Advice for a friend of mine - I would like your input

N2IT

I have a friend who was recently let go from a MSP (Networking - System) administration position. Generally speaking he is a JOAT in most of his positions. He has ~8 years of IT experience some on the help desk ~3 years, mostly with the NOC and networking though. He has his CCNA, but no other certifications. I promised him I would ask this great community what they thought. Do you think there is a certifications that could help him land on his feet or is this just a storm he is going to have to fight through? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, my advice get's old and it's not always right. I'm not a system admin or network admin I know a lot of you are. Thanks!

Ukimokia

I don't have too much experience, but what I have learned from being on this forum and talking with others is that certifications are certainly nice. What really matters to employers is what you can do.

He has a decent amount of experience, I think he just needs to highlight specific things he's done and that he's learned in his experience. Also, if he wants to work for DoD/Contract work he may want to look into getting Sec+ as it's a must have in a lot of posistions.

N2IT

Yeah I think certifications are cool and helpful but in this situation I am not so sure. Thanks again for the great follow up.

joebanny

My advice to your friend is not to give up but re-calibrate- this too shall pass! If he wants to continue the same line of work, he should update his resume and blast out to recruiters- he is willing to relocate? His big break may be in a different part of the country. No extra certification is necessary guaranteed to yield any immediate result. Having said that though, I will say if he has enough time and motivation he can invest that time in working of any cert he may be interested in- he should carefully choose which one to go after though- there is no need working on a cert that will get you nowhere (he should do his research). It will all depend on what he wants to do next, if he wants to continue on the same track, then other higher Cisco certs might be nice, if he wants to diversify a bit into something like IT security, Security+, CEH, CISSP may be of interest to him. This is just my 2 cents. All the best to your friend.