Newbie Looking For advice.

InTraining

Hello All,

My name is Ancil, im 25 and i am currently a student at Devry university (Online) and my major is Network & Communication Management. I work for Time Warner Cable currently as a Cust care rep. I have no certs and i am starting my sophmore year at Devry later this year. I have joined this site to get into the loop, and to also start working on my certs i am a bit confused on which route to go. I am told that my shot for Level 3 / Tier iii support is very high with my current work ethic but they are looking for candidates with certs. For this job i am not to worried abotu the certs but later on becoming a network engineer i am starting to wonder what certs besides the ccna & ccnp would be helpful to aiding me in my journey. Right now i was looking at the network + exam after reading several post. Can anyone give me some advice on some of the paths they took and if there are some network engineers on here can you guys give me some feedback thanks.

earweed

You already seem to be doing quite well for yourself having a job in IT and getting an education at the same time. You already seem to have a good idea of what you want. Do you see yourself being in networking in the long run (3-5 years down the road) then the CCNA and CCNP will be good certs to shoot for. Getting the Net+ may help you aas a general Vendor neutral view of networking may be good for you.
Question: Does your current place of employment use a lot of Cisco? If they have exclusively or nearly exclusive Cisco then you could probably skip the Net+ and go straight for the CCNA. You want to aim for what it is that you use where you work and then aim for what it is you want to be doing further down the road.

networker050184

I'd skip the Net+ and go straight for the CCNA/JNCIA depending on what you are working with. You are already in the company and are furthering your education so you have set yourself up nicely. Adding some certifications should help you on your goal of being an engineer. Good luck!

nel

networker050184 wrote: »

I'd skip the Net+ and go straight for the CCNA/JNCIA depending on what you are working with. You are already in the company and are furthering your education so you have set yourself up nicely. Adding some certifications should help you on your goal of being an engineer. Good luck!

Agreed. I would then go for a CCNP/DP combo - imo maybe worth studying Juniper by the side of your cisco studies.

InTraining

I have never heard of the JNCIA guess that is why i am here. And what is the DP(nel)? Thanks for the advice im going to look into what systems we are running. I know that being that we are a cable company that provides cable, digital phone and internet. that we have tons of servers so im going to look into that. For me i am now learning the osi model and its function on diff layers. I just finished my first intro to networking course with devry and i am eager to get a few certs before i finish school. Net + seems like the way to go. How many questions are on these test and for a begginner how long of a study period would you say it may take. ( I know every one learns differently i am just trying to get an idea.)

mikej412

InTraining wrote: »

I have never heard of the JNCIA guess that is why i am here.

That's a certification for Juniper network hardware.

A mix of Cisco and Juniper Certifications are a good thing for your career -- if you have Juniper hardware where you work (or would like to work) and don't work for Cisco.

InTraining wrote: »

And what is the DP(nel)?

Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP) -- but the prerequsite is the Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA).

You can find the different Cisco Certification tracks (and specializations) on the Cisco Certification web page. You'd start on Cisco Certifications with the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) -- but you could earn the Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) if you took the 2 exam option to earn the CCNA.

InTraining wrote: »

i am eager to get a few certs before i finish school. Net + seems like the way to go.

I'd say target the Net+ before the end of this year, if you can, while it's still a "lifetime certification." And if you've done the Information Security course (I'm looking at the course list) you might want to see how that compares to the CompTIA Security+ exam topics.

It's hard to tell from the course list which certifications your classes could prepare you for -- so you might want to ask. But the CCENT, CCNA, and CCDA would probably be a good start on the Cisco side from the courses listed in your program.

You're off to a good start for an IT career with the job, school, and now adding some certifications.

InTraining

Thanks for the great info. tips and advice. I am going to start studying for the net + as of tomorrow. What would you guys recommend to use as study tools for net +. Anything with videos? Thank again.

earweed

Labsim was really good.

Daniel333

I have to start off by recommend you avoid Comptia. Since they are vendor neutral you won't really have an employable skill. Secondly their tests are pure esoteric non-sense.

Pass your Net+ and chances are you won't be able to work in the many real world situations are you going to expected to deal with out of the gate.

If networking is your goal you really should start off with the CCENT. The lab books, Cisco Exploration guides are GOLD. Very real world, with a lot less trivia. One last point after Net+ the logical step IS the CCENT! Why not save a step for the same effort?

Here is the path I am recommending to anyone and everyone for their first three networking certs.
CCENT >> CCNA >> CCNA:Sec