, Linux+, etc? Still to divert my attention to CISCO stuff. I see on online job sites though that for 5 MSCE/MCITP jobs you get 2 or 3 CCNA/CCxx ones.
 
Go to university and get a degree. Technologies come and go - ask any old certified Netware engineer - but a degree will always count in your favour.
 
If you do go the CCNA route, you can write it in two exams if you want, just would take a bit longer then. That is what I am going to do, first the ICND1 then ICND2. Am also studying a degree part-time, hence my decision to write the two separate exams instead of the one single exam.

It appears that the CCNA exams are far more practical than before, they test you not only what you know, but that you can apply that knowledge to various scenarios.

Nothing wrong with a degree either, though.

B
 
Bismuth said:
If you do go the CCNA route, you can write it in two exams if you want, just would take a bit longer then. That is what I am going to do, first the ICND1 then ICND2. Am also studying a degree part-time, hence my decision to write the two separate exams instead of the one single exam.

It appears that the CCNA exams are far more practical than before, they test you not only what you know, but that you can apply that knowledge to various scenarios.

Nothing wrong with a degree either, though.

B
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Same advice as poster above. If I do go for university, I'll do a diploma in Communication Networks, not sure if you can upgrade that to some degree. CCNA sounds scarry.
 
Sorry for derailing your thread , Khanya. If you were to study "Communication Networks" at an university where would you go?
 
menehr said:
Sorry for derailing your thread , Khanya. If you were to study "Communication Networks" at an university where would you go?
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With my neighbour WSU, but likely NMMU in P.E (or apparently the George campus). I don't want to go heavy, like a degree in computronics or something.
 
Khanya said:
Same advice as poster above. If I do go for university, I'll do a diploma in Communication Networks, not sure if you can upgrade that to some degree. CCNA sounds scary.
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I think it's as scary as you want it to be, of course it isn't a walk-in-the-park either. Obviously it helps if you can get something working with Cisco equipment, but at least there are SIMs if you can't get access to the real thing. One of the big things with the CCNA is Subnetting, amongst others. In my other thread about Cisco Certification, someone posted that getting a grasp of this, as well as basic router configuration and understanding the IOS model. Sounds scary, but there is a wealth of resources out there to assist you, I've found.

Diplomas can normally be taken up to a BTech-level, which is the closest thing you would get to a degree, think it's considered some sort of "technical" degree, but don't quote me on that!.

B
 
rwenzori said:
Go to university and get a degree. Technologies come and go - ask any old certified Netware engineer - but a degree will always count in your favour.
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This is probably the best advise out there. Cisco certs only last for 3 yrs, CCIE for 2 yrs.

Get a good fundamental grounding behind your name.

Looking at the employment scenario a B.Eng, B.Sc, B.Tech will get you far further than a cert. Any idiot can do a cert and I have seen this before in industry. The fact that you have a CCNA/CCNP does not actually translate into knowledge of the field, it just means you crammed hard enough with resources available to you. Hell you see people with certs that still don't grasp the fundamentals of the OSI model which is truly shocking.
 
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