Only a CCNA qualification

Hey guys, I am going to college soon to study for the CCNA certificate but before I do I just want to tell you that I have no other IT qualifications like a degree or anything but im more then capable of installing hardware/software and know a decent amount about windows. When I search for "ccna jobs" is comes up with CCNA network engineer wanted ect. It says the ideal candidate should have knowledge of CCNA, pix, checkpoint and data communications. It also says candidates that have the CCNA would be at a distinct advantage.

What I want to know is do you learn all these extra things like checkpoint and pix in the CCNA courses? Because I could spend 1 year at college, leave with my CCNA and still not find any jobs because I dont have any knowledge of the other stuff. Basically with just the CCNA qualification alone would I be able to install, configure, trouble shoot networks ect?

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Comments

networker050184

I'd say no you wouldn't be able to with just the knowledge from the CCNA. It also does not cover firewalls.

The CCNA (and most other certifications) really start to help you when you get some experience to back them up. You may have an employer willing to give you a shot with your CCNA alone, but competition is stiff out there. Don't expect to go right into network engineering role with the CCNA knowledge only. You may be able to land some sort of first level NOC tech job if you can show some potential.

uperkurk

So basically it would be best to do a degree in IT which is 3 years long.... The only problem for me is I dont want or need to learn excel or microsoft office and spreedsheets ect if im going to be installing networks. I need to try and find some kind of college course that will allow me to be a qualified network administrator or something.

I'm in london UK btw if anyone knows any good IT colleges.

Turgon

networker050184 wrote: »

I'd say no you wouldn't be able to with just the knowledge from the CCNA. It also does not cover firewalls.

And the rest... Firewalls, load balancers, proxies, reverse proxies, VPN concentrators, DNS servers, mailers, Mimesweeper, IDS. As I'm sure you know the list just goes on, but yes lack of firewall experience can be a real killer for the CCNAesque job seeking candidate.

tpatt100

Turgon wrote: »

And the rest... Firewalls, load balancers, proxies, reverse proxies, VPN concentrators, DNS servers, mailers, Mimesweeper, IDS. As I'm sure you know the list just goes on, but yes lack of firewall experience can be a real killer for the CCNAesque job seeking candidate.

this was a problem when I was looking for work. I have several years of Checkpoint experience but almost no router experience. Most employers bundled routers and firewalls together which makes sense imo.

uperkurk

I am trying to find an apprenticeship. A ccna one would last 2 - 3 years and I would get proper experience in the work place and i'm sure this would be alot better for me then the college course but its just finding them thats the problem. So what would be to normal route for people like me?

College : ICT 2 year course
University : ICT Degree
College : CCNA?

I havent got time to spend 5 years in college if im honest im already 20.

networker050184

You don't need college to get the CCNA. Grab some books and some equipment off ebay and start learning.

If you are first starting out with no experience then you are going to have a hard time finding a role doing strictly networking. Your best bet would be to start looking for entry level NOC or support jobs to get your foot in the door.

If you are looking for a quick easy paycheck I think you are going to be very disappointed.

20 isn't that young to start a degree. I'm 25 and still haven't started mine yet. Maybe some day....

uperkurk

Thanks for your reply, I know 20 is still young but I dont have £1000 to pay for the full time course which means I cant work so I cant afford to live lol. I also dont think I have money for the equipment on ebay unless is pretty cheap and what do you mean when you say NOC?

eMeS

uperkurk wrote: »

what do you mean when you say NOC?

A NOC is a "Network Operations Center". This is a group of people in an organization that monitors all aspects of a company's network, handles alerts, and escalates as necessary. This may also include application and server monitoring.

Sometimes in the UK this is called an "Operations Bridge", while sometimes in the US it is called a "Monitoring Center".

MS

shodown

uperkurk wrote: »

So basically it would be best to do a degree in IT which is 3 years long.... The only problem for me is I dont want or need to learn excel or microsoft office and spreedsheets ect if im going to be installing networks. I need to try and find some kind of college course that will allow me to be a qualified network administrator or something.

I'm in london UK btw if anyone knows any good IT colleges.

Thats where you are wrong at young man. Learning how to use the MS office suite is one of the biggest tools you will need. Spreadsheets are great for IP schemes. PowerPoints are good to give presentations on networks. Visio is a great tool for network diagrams. Knowing how to be a power user of those tools will put you ahead of other engineers who are lacking some of the knolowdge. Just like network engineers who have some server knowlodge and programming knolowdge to back up there main job.

