Is CCNA the ticket off of the help desk?

I worked at an ISP for 12 or so years until I got laid off last year. I qualified for a grant to go back to school, so I went to New Horizons and took a track with them. Over the past year I earned 4 MTA certifications, and A+, Network+ and Security+. I have recently begun work with another ISP that I have been with for about a month now. Help desk job again.

As thrilled as I am with all my new shiny certs, I realize that they are all still entry-level certifications and I question their usefulness beyond obtaining help desk positions.

The question I pose is, would the CCENT/CCNA + my other certs + my help desk experience be enough to get me to a non help desk position? I'm really tired of help desk to be honest. I'm not talking about some senior systems engineer role or something crazy like that. I just need something that would get me off the phone. Before I invest the time and money and mental anguish to take on the CCENT/CCNA do you think that this cert(s) would help me to get off the help desk? If not, what would you suggest? I truly appreciate any feedback.

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NetworkVeteran

The guy had CCNA, CCNP, all this alphabet soup on his resume. Once they got him for an interview, they tore this man apart and he didn't even bother finishing the interview. Just decided to walk out.

A no-experience CCNP (intermediate-level certification) is different than a no-experience CCNA (entry-level certification), IMHO. A CCNA shows initiative and a desire to be in networking, plus a likely knowledge of basic concepts that apply to any vendor. A key fact in this story is the man got an interview. A CCNA increases the OP's chance of securing an interview. Of course, once he gets into that interview he will have to prove he actually learned something and can apply it for the position's needs. That shouldn't be a problem provided he passes the test legitimately. Yes, braindumpers can be a frustrating waste of interview time.

Deathmage

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

A no-experience CCNP (intermediate-level certification) is different than a no-experience CCNA (entry-level certification), IMHO. A CCNA shows initiative and a desire to be in networking, plus a likely knowledge of basic concepts that apply to any vendor. A key fact in this story is the man got an interview. A CCNA increases the OP's chance of securing an interview. Of course, once he gets into that interview he will have to prove he actually learned something and can apply it for the position's needs. That shouldn't be a problem provided he passes the test legitimately. Yes, braindumpers can be a frustrating waste of interview time.

See I hate people that do brain ****, cause they ruin it for others or benefit others. Example, my current job. I was the 2nd choice of one other person and he came into a interview with a padded resume too and my co-worker the hiring person told me a few weeks ago the man reason he hired me over the other guy is when he asked specifics about the certifications he got none from the other guy but he got a bottomless pit of information from me in the response plus he LOVED my home-lab.

I brought in a portfolio with tons of printed flowcharts, high-res pictures and diagrams and I explained my home-network to him and why I did it. In the end he hired me not because of certifications but cause I understood what the certifications taught me and much more. it was from that home lab, I got the 'experience' employers wanted on my own dime from my previous job on weekends when I was home and in the end got my foot in the door with my 1st true solo system administrator job.

Like many have mentioned, I was hired as system administrator but now I do security, VMware, networking, and systems. Last week I expanded our network to two other locations a few miles away for a WAN so now my job roles are for 5 locations total. How I can't pass a Cisco exam is really baffling me.

koz24 wrote: »

Let me put it this way, how are you supposed to get any experience if EVERY company out there was not willing to give any? The truth is entry-level positions are out there and companies will hire someone with zero experience, but you need the education to be qualified.

With a home-lab and lots of pictures to back up your excitement.

W Stewart

Remedymp wrote: »

So explain which experience does he have coming from the help desk with Routing and Switching?

We see these types of resumes come across on a regular basis. People with a multitude of certs and no experience in any of the certs they have. It's exactly why the certifications have lost any sort of credibility and why Help desk has become a revolving door some. I'm not trying to slam OP, but this is what I do for work, so I see this day in and day out.

No one is going to let you administer their network if you don't have that experience.

Although, this is JMHO, and I could be wrong.

I've got to disagree as well. If someone was looking to move into a networking role with no networking experience, the ccna would be the way to go so you could get a base leve of networking knowledge to grow from. The people that you tore apart were going for jobs they weren't qualified for and your team was additionally expecting too much out of a certification. Even if the op weren't looking for a networking role, I'd still recommend the ccna because I've worked with too many sys admins who lack basic networking skills whereas I started off with a solid foundation by learning from my CCNA studies.

