Jobs with CCNA certification

Hi, just looking for a bit of advice regarding career prospects with the CCNA certificate.

At the moment I'm a 19 year old field technician for Virgin Media, I completed an apprenticeship with them a year ago which gave me a level 2 qualification in telecommunications and have worked on a copper network for about a year and a half now. This is field based so I haven't really dealt with much cisco equipment apart from the occasional visit to our head end.

I'm currently looking at getting into a different career as I feel like I want a bigger challenge and so I'm starting to study for a CCNA certificate as it looks like a subject that really engrosses me!
What kind of jobs would this open me up to, if any? Since I don't have an IT background but one in telecoms. Would I still have required qualifications to get a job or would they be looking for someone with a degree in computing?

Any help is much appreciated to get my head around this!

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Chev Chellios

Are you in the UK sorry mate?

It should open up network administration/engineer type roles and a CCNA is a great cert to have whichever route you choose in the future. I am going to start studying towards it next year as a lot of jobs over here have started asking for it, but more importantly I want to get it on my cv and further myself. I've been doing server/system admin roles but would like to go into the networking field too.

Good luck anyway and PM me if I can help or you want to discuss anything!

andrewfx

Thanks for your reply Chev, yes sorry I am in north east UK!
It all looks really interesting to me so I want to learn about it regardless of job opportunities but ideally I would love to work in IT coming from and IT background and building computers from a young age, also working with broadband faults on a daily basis!

If I got into a company in one of those roles what happens next? Do I start working towards other certificates myself to further my qualifications and apply for internal positions or would they teach me other cisco qualifications on the job helping me to get the certificates and move up? All of this is a bit new to me so sorry for the millions of questions!

kohr-ah

Then you certify to further your interests. From there if you stuck pure networking then I'd do the ccnp or ccnp data center. If it is a hybrid role and you find out you like networking and systems work then maybe the mcsa and vmware.

You are a brand and it is your job to make yourself worth buying. The certs you do is what will make you more valuable to your current and future employers while giving you the groundwork to further your studies in a subject.

andrewfx

Thanks for your reply, a lot of helpful info there. Looks like it would be a natural progression once I got into the swing of things then and saw what path id want to go down.
A question for anyone who's got their CCNA, do you recommend self studying or would I be better off trying to find a course? I've looked for courses but the only ones I found are the 5 day fast track ones which are around £1800 each and there's two parts to them the 100-101 and the 200-101. Wouldn't be able to do any other course though as my shifts have me working different days and times every week.

Chev Chellios

No worries andrew. For what it is worth I've looked at self studying the CCNA but I have found that a local college actually offers the CCNA for quite cheap as part of the Cisco networking academy- far cheaper part time with all equipment provided rather than buying your own so that is worth checking where you are (£100's rather than £1000's like those 'fast track' courses). Not due to start until next year but quite keen as I've done a few varied jobs in IT from desktop to server and storage too but networking is a good thing to do and get certified in for sure wherever you want to go in IT.

Despite dabbling in IT for a long time I didn't get into the IT career path until my early/mid 20's after doing a totally non related degree. You have time on your side and plenty of interesting things to learn so just take it in your stride and see where your interests lie within the field. You are in a good position through work experience etc anyhow already mate.

Chev Chellios

Sorry meant to answer your question. You may find employers willing to pay for your training but don't assume it and be prepared t do stuff off your own back and in your own time (Sure you are anyway). I just say that as alot of what I've learned has been through self studying as companies I've worked at took the approach to not pay or train you as you are more likely to leave when in reality I would be more likely to stay if they sent me on some juicy training courses! Just my opinion of course.

andrewfx

I've had a quick look online for courses near me but the only ones my local university does are the following courses:
CCNA R&S: Scaling Networks
CCNA R&S: Connecting Networks.
Would these two courses get me the qualification for CCNA or CCNENT? I'm confused, are these specialist focused courses?
Also what hardware would I need for studying? So far I've ordered myself a couple of books and I've had a quick look through the guide posted on this forum with all the Cisco OS emulators etc would I actually have to buy the equipment to mess about with or can I get a good understanding through resources?

Sorry for so many questions!

JasonX

From my experience and my recollection of other users on here who created threads entailing their methodology to take the CCNA, I would not bother purchasing hardware as you can use GNS3 or packet tracer to pass the exam. 3 years ago I utilized Todd Lammle's book as reading material. I don't know if he has written a new book for the newer exam.

advanex1

Hello friend,

Many people self study for the CCNA with great success. I recommend checking out both series of videos I am about to mention:

The Bryant Advantage CCNA - can be found on Udemy for cheap.

CBT Nuggets CCNA - w/ Jeremy Ciaora

Lastly, stufy and practice. All of this can be done for less than $150. I passed using just those two resources and practice, so it can be done. Good luck.

andrewfx

Thanks for all of the great replies really supportive and helping me push towards this qualification.

Just another quick question what would be the benefit of doing CCENT then CCNA? Is it just that it's a little more manageable, I'm guessing CCENT is just the basics?

broli720

Also, INE has a free CCNA course that you can watch. At least it was free a for a while last year. Good luck!

andrewfx

Is it worth me getting an A+ and Network+ certificate first since I have no experience in IT?

Kai123

andrewfx wrote: »

Thanks for all of the great replies really supportive and helping me push towards this qualification.

Just another quick question what would be the benefit of doing CCENT then CCNA? Is it just that it's a little more manageable, I'm guessing CCENT is just the basics?

The benefit is, its easier to pass the CCENT, nice boost of confidence, you can focus on less amount of objectives to pass.

The disadvantage though is instead of the one exam, split between "easy" and "hard" questions, you get 55 odd questions of the harder aspects of the objectives. You have no leverage from the easier concepts and questions. You will get more of the harder sims rather then a split, which are heavily weighted in the exam.

It depends how well you can self-study. I have no structure so I go to college for the CCNA, and it forces me to study and learn where otherwise I might spent 1 week studying like crazy, then 2 weeks neglecting it.

You could say that taking the 2 exams, your forced to truly know your stuff, but ultimately your risking a delay gaining the CCNA.