What is the best path to take when changing careers?

I have a bachelors degree in advertising but I am looking to change careers. I am interested in getting in to networking. I understand that I will have to start at the bottom and work my way up. My question is what path should I take to get in to IT? Should I go get an associates degree or should I start working on my certifications? Should I get an a+, network+ and then ccna? should i go network+ then ccna? or should i just go straight for the ccna? Any advice would be appreciated.

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YuckTheFankees

No need to get another degree. I would get the Network+ (gain the basics), move onto the CCNA, and then start looking for a NOC (network operation center) job.

josh126

That is what I was starting to lean towards. So is the a+ certification of any value?

YuckTheFankees

Honestly no. I came from the financial sector last year and I went straight into networking. I'm currently studying for the A+ because I need to for WGU but none of this information is really that useful. What city are you currently in? When you go to indeed.com and search CCNA and NOC, how many results come up?

josh126

I am in Winston Salem, Nc. Haven't searched that yet, but I work for an IT recruiting firm now and I know we have about 4 network engineer spots open and I'm sure that is not all encompassing.

NetworkVeteran

josh126 wrote: »

Should I go get an associates degree

No. In the education department, an Advertising degree and an Associate's degree redundantly cover you in the "I have a piece of paper" department and neither will impress those looking for more. A master's degree might help you, but that can wait until your feet are wet, and you're better able to evaluate your direction and how much it might help you.

should I start working on my certifications?

Definitely.

Should I get an a+, network+ and then ccna? should i go network+ then ccna? or should i just go straight for the ccna? Any advice would be appreciated.

That depends on your goals. The A+ is helpful for repairing PCs. The Network+ is how networks work, for server guys. The CCNA is how networks work, for network guys.

Roguetadhg

josh126 wrote: »

I have a bachelors degree in advertising but I am looking to change careers. I am interested in getting in to networking. I understand that I will have to start at the bottom and work my way up. My question is what path should I take to get in to IT? Should I go get an associates degree or should I start working on my certifications? Should I get an a+, network+ and then ccna? should i go network+ then ccna? or should i just go straight for the ccna? Any advice would be appreciated.

1) The path you need to take varies. I'd try picking up an internship, first. Just so you kinda sort of know what you'll find yourself in. It's not glamous. It's long hours. Politics rule over everything and it's always our fault - Even if it's not

2) a degree with computers would be best. I know my com college had Networking Administration... Heavy on Novell, and Batch scripting.

3) A+ is going to cover generally everything you'll probably do at first. Even at high-levels, you'll find yourself working on servers and computers. You're never too good to work on a computer if your job requires it.

4) Network+, as I remember it wasn't a huge difference between that and CCNA. I couldn't tell you much but there wasn't a lot of topics that weren't already covered more indepth in CCENT/CCNA.

5) CCNA is going to be a vendor specific path. Until you get your feet into seeing what's going on in the back end... I'd stay away until you get some little experience. CCNA isn't a cheap exam. Cisco likes to punish testers those without lab experience of some type.

I'm assuming you're coming from this at a completely odd angle. No experience. You don't know how to turn on the computer, and you put your coffee in your CD-Rom tray... wait. Blu-Ray player. I gotta get with the times.

One more thing: There's also another certification you should look at: Security+.

Basics of Security, required for some jobs - government and elsewise. Heck, Im finding a new found appriciation for Windows Management. Not a bad read either.

NetworkVeteran

Rogue, mate, I'm going to respectfully disagree on a couple things--

A+... Even at high-levels, you'll find yourself working on servers and computers.

As a networking guy, I've never had to repair a server or PC. There are teams that do that for me. I only work on computers in the sense of using Outlook, PuTTY, ssh, etc.

My job requires knowing absolutely zip about that "Active Directory" thing.

CCNA is going to be a vendor specific path.

Cisco certification isn't a vendor-specific path. It is a networking-specific path. The gulf between Cisco IS-IS and Juniper IS-IS isn't that wide. The key thing any company wants to know is that you get IS-IS. I even know more than one Cisco-certified individual hired by Juniper!

(And yes, one of these days, I'll get Juniper-certified, too!)

Roguetadhg

I don't know that many just-X within the IT biz.

Most of my experience comes from places where everyone gets their hands in things - mostly networking/microsoft/desktop.

I don't know much about Juniper, but it's definitely something I want to touch base with sooner and not later

NetworkVeteran

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Most of my experience comes from places where everyone gets their hands in things - mostly networking/microsoft/desktop.

I've seen successful people who are jacks-of-all-trades and others who are specialists. I'm in the specialist camp. I'm called in to design/troubleshoot multi-vendor topologies involving IS-IS, MP-BGP, LDP, tLDP, IS-IS, RSVP, etc. in L2 or L3 configurations and sometimes with ATM or Frame Relay on the edges. If I suspect HW issues, I called in a team of EEs. If I suspect software, I call in an IT team. I *know* my area and they know theirs. Both models are viable.

gorebrush

Winston Salem - isn't that where Ben Fold's grew up. Love his music!

josh126

Thanks for the feedback. I am coming in with no IT experience, but I do know some, not exactly putting my coffee in the blu ray player.

So if network+ and ccna are similar, should I just go with a ccna? Some of the research I did suggested that the network+ would cover some of the basic networking info I would need and that the ccna would already assume you know. Is this accurate? Also, if I dont need a network+, should I go with an a+ to get IT basics since I have no experience and a ccna to prepare me for networking?

josh126

Or since I am new would I be best served to just go for all 3? I could do the a+ and network+ at the same time, try to find an entry level position and then get my ccna.