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Next cert advice
Mahlalie
Member Posts: 6 ■■□□□□□□□□
Hey, guys. I'm a month or two away from sitting for my ICND2, and I'm trying to figure out which cert to study for next. I may be over thinking this.
I just started what I consider to be my first true IT job as a JOAT at a very small MSP a few weeks ago. At this stage, I feel dumb at pretty much everything I do, but my weakness on Windows admin kind of stuff feels very clear to me after the first few weeks. Long term, I want go the networking route (hence ICND2), but probably a little more than half of what this MSP handles seems to be more Windows admin kind of stuff (creating shares, managing AD users, Office 365, a little group policy,...).
On the one hand, I kind of want to go straight into CCNP while CCNA is still fresh in my mind. This MSP seems to like certs, and from what I've gathered, when MSPs push certs, it's usually so they can advertise those certs to potential customers. I don't know for a fact that's how it is here; that's just the general idea I've read. So right now, networking is probably about 10% of the business, but I kinda of have in the back of my mind that higher end networking certs may help bring in some more networking work (currently, the highest networking cert in the company is one active and one expired Net+).
On the other hand, I feel like learning MCSA-level topics would make me a more well-rounded tech and increase my usefulness in the short term.
So should I pursue MCSA, or should I pursue CCNP and just learn by doing the Windows admin stuff? Or something else entirely? Thanks.
I just started what I consider to be my first true IT job as a JOAT at a very small MSP a few weeks ago. At this stage, I feel dumb at pretty much everything I do, but my weakness on Windows admin kind of stuff feels very clear to me after the first few weeks. Long term, I want go the networking route (hence ICND2), but probably a little more than half of what this MSP handles seems to be more Windows admin kind of stuff (creating shares, managing AD users, Office 365, a little group policy,...).
On the one hand, I kind of want to go straight into CCNP while CCNA is still fresh in my mind. This MSP seems to like certs, and from what I've gathered, when MSPs push certs, it's usually so they can advertise those certs to potential customers. I don't know for a fact that's how it is here; that's just the general idea I've read. So right now, networking is probably about 10% of the business, but I kinda of have in the back of my mind that higher end networking certs may help bring in some more networking work (currently, the highest networking cert in the company is one active and one expired Net+).
On the other hand, I feel like learning MCSA-level topics would make me a more well-rounded tech and increase my usefulness in the short term.
So should I pursue MCSA, or should I pursue CCNP and just learn by doing the Windows admin stuff? Or something else entirely? Thanks.
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EANx
Member Posts: 1,077 ■■■■■■■■□□
Sometimes the early part of a career can be a balancing act, you don't want to get a high-level cert without the experience to back it up. For that reason, I don't think that the CCNP is in your best interest right now. If your boss said they could market the CCNP that would be one thing but short of that, I think the MCSA works better for your short/medium term interests. I always recommend someone become a generalist before they specialize. -
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kaiju
Member Posts: 453 ■■■■■■■□□□
Complete your CCNA while the information from CCENT is fresh in your BHU (brain housing unit) and then pursue MCSA.Work smarter NOT harder! Semper Gumby!