Throwing in the towel.... For now

mistabrumley89

Well I'm going to call it quits on getting certifications for a little while. The rest of my year is pretty much booked up with military stuff, and probably on to the whole first quarter of next year. I achieved what I needed to this year... Maybe a little more than necessary. I want to thank everyone for the help and tips throughout the year. I look forward to being back around March next year giving it 200%. Only 2.5 years left in the Army. Goals before I get out are my ccna voice, CCNP, and cissp. I couldn't have made it this far without the help of TE and all of the members. I am very grateful to you all and just wanted to show my appreciation. Live long and prosper? Haha

SteveFT

Congratulations on meeting your goals for the year. Looks like you have kept yourself busy! I hope to finish quite a few of the same certs within a year from when I started (July).

CCNTrainee

Hey OP, do you mind if I ask you what do you use for your study resources?? You got more time then I do left with your contract but I at least want to try to get close to what you have right now. Lol

Congratz and good luck with all the PME the Service will proabably throw at you. Lol

RouteMyPacket

Can I ask what it is you do for work?

mistabrumley89

I mostly used cbtnuggets to study for my Cisco exams. I wouldn't just watch them though. Every slide I copy word for word. Then I would watch them all over again. Helped me a lot to remember the concepts and how to configure things. Then I would lab for a couple hours everyday for two weeks leading up to the exams. As for other exams... I just read books and hoped for the best haha.

I'm a 25B in the army. My last assignment was awesome but kind of really rare for soldiers. I was doing network management for the strategic networks, not tactical, in Korea. Roughly over 10,000 sq miles to support around 7500 users. Only civilians and contractors do that job at 99% of installations. I loved my job. Now I'm working at a helpdesk. Kind of a backtrack in my career, but I am learning new stuff. Now I'm doing what the average 25b does in the army. Pretty much just active directory things under my OU. It beats doing the whole motor pool thing all day long like other signal mos's do though

instant000

Yay for 25B!

One of the best enlisted MOS to get! (Yes, my opinion is 100% biased, since I was 25B.)

Psyco32

Congrats on meeting your goals!!! Ever think about going cyber??? 35Q/25D ???

N2IT

Nothing wrong with taking a break from anything including certifications. Sounds like you accomplished a lot!

docrice

Certifications aren't everything; what's important is being able to apply the knowledge to solve real-world problems.

I'm taking a break from certifications in general as well. As a matter of fact, I recently let my WCNA and all three of my CCNA certs expire because I simply don't have the time for the upkeep (plus my area of focus isn't exactly strictly infrastructure administration anymore).

RouteMyPacket

mistabrumley89 wrote: »

I mostly used cbtnuggets to study for my Cisco exams. I wouldn't just watch them though. Every slide I copy word for word. Then I would watch them all over again. Helped me a lot to remember the concepts and how to configure things. Then I would lab for a couple hours everyday for two weeks leading up to the exams. As for other exams... I just read books and hoped for the best haha.

I'm a 25B in the army. My last assignment was awesome but kind of really rare for soldiers. I was doing network management for the strategic networks, not tactical, in Korea. Roughly over 10,000 sq miles to support around 7500 users. Only civilians and contractors do that job at 99% of installations. I loved my job. Now I'm working at a helpdesk. Kind of a backtrack in my career, but I am learning new stuff. Now I'm doing what the average 25b does in the army. Pretty much just active directory things under my OU. It beats doing the whole motor pool thing all day long like other signal mos's do though

Hmmm! So you are just cert chasing? How do you intend to retain and or expand your knowledge and experience if you aren't actively doing the work? Be careful and don't do yourself an injustice by chasing down paper you can't back up. What do you WANT to be doing? Sys Admin or Network Engineer? If I ran you through a technical interview, you think you would pass? I say this because if I saw your resume with those certs, I would delve into each one and I would find out real quick if you are legit or not.

Quality over quantity, it will serve you better in the long run. You obviously have some pep in your step, get that focused in the right area and you're golden.

instant000

mistabrumley89:

Based on your certs, you have a strong interest in networking.

RouteMyPacket brought up a good point. If you're trying to hone your networking skills, Active Directory management might not be the answer.

Have you tried volunteering to transfer to the Network-Switch Branch?

You're more qualified to do that work, and it would keep your skills from going stale.

