Advice for recent grad
eten
MemberMember Posts: 67 ■■□□□□□□□□
Hello,
I recently graduated from college earning an Information Technology degree and want to pursue a career in the networking field. I currently hold A+, CCENT, and CCNA, CCNP certifications (along with a few Java certs that I studied for school). The problem is that I don't have any relevant working experience in the field, nor do I possess any help desk experience as well. I worked as data entry, telemarketer, and office admin while in school to pay off some tuition.
My question is where should I head next as far as certifications go? Many entry level jobs (1-2 years experience) whether it be Help Desk Support, or Network Admin, do not require Cisco certs (and only CCNA if they do) and the responsibilities in the job description barely mentions operating with Cisco IOS. I see lots of jobs requiring Microsoft skill-set rather than Cisco. Would it be more beneficial to diverse into MCSE, or dig deeper with Cisco?
Pay is not a factor to me, but IT related volunteer jobs are almost non-existent where I live, in Canada.
I recently graduated from college earning an Information Technology degree and want to pursue a career in the networking field. I currently hold A+, CCENT, and CCNA, CCNP certifications (along with a few Java certs that I studied for school). The problem is that I don't have any relevant working experience in the field, nor do I possess any help desk experience as well. I worked as data entry, telemarketer, and office admin while in school to pay off some tuition.
My question is where should I head next as far as certifications go? Many entry level jobs (1-2 years experience) whether it be Help Desk Support, or Network Admin, do not require Cisco certs (and only CCNA if they do) and the responsibilities in the job description barely mentions operating with Cisco IOS. I see lots of jobs requiring Microsoft skill-set rather than Cisco. Would it be more beneficial to diverse into MCSE, or dig deeper with Cisco?
Pay is not a factor to me, but IT related volunteer jobs are almost non-existent where I live, in Canada.
Comments
you meet any fellow students who are employed in the field who mught be able to help? any teachers? did the school offer any job assistence? dont give up looking!!
Graduate of the REAL HU & #1 HBCU...HAMPTON UNIVERSITY!!! #shoutout to c/o 2004
WIP: 70-410(TBD) | ITIL v3 Foundation(TBD)
Not nessesary. Some HR drones might not know that a CCNP is gonna have a CCNA. Some people only know CCNA and CCIE.
If there is truly nothin your area, are you open to move? Did you go through a cisco net cad, if so I would list that as cisco experience. I agree with you about the amount of cisco jobs vs ms jobs. The MCSE is getting dated and for you just starting out, you may want to go for MCITP series of certs. What types of jobs as you looking for?
i was actually talkin about in the post, just about all of us on here know the progression of cisco certs, if not, google it...i'm not talkin bout what you put on ya resume or cover letter....
Graduate of the REAL HU & #1 HBCU...HAMPTON UNIVERSITY!!! #shoutout to c/o 2004
WIP: 70-410(TBD) | ITIL v3 Foundation(TBD)
gotcha. I actually had a interview where the person did not know what a CCNA was (a Network Manager btw). He only knew the CCIE.
And while passively waiting for job interviews, I would like to add some certs to my collection. Would you advice digging deeper into Cisco (Voice / Security, CCIE), or would learning a broader range of technology such as MCITP would be more beneficial? My thought is that my first IT job would probably be some help desk job and wouldn't be touching cisco equipment in years.
Don't forget that even though you may not be touching Cisco equipment for a while to keep those current.
With the Cisco certs you currently have it should probably take you no time at your first IT job to be grabbed up for some hands on Cisco work.
Good Luck
I think the Cisco certs are a bit too high level for someone without any experience at all. I would use the A+ and maybe get the MCDST to try to snag some temporary jobs doing computer repair or field support.
My A+ did enable me to get some temp work doing field support, so it did help me.
So a lack of experience should thwart his interest in furthering his knowledge?
To the original poster, your skill set makes you more than qualified to interview for a position within a NOC. It's tough work, but a great way to launch your career. Focus your attention that way.