Dont have a Technical degree

urvi

Hi
I am from India.I have done some programming courses and lots of IT related short courses but I dont have any engineering or Computer science degree. I am only a BSc Pure Science(PCM) graduate with no specializations.
How do I fare a chance in getting a cisco networking job anywhere in the world?
Regards

paul78

I can't speak for India but I've noticed that certain parts of India (Bangalore, Hyderabad) tend to be very competitive for IT jobs. In the US, the lack of a technical degree is less of an issue.

I think that your best bet is to try applying to some local companies and see what type of interest you get in your background. Because of the amount of IT work being done in certain parts of India, perhaps it's not an issue.

Good luck.

urvi

Hi paul78,
But I find many jobs in Americas and Europe apart from jobs here in India,specially MNC companies asking for at least a BS degree,sometimes even MS.Even Cisco is no exception to this as I have seen the Cisco career page & I see that Cisco mostly asks for Btechs/BE's for most networking jobs in Cisco along with a CCNA/CCNP!!
See this post which I found here in this forums where "networkveteran" advises someone that he can easily get a job in ccna field if he has a BS degree.Even others agrees in that post.
Here is the link -
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/87456-after-ccna-then-what.html#post730786

Also,FYI, I name some companies asking for mandatory Engineering or Computer Science degrees in India or outside-
1)Nokia Siemens
2)Cisco
3)TCS(Tata Consulatncy Services)
4)Cognizant
5)HCL
to name only a very few...
Also you can check yourself in any job site or the career pages.
I think Cisco should take a stance and at least make the recruitment more lenient and no age-discrimination.

p.s.: Also,it was unfair of Cisco to give such a short notice for the expiry of the old exams. They should at least kept it alive it alive till Dec 2013.

bbarrick

Not to bring politics into this, but from what I heard the guy who leaked information about the NSA was a high school dropout and was making 200k a year as a systems admin. The bachelors degree no doubt helps you get the interview I'm sure, but skills and personality get's you the job.

chanakyajupudi

It is a very wrong notion that Big Companies want only B.S . Thats not true.

As a fresher you might face difficulties as that is the only way companies filter half the interview room.

Get experience. Join a contact center / call center. Learn the ropes. Prepare and Lab for certifications of your choice.

I have done this. I started out with a call center. Now I work for a very big Financial Institution. I have a distance bachelors degree in business management and I work in Technology as an Operating Systems Engineer.

I hope my personal experience will show as an example that your education is not what defines you but it is you and your skills that define who you are.

Yes. There are certain companies like TCS which will not take you unless you have 60% in your education and stuff. So what you join another company !

Cheers

Hit me up if you need any guidance !

Chanakya

paul78

What @Chanakya siad is spot on....

I would also add that since you have a degree already, perhaps its less of an issue. However, hiring practices for freshers in India and RCGs (recent college grads) in the US are probably quite different and is also largely influenced by the local economy and job pool.

In the US, at least, hiring managers tend to take a more pragmatic approach and "required education" is usually not mandatory. My own job usually "requires" a masters but I have neither a masters or BS.