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Advice on what certs to get?

Anonymouse

So my work has some good learning resources for getting certs and I was wondering what you guys think I should go with?

I would prefer anything that doesn't have to be renewed. I currently have an A+.

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Comments

Tyrant1919

From Martinez eh? I just moved to Texas from Concord.

The only ones that have to be renewed are the Cisco one's. Microsoft and Comptia ones are good forever pretty much.

I'd stick with Network+ then decide if you want to hit Security+ or a MS exam.

hypnotoad

If you have an interest in vendor-specific stuff, then Cisco and Microsoft are probably the king of certifications. Otherwise, CompTIA certs are vendor-neutral. Cisco certs expire. Microsoft Server 2008 is coming out, that might be fun to learn

JDMurray

What is it you want to learn? System administration? Networking? Security? Programming? Databases? There are a lot of certification categories to choose from.

Anonymouse

JDMurray wrote:

What is it you want to learn? System administration? Networking? Security? Programming? Databases? There are a lot of certification categories to choose from.

Networking and system administration.

remerolle

Anonymouse wrote:

I would prefer anything that doesn't have to be renewed.

Not to be a downer, but often, I have found that companies would rather someone have a renewable certification over a lifetime certification. It proves to them you are current on technology. This is not to say that Comptia exams are worthless or even close to it. They offer a great general industry view of IT.

If you are not for sure whether you would go Microsoft, Unix, or Linux route I would try Server+. If you are not sure what company to go with for networking try the Network+.

Only you can say what you are interested in. What is your experience within these areas of Networking and System Administration?

JDMurray

Anonymouse wrote:

Networking and system administration.

You'll most likely be headed down the MCSA/MCSE and CCNA/CCNP tracks then.

sthomas

Anonymouse wrote:

So my work has some good learning resources for getting certs and I was wondering what you guys think I should go with?

I would prefer anything that doesn't have to be renewed. I currently have an A+.

If you would prefer to start with certifications that don't expire you will want to take some CompTIA exams. A+, Net+, Linux+, Server+, and Security+ would be the exams you would want to consider in my opinion. I would recommend that you don't limit yourself to just certs that don't expire. In the IT field Technology changes so it is important to keep up with that. Looking into a Cisco or MS certification. Cisco certs have to be renewed every 3 years and so do the new MS certs. The old MS certs (i.e. MCSA/MCSE) are good for life per say but really only good until the product is outdated.

nel

like what others have said really for sys admin / networking most usually go with MCSE / ccna but you can also do other sys admin certs like RHCE (red hat linux). but MCSE is prob the most common cert for sys admin.

If you dont want to renew then compTIA certs are probably best but i wouldnt are not in high demand like the MS/cisco stuff but thats going from my area i live.

personally if you wanted a for life qualification a degree would be a better option imo.

Daniel333

What's your background?

Choose a path Linux or Microsoft and dive into it. Red Hat and Novell cert's for Linux.

Don't spend too much time with Comptia, I regret it myself. And I also got my CCNA because it was similiar to Net+, another mistake. I don't work with Cisco enough so I am already forgetting it all.

Anonymouse

Whoa sorry I haven't been on here in a while, guys. Alright people are asking my background: Currently working helpdesk tier II, previous experience as a Fry's PC tech, and about to graduate from a tech school with an IT Network Security Associates degree.

Thanks for the replies though as you guys have some very good insight into this.

Lando56

Just thought I'd add my 2cents in re: renewing certs, etc.

('Cisco certs have to be renewed every 3 years and so do the new MS certs.')
Agree that it shows keeping up-to-date, but there also what they call CPE (Continuous Professional Education). In fact my C|EH requires 120 pts /3 years or I could have the cert expire

I'm sure not all certs have CPE qualifiers, but something to check out.

PS I don't know about Cisco. Kind of assuming they have a retest only and that's all, but I don't know for a fact