A+, N+, MCSA, CCNA, CCNP/ what type of job can i get with

what kind of job can I land with these.

I already have 9 months experience, masters and bachelors in computer science. Already A+, N+, MCSA. What type of job will I be able to land after getting the CCNA and CCNP??

I work at a Application Support Center which pays very low ($32,000). Hmm, after obtaining the CCNA and CCNP, I should have about like 7 more months of experience, assuming I dont get fired.

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Comments

johnnynodough

what type of experience do you have? Anything that will back up the Cisco certs?

x_Danny_x

Nope, Im trying to get a Network Administration position or at least a Help Desk to work on some Network stuff

I was a Help Desk intern for about 4 months. That is all I have as of right now.

Ricka182

I would hold off on obtaining all those certs until you get some more relevent experience.

QUIX0TIC

I would definitely hold off in getting the CCNP. But of course never stop your education... I would just say to take your time on the CCNP.

Just make sure that you dont take any shortcuts and just study the questions versus studying the material. Please understand that I am NOT stating that you do that now or you have ever done that. I just think until you get more experience... you can study the NP at a slower pace and truly know your stuff.

x_Danny_x

I got my certs from a learning center, that is what I was planning for the CCNA and CCNP. Cover a book in 1 week or 2 and then study a month for the test day in and day out. Boot Camp style. I am following the path of one of the posters friend who did Boot Camp to Boot Camp all the way to the CCIE.

but you guys are saying that I wont get a good job if I dont get the experience even with the CCNP? Or with the lack of experience it is going to be extremely difficult to pass?

Employers arent looking at me at all. I only had a phone interview with Georgia Tech but they havent replied back and it has been like 5 days.

The problem with my job is that they are forcing me to know alot of account , stocks and bonds, transactions, etc. I work for SunTrust Bank.

I was reading the thread on state of the IT market, damn I guess it is true that they wont look at you if you dont have 3 years experience at least.

QUIX0TIC

at this point... you might want to start volunteering some work somewhere for the networking experience. We all know its difficult with how do you get the job without experience or how do you get experience with out a job?

If you cant find a volunteer network job... then work for projects. Whether they are extremely short term or long term.. that is the only way to get experience.

x_Danny_x

where can i find such projects??

QUIX0TIC

Register at employment/ recruiting centers or just put you resume on monster.com, hotjobs.com, and dice.com...that type of stuff. Plus, if you see any job that you like... apply. Even if you dont get the job... its the experience of the interview that will make you a better applicant.

filkenjitsu

http://volunteers.baou.com/

http://www.volunteermatch.org/

http://www.idealist.org/

mikey_b

CCNP might open a few doors, but experience is going to seal the deal. Try getting your CCNA and then trying to find a networking related job, then work towards CCNP. Then your value will go up. And up. And up. Then you'll be able to score some really good job offers. But you almost definately have to grunt it out at first.

blork_98

umm, since u have a BS and MS in CompSci, why not apply for a software engineer job? just curious

keatron

I agree with blork98. Try using your strong points (which appears to your education) to get a decent position in a good company. Then from there you can basically move to any department you want (key word is good company). That's the exact strategy I used when I was young in this field. I worked for UPS and changed job roles/departments every year. At the end of 4 years I had experience in all kinds of things, and from there it was pretty easy to land a job somewhere else doing exactly what I wanted to do.

x_Danny_x

well I guess I can stay with the company for six more months and I will be available to apply for IT jobs, true IT Jobs.

Im going after my CCNA right now. I just cant stay doing something unrelated to my field and just let my skills go by.

I have to be more carefull, big time because jobs are misleading. They hire me and didnt mention anything learning about accounting, stocks and bonds.

baracus

x_Danny_x wrote:

what kind of job can I land with these.

I already have 9 months experience, masters and bachelors in computer science. Already A+, N+, MCSA. What type of job will I be able to land after getting the CCNA and CCNP??

I work at a Application Support Center which pays very low ($32,000). Hmm, after obtaining the CCNA and CCNP, I should have about like 7 more months of experience, assuming I dont get fired.

A Masters Degree in CS and only $32k?? Thats sounds like a help desk salary. You should be making double that! How was the gpa?? I think, for the time being, you need to decide on hardware or software, not both. If you want a hardware job, which is what all your future certs are in, focus on that instead of application support. On the other hand, most employers hiring coders care more about their math skills than what they can do with hardware.

crap I forgot my old pwd

at least you have a masters. I have 6 friends with bachelors in computer science, and only one of them has gotten in the last 2 years after they graduated, and he only makes $35k with it. : \ I'm in college for computer science right now...kinda makes me wanna jump on the MIS bandwagon.

fondue

On the west coast MSCS with no experiance would get you >$60k, most of the defense primes are still hiring strong. Why go into IT when you can become a C++ hack, work 8 hour days and blame the hardware or the IT guys for all your woes, "oops did I type that out loud", lol.

I would embrace your major and become a software engineer.

ally_uk

Dude impressive array of certifcation you have

I'm 20 years old I have no certification

But have worked on a helpdesk for 2 years guess i'm a know it all lol

How long did it take for you to aqquire all those qualifications?

And what was the cost like?

By the way all the certficates you have are the ones i'm going for lol

it's a small world