Suggestion for technical certification

preet

Hi.
Its been 4 months i have been working as a computer technician in a small company. I have done a diploma in IT in the field of software and also followed comptia A+ hardware and software course, but i have not taken the exams. I have learned quite a lot of technical things in the net and also by helping friends. You must asking why i am in the technical way instead of being a developer. Well, i wanted to be both conversant with hardware and also in the programming side.

So guys, can you suggest me what should i do to enhance my technical qualifications. i was thinking to do CCNA, MCP and all the stuffs. But i am a bit confused about which course to follow.

thanks.

royal

Well it all really depends on what you want to do. I would definitely do A+ and Network+ regardless of which path you go. Having a solid foundation of both computer hardware and basic networking skills is essential. I eventually want to do my Server+ just for the extra knowledge, but that's a very low priority for me. I also want to eventually do my CCNA when I have time to do so.

You stated you want to do MCP and CCNA and all that. Those are 2 completely separate tracks. Granted you can always do both, I would choose some goals and abide by them. Do you want to focus more on Cisco or Microsoft? Whichever you want to focus more in is the one I would start with. If you want to go for Microsoft, you can do your MCP, then MCSA, and then MCSE. You can then choose to begin your CCNA and maybe do CCNP.

Don't forget there are more Microsoft exams and Cisco exams than just the traditional MCSE and CCNA/CCNP. If you were to get your MCSE, you can then go and get specializations such as Security, Messaging, Database, etc... With Cisco, you can work on CCDA, CWNP, CCSP, CCVP, etc... There are a lot of certification paths out there, I know it can be confusing on what path to go to when conceptualizing what you want to do for the many years ahead of you.

Cisco Certifications:
http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/learning_career_certifications_and_learning_paths_home.html

Microsoft Certifications:
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/certifications.mspx[/b]

Kaminsky

May I suggest that you get the certifications as well to put on your resume. Not just study the course. I have been on many courses but, for one reason or another, never sat for the cert. I regret it now. On my resume, its as if I never studied those courses at all regardless of how well I did on them at the time.

JDMurray

Kaminsky wrote:

On my resume, its as if I never studied those courses at all regardless of how well I did on them at the time.

This is yet another good reason for people to stay in school until they finish their degree--whatever that degree may be.

NinjaBoy

IMO you will have to decide which field of IT you want to work in. Whether it's in the support (technical) side or the software engineering side. To be honest it will be very hard to keep on top of both fields.

If you want to stay in the support field then go for the A+, Network+, MCDST, CCNA, etc.

However if you are only doing the support thing until you can get into the software engineering field, then go for the MCSD, MCAD, or get Java certified.

Certification and studying is an expensive and time consuming thing to go do, and since these certs are classed as professional certification, they should reflect your job skills.

For Java certs: http://www.sun.com/training/certification/java/index.xml
For MS certs: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/default.mspx
For Cisco certs: http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/learning_career_certifications_and_learning_paths_home.html
For Comptia certs: http://www.comptia.org/

JDMurray

NinjaBoy wrote:

then go for the MCSD, MCAD, or get Java certified.

The MCAD and MCSD are old .NET 1.x news. I really recommend that programmers only bother trying for the MCTS and MCPD .NET 2.x certs.

preet

Well, i have read replies and would like to thank you all. So, i think i would go for the A+ hardware and software certification first. This would be my base certification of technical knowledge. By the way, i learning quite a lot of new things in my work like new products and troubleshooting. Then i would go for CCNA, which would compensate my networking capabilities.

royal

I HIGHLY recommend getting your Network+ before you proceed with obtaining your CCNA certification. While I do not know all the material that is on the CCNA as I am not a Cisco guy, I always advise people to get their A+ and Network+ before proceeding with anything. It is so important to me to get the fundamentals that both A+ and Network+ provide. Look at most people's certifications around the forums, they will have both A+ and Network+ at minimum. Granted if people already know the networking aspect of things, they can just skip Network+ and go CCNA, but it seems from what you said, that your intention of doing CCNA is to learn networking. This would mean you do not currently have a professional knowledge of networking which is why I still advise you to start with Network+.

Regardless of what you choose, good luck!