CCNA benefits?

ally_uk · November 2006

So I have decided to book myself up on the CCNA course for a JAN start i'm looking forward to it

But paying £1700 for the course is this a good investment?

What are the benefits of being CCNA qualified

BTW I also am studying for Network+ and will take the exam next year aswell

Thanks

Kaminsky · November 2006

I have been on several of these types of courses where you go away for a week and are expected to sit the exam at the end of it.

To be honest, ccna covers such a depth of knowledge, unless you already know a lot about the subject, you are going to be hard pressed to cram all that knowledge in within a week or even two.

These courses are great for in depth revision before you sit the exam but for the amount of money being shelled out, I would make sure you have already done a lot of pre-study of the syllabus before you start.

Look at the FAQ in this forum to give you good pointers for study material.http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7268

Hopefully on the course you will get a lot of lab time too and lots of real equipment to play with. For the price, I would certainly hope so.

As for the benefits of CCNA, I can only tell you the benefits I see for myself. CCNA is considered the entry level into networking jobs and shows that you know the basics of how networks work and how to set the basic configurations up on some of the equipment involved.

In the UK the IT support job market is getting fairly flooded at the lower end (helpdesk, pc support, server support) and the salaries are dropping accordingly (I've seen £6 / hour for a PC support job fairly recently - Considering you can work in McDonalds for a similar amount and get a free lunch in the bargain, it makes you wonder!). For networking, you need to be able to do the hands on but also have a lot of theoretical knowledge about how it all works and this is the assurance that the CCNA provides to the employer. Well... theoretically!

People with even this "basic" certification are in high demand and the salaries are higher accordingly.

Paul Boz · November 2006

1,700 British pounds = 3,222.86 U.S. dollars. That's an astronomical ammount of money given how easy it is to study for this stuff on your own, with a $60 text book (either Cisco Press or Sybex). I bought the Sybex book and read a few web forums and did some free practice tests and did really well on the INTRO exam, and feel confident that I could take and pass the ICND test too. $3200 is more than I pay for a full load (15 hours) at LSU for a semester!

No matter what the CCNA does to your resume, you're not guarenteed to walk from the class with a CCNA, and you're not guaranteed to learn anything either. It seems like a 1,700 pound waste of time and money to me, because you can earn a CCNA by doing independent study for free.

It's not like the CCNA will make or break your career, either. CCNAs are so plentiful that they either only serve to pad your resume and get you to the second interview or get a raise from your boss if you're already in your career. Maybe if you keep at it to a CCNP or CCIE you'll really see a return on your time, but otherwise it's not THAT big of a deal. If you spend 1700 pounds trying to learn the depth of knowledge you're supposed to pick up from studying for the CCNA you're going to short yourself a TON of knowledge that you need to move on to the CCNP (if that's your goal).

Basically what I'm trying to say is that alone, the cert means nothing. It's just a piece of paper that means you may or may not know your **** when it comes to basic internetworking. I've seen some people with CCNAs that can't hook up a home router, and I've seen some people without any certs that head IT departments. Having the cert isn't about actually having the cert, it's about what you learn getting it.

MrD · November 2006

I agree. For a CCIE boot camp I'm considering 8grand tho, so...to each his own

ally_uk · November 2006

Hi guys I forgot to metion that the £1700 includes a 40 week study plan that involves 70 hours worth of CISCO lectures and Lab time to play with routers

The exam fee is also included

I want to get into the networking side of computing and see this as the way to go I don't mind parting with the money because I see it as a investment

BTW i'm 21 years old and have had 3 years working IT experience

I have worked on a help desk and now I am working as a computer technician role

Obviously the natural progression for me is the CCNA and Network+

I was looking at the average salary for CCNA here in the UK and we're looking at 25k - 36k

hmmmmm considering i'm only on 16k now I see this as a great investment

ally_uk · November 2006

Hi guys I forgot to metion that the £1700 includes a 40 week study plan that involves 70 hours worth of CISCO lectures and Lab time to play with routers

The exam fee is also included

I want to get into the networking side of computing and see this as the way to go I don't mind parting with the money because I see it as a investment

BTW i'm 21 years old and have had 3 years working IT experience

I have worked on a help desk and now I am working as a computer technician role

Obviously the natural progression for me is the CCNA and Network+

I was looking at the average salary for CCNA here in the UK and we're looking at 25k - 36k

hmmmmm considering i'm only on 16k now I see this as a great investment

Kaminsky · November 2006

I can understand your point but I think the general concensus here is you could save your self that hard earned cash (in your job we all know it's hard earned).