I know it sounds extreme, but you could even consider using soldier's time to volunteer in the Network/Switch Branch one afternoon a week, to show your interest. That might help facilitate the transfer. (Does the Army still have soldier's time once a week?)

mistabrumley89

Well I think I've acquired a pretty in depth knowledge of routing/switching for a multivendor infrastructure from my last job. I've only been at my new assignment for roughly 4 months, but I can tell that the whole "if you don't use it, you lose it" concept is pretty true. I'm still confident that I can configure and troubleshoot past a CCNA level with no issues. I tried to move to the Network Engineers section, but they don't have slots there for my MOS. Even if they did, they don't really do any type of configurations. It is all DA civilians that configure the devices there. The soldiers just plug it in or check out port security/vlan issues during exercises. I'm not interested in only getting a certification for the sake of saying I'm certified. Every certification I have I can back up in a production environment (at least that's what I believe). I do have a pretty decent lab at home that I play with from time to time. I know it's not the same, and it doesn't come close to having as many variables that can effect a production network, but it is still good practice at worst. When I get out I will probably apply for a Jr Network Engineering job. I'm not going to apply for a job that I don't think I'm capable of doing. I know it is way too easy to get call out. I want the certifications so I can get my foot in the door. Only because I know how competitive the job market is. Hopefully where I apply at will understand my circumstances about my job experience and why I'm only applying for a Jr role. But i completely understand not being able to back up the certifications that one possesses. We always got people in our section that had x, y, and z certifications, but as soon as you threw them on a CLI they were just dumbfounded.

mistabrumley89

I was trying to get into the 25D cyber protection team, but at the moment they are only taking NCO's. The website says it is open to everyone in FY 14', but when I inquired about it they told me that they haven't made that change yet and that there was no expected timeline

CCNTrainee

mistabrumley89 wrote: »

I mostly used cbtnuggets to study for my Cisco exams. I wouldn't just watch them though. Every slide I copy word for word. Then I would watch them all over again. Helped me a lot to remember the concepts and how to configure things. Then I would lab for a couple hours everyday for two weeks leading up to the exams. As for other exams... I just read books and hoped for the best haha.

I'm a 25B in the army. My last assignment was awesome but kind of really rare for soldiers. I was doing network management for the strategic networks, not tactical, in Korea. Roughly over 10,000 sq miles to support around 7500 users. Only civilians and contractors do that job at 99% of installations. I loved my job. Now I'm working at a helpdesk. Kind of a backtrack in my career, but I am learning new stuff. Now I'm doing what the average 25b does in the army. Pretty much just active directory things under my OU. It beats doing the whole motor pool thing all day long like other signal mos's do though

Sounds exactly in what I do to study my materials, since I mostly use CBT Nuggets as well. That is good to know. Lol

Damn Bro, you been to Korea, been trying to go there since I first known and probably won't get orders at this point in my career. It is funny; I work with some of the cable guys down here that said the same thing. When they were in Korea they were actually doing their job and then some. Now back in the Stateside Mainstream Garrison life at Bliss, they ain't doing anything but details. Transition to Peacetime for all Services, it probably be more of the same since they probably still keep the contractors/civilians, maybe not a LOT of them but they will still be around. >_>

CCNTrainee

@routemypackets

Well that is how it is in the Mainstream Garrison of the Military IT community. If you stuck in the states, don't expect some awesome hands on experience, you will either be a low level monkey or help desk ticket monkey. There are those special assignments, but like I said it is "Special" and you have to most likely compete for them. You would learn a lot more if you are Overseas or the deployed environment, when you are stuck in the garrison all you can do for valuable experience is Lab yourself up.

tprice5

RouteMyPacket wrote: »

Hmmm! So you are just cert chasing? How do you intend to retain and or expand your knowledge and experience if you aren't actively doing the work? Be careful and don't do yourself an injustice by chasing down paper you can't back up. What do you WANT to be doing? Sys Admin or Network Engineer? If I ran you through a technical interview, you think you would pass? I say this because if I saw your resume with those certs, I would delve into each one and I would find out real quick if you are legit or not.

Quality over quantity, it will serve you better in the long run. You obviously have some pep in your step, get that focused in the right area and you're golden.

Did something happen at work with you lately? You seem angry.