Can a Comptia A+ & CCNA certification help me land a decent IT job?

darkvoid

Hello,

I'm new to the forums, and the industry in general. I'm trying to merge from telecommunications (* cell tower troubleshooting / construction *) to it / networking. I was planning on finding work as a it tech (* uncertified & low paying *) while I study & get certified in the certs listed above while taking part time classes in A.A.S Information Systems.

I was wondering if this is a good route? Also what is the average wage for a technician / network admin? I currently make around $50,000 /yrly in the cell industry, but it's exhausting and I'm on the road for 6 weeks at a time. Lastly, I have some fiber optics experience and am wondering if you guys deal with any of that in the networking / server side of this industry?

Thanks!

snunez889

I think it's a great route to take. I took a similar route, it did take some time to finally land a job. My only suggestion is to apply to jobs even if you feel you are not qualified for and go to every interview. I did this and someone finally took a chance on me, so its possible.

LinuxNerd

What he said ^. If somebody takes a chance on you.

stylezunknown

From the advice that I have heard from others is you can get into a NOC position with A+ and CCNA and from there into a network admin position.
You should probably skip A+ if you're going into networking.

snunez889

I always strongly recommend the A+ cert. You know how many people in IT that I meet that don't know the most basic stuff? I guess it all depends on the individual.

Nemowolf

stylezunknown wrote: »

From the advice that I have heard from others is you can get into a NOC position with A+ and CCNA and from there into a network admin position.
You should probably skip A+ if you're going into networking.

snunez889 wrote: »

I always strongly recommend the A+ cert. You know how many people in IT that I meet that don't know the most basic stuff? I guess it all depends on the individual.

I think that it is a GREAT primer for someone with little to no computer experience to get the A+ simply because of the breadth of knowledge you have to learn to pass, or at least study to pass. If your set with the networking side of things, it wouldn't hurt to round out your education but you may find an entry level position that will need that to really get going.

darkvoid

Thanks for the replies guys. I found another telecom job through a defense contractor that is only 40 hours a week. This should allow me to have enough time to pursue these certifications on my free time. Also for the poster who brought up the NOC position, that is definitely something I am looking into. However, most NOC positions in telecom require at least 1-2 years NOC experience - but as I've found in life - most things can be overlooked if you have the smarts and drive to back it up.

Have a good one.

jvazquez407

.......

Hondabuff

Just to warn you that the starting Salary for jumping into the IT field with just A+ and CCNA is probably around $30-35k a year. I was almost in the same boat 4 years ago making mid 40k as a field tech and heard all this great stuff about CCNA and the salaries that you could make. With A+, NET+, SEC+ and a networking diploma landed me a whopping $32k a year job. I gutted it out and got my CCNA, left my job at a school as a Network Admin and landed a 52k job doing desktop support in a big network based company. Worked a bit harder learning CCNA Voice to program our Cisco phones, Started on the CCNP track and got in good with the network team. 2 years later, I'm a network Engineer on the low side of the salary range of $70k but just happy to be doing what I'm doing. I made the jump and just about bankrupted my family and racked up some debt just trying to keep my head above water. Now I'm on the other side of it and I'm glad I made the change. Our NOC analysts start at $25/hr. Skip the A+ and do Net+.

tkerber

I would have to disagree with some of these guys with the skipping A+. Unless you're REALLY computer savvy and have built some computers or had previous IT work yourself I wouldn't skip over it. Especially if you're interested in Network+ or Security+. Being well rounded makes you a lot more attractive IMHO.

I once met a guy who had every CCNA variation possible and was a pretty smart Cisco tech. However, I literally had to teach him how to use the command prompt one a Windows desktop and how to change the IP address manually. Get some good foundation knowledge first and build up from there.

Best luck!

Jon_Cisco

tkerber wrote: »

I would have to disagree with some of these guys with the skipping A+. Unless you're REALLY computer savvy and have built some computers or had previous IT work yourself I wouldn't skip over it. Especially if you're interested in Network+ or Security+. Being well rounded makes you a lot more attractive IMHO.

I once met a guy who had every CCNA variation possible and was a pretty smart Cisco tech. However, I literally had to teach him how to use the command prompt one a Windows desktop and how to change the IP address manually. Get some good foundation knowledge first and build up from there.

Best luck!

I am also a fan of gaining the knowledge of A+ when you are switching to any IT position. Knowing the basics just makes sense.

I think it is up to the individual to determine if the cost of the test is something that is worth doing. I got my A+ almost 15 years ago now so it was different but the knowledge helped my from that point on. Learning to study for A+ certainly helped when I jumped into Cisco last year. Of course I'm 11 months into it and didn't finish my ICND2 test yet so you might not want to work at my speed!

Good Luck!