After a CCNA what next?

The only cert I have at the moment is a CCENT so obviously a CCNA seems like a logical next cert to pursue, but what would make sense from there? I recently applied for a position with Unisys and they are big acolytes of ITIL so if I get that job I will probably get an ITIL foundation cert, but I'm kinda curious upon what would make the most sense? My most recent position I have spent a lot of time between various level 2/3 Windows systems and network admin projects so I'm entirely sure whether I want to go more towards a network heavy direction where I would go towards a CCIE at some point or more towards the systems admin side. I'm thinking about the VCP-DCV exam as while HyperV has made a lot of inroads in recent years Vmware on servers isn't going away. Since I have quite a bit of first hand experience with Vmware I could probably pass the exam without a huge amount of additional studying, which I would think would make it a good use of time.

Obviously picking a specialization more narrow focus would allow me to advance into a higher level position, but if you get too narrowly focused there is concerns about getting pigeonholed if the industry shifts dramatically. If I wanted to continue to manage Windows servers what MS certs are actually worth getting that would help really advance my career vs largely burn my personal time? Some of their certs require multiple exams and unless they are widely recognized by managers I am not sure that it would be a great use of my time.

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Jon_Cisco

Your post is to broad to give you any real feedback. Also your experience is hard to gauge. I am looking to switch into IT in the next year or two so I don't fit your needs. However I decided that I wanted to add something to my resume that showed knowledge of Active Directory because it is listed in most entry level job ads I read. I would suggest you start reading job boards and see what companies are requesting for the type of jobs that are catching your interest. Good Luck!

tprice5

The_Pariah wrote: »

Since I have quite a bit of first hand experience with Vmware I could probably pass the exam without a huge amount of additional studying

I wouldn't get too cocky. It's certainly not an easy test. Also, keep in mind that there is a class requirement for this exam

The_Pariah wrote: »

Obviously picking a specialization more narrow focus would allow me to advance into a higher level position, but if you get too narrowly focused there is concerns about getting pigeonholed if the industry shifts dramatically.

I can't find the thread where this is touched on in more depth but basically if you are starting out you want a broad base of knowledge to build on. The consensus was about 5 years of general knowledge and then specializing for higher ROI.

The_Pariah wrote: »

I wanted to continue to manage Windows servers what MS certs are actually worth getting that would help really advance my career vs largely burn my personal time? Some of their certs require multiple exams and unless they are widely recognized by managers I am not sure that it would be a great use of my time.

MCSA 2012, and if you would like to go even further, MCSE: Server Infrastructure

The_Pariah

tprice5 wrote: »

I can't find the thread where this is touched on in more depth but basically if you are starting out you want a broad base of knowledge to build on. The consensus was about 5 years of general knowledge and then specializing for higher ROI.

Most of my roles in my first 5 years in IT haven't been very specialized so now that I have some experience doing some higher end projects I would like to try and move into a position where I get to handle more tier 3 type work. I have a lot of breadth of IT knowledge, but I would like to try to demonstrate that my knowledge isn't merely a mile wide and an inch deep. Is Network+ worth getting once you have a CCNA R&S or would it largely just be throwing more lines of certifications on the resume that wouldn't add much to pitching myself? A lot of people say that Net+ is roughly on par with CCENT so since I already did CCENT would it even be worth it since there is a lot of overlap on the non-Cisco topics?

DoubleNNs

No reason at all to get the Network+ AFTER the CCNA. Skip it