If you get the books (sybex and cisco press usually) and fork out for the Bosun ccnp simulator (or maybe fork out on ebay for some old networking gear to play with) and study in your own time then just pay the £84 exam fee you could have it all done before next summer and save yourself a bundle in the meantime which you could spend on a nice summer holiday to celebrate the ccna.

In the meantime you could get talking to your network guys letting them know (accidentally of course) your doing the ccna and they could give you some pointers; maybe let you tag along on some of their fault calls and you maybe even get moved into network support in the same company afterward.

Even though you get the ccna you will still have a challenge getting a network job elsewhere and then getting a couple of years experience under your belt (whilst studying for ccnp usually). If you could do that in the same place you are working now then your laughing.

Just a suggestion

ally_uk · November 2006

Unfortuantley where I work they tend not to use Cisco gear

The majority of the networking is running off Linux distributions such as Debian

The systems admimistrator is a Veteran Linux User and tends to incoperate alot of Open Source Software and Hardware

I can Learn alot about Unix and basic Networking Stuff I guess

I already know how to build small networkings and how to troubleshoot basic problems

But I probally will still go ahead and do the CCNA through going to University I do not mind parting with £1700 if I get CCNA qualified I will need more than likely undertake the CCNP

As for the guys with CCNA qualifications who cannot implement Home routers lol they should really be shot

You undertake all that study and you cannot setup your home internet connection is quite amusing to say the least hehe

What kinda jobs will i be looking at when I CCNA qualified?

james_ · November 2006

Ally, I have to agree with the general consensus here. Think of what you could do with that 1,700 GBP?!?! I took the Network+ 2 months back and passed, I purchased the Sybex and CISCO press books, maybe $60, and a couple of routers from EBay, $150. That's my total investment. Right now I am scoring 90%+ in tests first time around.

The fact is, if you get down and study, and have determination, this stuff is not all that difficult to learn. I am taking my INTRO in 2 weeks, ICND in a couple of months. So, (providing I pass) CCNA would have taken me 4 months, with a total investment of $210.

Good luck in whatever path you choose!

tibul · November 2006

i also agree with the other people, my company paid for 4 training courses on windows 2000 MCSA for me, but i have completed exams 70-210, 70-215 and 70-218 before even the first training course had ended which was only for 70-210.

so it just goes to show if u want something enough and put the effort in you can learn it by yourself and not fork out so much money.

Paul Boz · November 2006

Look, I'm also 21 and I've been in my job since I graduated highschool in 2003. In my spare time I read Cisco news letters, training manuals, service manuals, books, and view configuration files for the enterprise routers and switches (I work for an ISP) here at work. The CCNA is nothing you can't study on your own if you just apply yourself and try to learn it. There's no reason why you should have to spend 1700GBP on training that you can do on your own. I don't care if the class teaches you to build a router with popsickle sticks then get a running version of IOS on it, it's not worth it, especially given your current salary.

tibul · November 2006

seems like alot of us are 21 here

ally_uk · November 2006

Indeedy 21 seems to be a pretty popular age in this forum lol

I'm one of these people who are easily demotivated when it comes to personal study

I much rather prefer learning hands on and visually then sitting at a desk trying to take in statistics

I don't mind parting with the £1700 i will earn it back becoming CCNA qualified so it's really a investment the demand for CCNA in the Uk is pretty high

As for the network+ exam Ive got a feeling I will slaughter this exam after 5 days training ive read through the materials seems to be pretty straight forward basic stuff really

CCNP is going to be the aim though

tibul · November 2006

well if money is no issue then i suppose it isent too bad, but you can still build a home lab for the ccna like most people have here and get practical experiance that way, i plan on doing it this way once i start on the cisco tracks as i like the idea of having my own network set up at home so i can practice for cisco when i like.

check the cisco forums there are many guides on what routers to buy extra and it will still cost less than paying for the entire course and it means you can practice when you want.

CCNA benefits?

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