Newbie Here

TacoGuy

So first off my name is Cody I am 20, I have been interested in IT ever since I was probably 10 playing the pinball game on my mothers old computer and messing with any files and systems in the control panel. I am now a commercial low voltage Technician, I build networks ( cabling) I build IDFs and MDFs from 24 port patch panel to thousands of cables and cabinets in an NOC. I run and terminate horizontal and backbone cabling cat6, CCTV, fusion spice fiber optic and anaerobic, security, AV installs, cameras, DAS antenna systems... I do all the hardwork for you IT Engineers lol. So I feel like I have strong background in the IT area. I am currently attending school to obtain my AAS in Networking Technology and my CCNA. Though doing 50+ credits and working 40-50 hour work week every week makes the AAS hard to finish, and I find my self very stressed and don't have enough time to finish my classes. I took my first cisco class CNT140 and passed with %92, that was my priority. So now im here to ask you guys, is there anyone else who was in the same spot and ended up not getting an AAS and just going straight for a CCNA? Is there any disadvantages of not getting my AAS?

Also I am interested in doing many other certs, but I have NO IDEA where to start or what certs I should try to get, please point me in the right direction! I am wanting to be a Network admin or Engineer

Thank you,
Cody

TacoGuy

I am contemplating moving from Arizona to Texas in the next year so if anyone knows of a good school in texas to obtain my BS in IT that information would be appreciated.

gel

I would take into consideration WGU. It is an online only school that many on here have used. I myself am working on starting there early next year. Very affordable but the class structure does not seem to be for everyone.

TacoGuy

gel wrote: »

I would take into consideration WGU. It is an online only school that many on here have used. I myself am working on starting there early next year. Very affordable but the class structure does not seem to be for everyone.

What do you mean class structure? Also, look into WGU for what? CCNA? or BS?

Chitownjedi

TacoGuy wrote: »

What do you mean class structure? Also, look into WGU for what? CCNA? or BS?

Depending on your B.S, it may be both.

bigdogz

The class structure of WGU is not that of a brick and mortar school.

U of H or TCU may assist you. Top Information Technology Schools in Texas
You may need to do some more digging.

If you want to transfer you have to look to see what credits will transfer with you!!!
You do not want to waste time and money just to do it all over again.

As far as the certifications are concerned, it depends on what you want to do. There have been other posts that you may want to find to point you in the right direction.
Since you talked about being stressed out, you can probably hit the ICND 1 first. This depends on your knowledge of the exam. Some people take the CCNA which, as you know, is the ICND1 and ICND2 sandwich.

Good Luck!

dirkxxvi

*Skip to end for TL;DR version*

Quick Summary About Me - BS in Finance, No IT job experience, No Projects, Very little job experience all together, Only RHCSA certified, now with a well paying job doing something I love. Not sure if lucky or ingenious.

Keep in mind my experience may not be typical but here's what happened to me. I basically got laid off from my last job in sales, something I was interested in at first, and the position itself offered great experience which may have helped me now, but by the end of my time there the only thing that I liked about the job was my co-workers. The actual work had long since become a grind and ironically enough when I got laid off my bosses feedback to me was that we spend to much of our lives working to not enjoy what we do so his advice for me was even though my lay off was cost related to make sure I did something I loved. Needless to say those words kind of stuck with me.

My friends and family had always suggested I get a job in tech. Recently my Mother admitted that her biggest regret was not pushing me to get a Computer Science degree. My reason for not pursuing IT....sadly numerous people kept making a big deal about all the jobs being outsourced to India so I bought into the hype and majored in Finance because it was safer apparently.

A week later I got in touch with a relative that was working at a prominent Linux company. He had dropped out of a prestigious college but got a very high paying entry level job at a company most IT graduates would kill for in spite of not even being 20 years old and to my knowledge not having any formal certifications (don't hold me to that though). Long story short he suggested that I study for the RHCSA, personally I was kind of skeptical and had figured he got his position because well, he's pretty much a genius and part of me figured his success was similar to other successful college dropouts in that he was already incredibly smart. We're talking 2300 on the SAT smart.

I had also heard plenty of warnings how a certification is most definitely not a guarantee to end up with a job but being the impulsive type of person that I am and reading enough material stating that the RHCSA would be taken a lot more seriously then typical certs I literally went for broke exhausting all my savings and dedicating 6 months of my life to studying for the RHCSA before passing in September on my second attempt. Now my phone certainly wasn't ringing any more then it had been at first but when I started putting myself out there recruiters started taking me a lot more seriously and even ones that had brushed me off before started asking me to come in to talk.

At the start of November though I got calls from about 3 companies offering me interviews for direct hire and eventually got a job offer for a position that was paying me a lot more then my last job at a company with a great culture. Along with some cool other perks that I'd rather not go into for the sake of staying somewhat anon.

Basically going in I had only one real job and one part time job since college neither of which had anything to do with IT, and a BS in Finance with no tech certs or projects to my name. I took a leap of faith based on the fact that Linux pros were in demand and that Red Hat Certs were respected. And I'm certainly not nearly as young as you, though of course not too much older (more then 5 years less then a decade to your 20).

One thing that I would like to stress though is that I had a ridiculously supportive network of friends and family that allowed me to pursue this and propped me up when my savings were all but gone. I'm guessing most people aren't nearly as lucky as I am in that respect, certainly not lucky enough to spend half a year studying for a single cert with no promise of a job at the end of it. So if I'm fortunate enough to have had my ridiculously long post read to completion please remember to take everything with a grain of salt.
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TL;DR Version

If its manageable strongly consider getting your degree one way or another. With all the screening done by HR these days a lot of time 4 year degrees in anything will help you get the chance to interview (seriously I work with one person who was a history major and have a friend in IT at another company who has a Humanities degree) and if you're close an associates in technology certainly isn't going to hurt unless you have to dedicate an inordinate amount of time.

Even though it seems like a pain in the rear given your current predicament, just having a degree really should help you long term. Though as my relative proved, if you have in demand skills a college degree certainly isn't required.

With that said based on my experience with the RHCSA, which Red Hat strongly modeled after the Cisco exams, I would say that anything besides going for the CCNA, with the exception of your AAS, is a waste of time. In my humble opinion Cisco exams provide you with in demand skills that actually prove that you can work with a real system. Employers as a whole seem to respect that.

Of course I would also feel more comfortable if someone else would weigh in on the value of the CCNA in the job market. I can't help but wonder if I was just ridiculously lucky for my saga to end the way it did or if it can be used as a model for others to follow provided the certs they pursue cover highly in demand skills and are well respected by employers.