Cisco or Juniper

JohnG45

My company will pay for Cisco or Juniper certifications. It seems as though the industry recognizes Cisco more readily. I am rather new to either, and Juniper seems a bit more user friendly w/r/t cert paths. Any thoughts out there regarding the relative merits of both/either
Thanks,
JG

NetworkVeteran

I would get whichever one would be reinforced by your daily activities on-the-job. Knowledge without reinforcement is easily forgotten, and certifications without knowledge to back them are a detriment when searching for jobs.

Cisco has more recognition/respect, but both vendors and certification tracks are well-known.

JohnG45

Thanks for the input. I must actually seek a position within the company (or another company) that will provide the reinforcement or hands-on. I am thinking long term and want to build my resume and also sharpen my skills.

nel

If i was starting out then i would angle which vendor towards what you use in your day to day duties as the OP said.

That being said. Cisco certs give great foundation knowledge. I found that once i completed the cisco track of a subject you could then learn the JunOS way and take their certs quite easily. To me, the juniper certs i took kind of assumed that you had prior foundation knowledge already. So if i were you, and you wanted both, i would do CCNA first then JNCIA/-JunOS & JNCIS-ENT afterwards.

JohnG45

Good advice; I will probably go ahead and go for the CCNA, then consider Juniper.