CCNA with experience or CCNP without experience?

rampage

Hello everybody
need your advice again.
Currently I'm working on my network+ and also CCNA odom book .My question is having two associate level certificates like ccna r+s and ccana security with several months experience are more likely to lead a job or one CCNA r+s and CCNP R+s with zero experience?
I ask this because in my area there is almost no way to have a related job to have good hands-on experience and the only way is working on lab.I have more than two years experience related to A+ and Network + topics.
Any advice is really appreciated.

NetworkVeteran

rampage wrote: »

My question is having two associate level certificates like ccna r+s and ccana security with several months experience are more likely to lead a job or one CCNA r+s and CCNP R+s with zero experience?

We often discuss whether a zero-experience CCNP is a liability. While that may take it too far, I'd wager a CCNA security plus several months of experience would do more for you in the tealm of landing a good entry-level position. This assumes you have a good reference and reason for leaving the role after a few months such as a contract or internship.

rampage wrote:

I ask this because in my area there is almost no way to have a related job to have good hands-on experience and the only way is working on lab.

What city is this "somewhere" you live in with no computer networks (and yet you have Internet access)?

rampage

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

We often discuss whether a zero-experience CCNP is a liability. While that may take it too far, I'd wager a CCNA security plus several months of experience would do more for you in the tealm of landing a good entry-level position. This assumes you have a good reason for leaving the role after a few months such as a contract or internship.

Thanks a lot.


What city is this "somewhere" you live in with no computer networks (and yet you have Internet access)?

That was a god one.Not like that.Actually,where I live they don't care what do you know. Other factors (mostly political ) are more important

Master Of Puppets

From an employer's point of view it is definitely better to hire a CCNA with some experience than a CCNP with none.I think few people will disagree with that.

Kai123

I read from this forum once that someone who no experience who had the CCNA was that the CCNA got him the interview, but the CCNP studies got him through the technical interview.

jsb515

Experience will always out weigh your certifications. Say you are a CCNA working at a place for say like 2 years gaining experience and then someone apply s for a job with a CCNP with no experience will struggle because of no experience under the belt. It's a hard market to break into but once you do everything will be good. It's not always how much you know, but knowing how to actually do it.

read this article. Eight ways to strengthen your Cisco networking skills | TechRepublic

SteveO86

I've done a few interviews for my team and while it all depends on the person. I lean toward the person with experience just because they have exposure to networking in the 'real world'/production environment.

theodoxa

From my own experience job hunting, experience is king. Unfortunately, this creates a sort of catch 22. Noone would hire me for the jobs I was qualified for (certs + college degree), because I didn't have "work" experience. And, its only "work" experience if someone paid you for it. But, how was I supposed to gain "work" experience unless someone would give me a job in the first place.

rampage

Thank you all for your great advice
What kinda skills are expected from a person with CCNA r+s and security?

NetworkVeteran

We'd expect them to have mastered the exam objectives of those CCNA R&S and Security exams. I know that seems too obvious, but given only that information about a candidate, that's what I would expect.

An interviewer would test that during a job interview.

I have rejected someone with a recent Microsoft certification when it became clear he had braindumped it. The job did not require Microsoft knowledge, but that was an instant ejection from the process.

SteveO86

rampage wrote: »

Thank you all for your great advice
What kinda skills are expected from a person with CCNA r+s and security?

I consider the CCNA:S to be basic security maintenance that any networking admin/engineer should know regardless of having a cert.

To me the CCNA:S mean, your not going to deploy a network with Telnet or HTTP management enabled and you know why. No in-secure management plane. You have firm understanding of ACLs and you IPSec including GRE/IPSec tunnels. You know what you are securing when you configure various security features (BPDU Guard, Root Guard, Port Security, SSH, etc)

jsb515

The way I did it is, I got a job just to get my foot in the door and worked close with the network team. Now i'm moving over to the network team as a network admin. It took about 8 years but the experience and time I've spent with them has paid off and they got to know me very well over the years. I would even join them on outings to baseball, and hockey games.

neolight90

What I am doing is doing Helpdesk in a massive company that employee 8000 people and keep hinting I like Networking and showing them the exams I am doing in the hope they will expose me more to network stuff