ElGato127

kMastaFlash wrote: »

It can hurt you if you lack certain networking experience to back up the cert (real world application + cert = big money) and if you don't have a college degree of some type to show an academic education background. If you combine all 3 you are in good shape.

Also note this, a certification shows a minimum understanding of a subject not full mastery. A cert lays the foundation to gain the experience and build on top of it to complete the pyramid and reach the top (even though there is no top in IT) just for philosophical purposes.

I may be misunderstanding this:

CCNA without production experience - no job, so no chance to gain experience.
Get networking job without CCNA - oh, wait, most networking jobs require CCNA.

Any suggestions to resolve the Catch-22 here?

emek

I can only speak for myself, but prior to my CCNA, I would only get called from recruiters for other help desk type jobs (Help desk, desktop support, support engineer etc).

After I got my CCNA (within 6 weeks), I was able to get a job as a "Jr. Network Administrator". I would best describe my job as a System Administrator with some networking duties. On top of that, now that my official title is not help desk related, I get hit up on Linkedin almost daily for network/system/security jobs.

In my case, I can say without a doubt, that the CCNA got me the opportunity to get off the help desk. What is important to note though, is that I did everything else prior to getting my CCNA to make myself more marketable. Meaning, I got a 4 year degree, and a few years of IT experience (Tier 2 Desktop), worked on my resume, etc.

Ertaz

Necro thread is Necro. 2 years old and up from the grave.

kurosaki00

Of purely help desk, maybe?
A NOC includes help desk duties, some NOCs are just help desk duties.
I have a couple of years of experience and I still do Help Desk stuff, our clients are entities though. Still I grab the phone and troubleshoot with the person when I see stuff down.

Blucodex

CCNA can't hurt you. There is a certain level of chicken and the egg. Companies want candidates with experience but how do you get experience? As other's have mentioned certs will show your interest despite you maybe lacking in practical experience.

As for the guy who tore someone apart in an interview--that sounds kinda like a jerk IMO. It's one thing if the guy was embellishing his experience but another if he met the requirements. I attained my CCNA Security while managing Sonicwall and Sophos firewalls. If an interviewer wanted to press hard about Cisco specific scenarios I probably wouldn't have done that well.

I think the best way to get to the "next step" is to prove your worth and get an internal promotion. Make sure they know what path you want to go. But there may be a line of people ahead of you. If you're lucky they are resting on their laurels while you are strategically placing yourself higher in the order.

ImYourOnlyDJ

LOL at the old thread revival, but this is a common issue that a lot of new network guys face.

Personally my hard work and skillset was noticed on the help desk and I was promoted to second tier support. First week on the new job my CCENT literally got me working with the network guys and read only access to the equipment (also helps that I taught the Senior NE about the do command just prior to this

). From there passing my CCNA got me write access to the access switches (agreement with Network Manager) and then everything took off from there.

My point is my certs did play a heavy part in me getting network experience. I would also recommend home labbing preferably something that stays up and running. I personally use all Cisco network gear at home to get that extra bit of experience and to show the willingness to learn.

Welly_59

Ill stick my beak in as I've been on help desk and moved on with the help of CCNA.

It will help greatly if you have a network team with your current employer. I gained CCNA while on desk, at the same time I had conversations with the networks team lead showing my interest and enthusiasm for the role.

Interviewed which obviously went well and its all kicked off from there tbh.

What I will say is whatever your current role make sure you push on and do more work, take more responsibility, and don't let lack of experience and time served be a barrier.

I've been in my current role for 6 months and I was told not long ago that changes and configs are only done by people who have been there a year. Guess what I've been doing today? Changes, config and firewall rules.

Today my brain was fried dealing with these changes on 4 different firewall vendors. There are people in the team on 50% more than me, who have been there for 2 years who haven't done what in doing yet.

Push on, be ambitious

ElGato127

Blucodex wrote: »

I think the best way to get to the "next step" is to prove your worth and get an internal promotion. Make sure they know what path you want to go. But there may be a line of people ahead of you. If you're lucky they are resting on their laurels while you are strategically placing yourself higher in the order.

Be careful doing that as a contractor. Learned that the hard way when my contract was ended for little more than speaking to network team members.