This is all coming from the prospective of a guy who thought the same thing and if the Navy didn't force me to get MS office training I would be hurting in some of the jobs I've had. Hell one example was for a VOIP site I supported had multiple exit points for there PRI's all over the globle. Making a MS access data base we were able to just enter a few digits and learn where a number terminated to start troubleshooting intead of trying to go to each gateway and manually figure it out.

NinjaBoy

uperkurk wrote: »

Thanks for your reply, I know 20 is still young but I dont have £1000 to pay for the full time course which means I cant work so I cant afford to live lol. I also dont think I have money for the equipment on ebay unless is pretty cheap and what do you mean when you say NOC?

Then either do a degree part-time or an OpenU degree. It'll be cheaper to do the degree that way, plus you can still work full time.

-Ken

NinjaBoy

uperkurk wrote: »

So basically it would be best to do a degree in IT which is 3 years long.... The only problem for me is I dont want or need to learn excel or microsoft office and spreedsheets ect if im going to be installing networks. I need to try and find some kind of college course that will allow me to be a qualified network administrator or something.

I'm in london UK btw if anyone knows any good IT colleges.

I'm sorry, but is that what you think a degree teaches you? I did my degree in Computing and not once did I have a intro to Word (or other office application) course. At that level you're already expected to know stuff like that.

How about a BSc in Networking or a BSc in Computer Networks, etc... There are lots of different types of Computing degrees (I did one that specialises in Software engineering).

One thing that I would also like to add: No course will qualify you as a Network Administrator.

A qualified Network Admin has a combination of experience and qualifications. No company in their right mind would put someone in charge of their network with no experience.

One other thing I would also like to point out. Cisco certs expire every 3 years and not everyone uses Cisco kit.

-Ken

stephens316

Personally, I think you very limited if you just have a CCNA with no background. You need to get at least 3 yrs experience before you think about NOC operations job. You should also focus on a degree, I would not hire anyone with out some type of degree.

I think you would be better suited in following the track and trying to get a helpdesk/ support position to build your background.

1 Comptia Network +
2 MS 70-620 or 70-680
3 Comptia Security +
4 MS 70-640
5 CCENT
6 MS 70-642
7 Linux +
8 MS 70-646

Best path for you right now, as I see it. Keep an eye open for free voucher and other deals posted online. Get experience with are Desktop/help desk support roles and move up as you can.

zen master

networker050184 wrote: »

You don't need college to get the CCNA. Grab some books and some equipment off ebay and start learning.

If you are first starting out with no experience then you are going to have a hard time finding a role doing strictly networking. Your best bet would be to start looking for entry level NOC or support jobs to get your foot in the door.

If you are looking for a quick easy paycheck I think you are going to be very disappointed.

20 isn't that young to start a degree. I'm 25 and still haven't started mine yet. Maybe some day....

This had me baffled as well. Why the heck are you spending a year in college to do the CCNA? That sounds like total madness to me. CCNA is an ENTRY LEVEL exam. If you spend a year on that, how long will you spend getting CCIE or CCSP?

uperkurk

I dont know the extent of the exam but I just saw on a syllabus thingy it said the course was 1 year long, consisting of 1 night a week 6:30pm - 9:00pm. I'm despretly trying to get an apprenticeship now instead of going to college because you guys know what your talking about and it seems like the CCNA isnt going to get me a job. I just need a job where there no experience needed all training provided but it just aint happening lol.

NinjaBoy

Since you're in the UK, try searching here for vancancies. Other places that you can search would also be the Jobcentre Plus & your local paper job site.

-Ken

NinjaBoy

zen master wrote: »

This had me baffled as well. Why the heck are you spending a year in college to do the CCNA? That sounds like total madness to me. CCNA is an ENTRY LEVEL exam. If you spend a year on that, how long will you spend getting CCIE or CCSP?

In the UK, you can do the CCNA over an academic year (part-time), however it is coupled with a level 3 BTEC/EDEXCEL qualification, hence why alot of colleges can offer this (they get funding that way, otherwise it's 3 or 4 times the cost).

I have to disagree with you on the CCNA being a entry level cert, Cisco's entry level cert is the CCENT. And just because it's a entry level in a track, doesn't mean that it's an entry level cert in a field, the Comptia Network+ is the entry level cert in the networking field.

-Ken

Riskbling

uperkurk wrote: »

I am trying to find an apprenticeship. A ccna one would last 2 - 3 years and I would get proper experience in the work place and i'm sure this would be alot better for me then the college course but its just finding them thats the problem. So what would be to normal route for people like me?

College : ICT 2 year course
University : ICT Degree
College : CCNA?

I havent got time to spend 5 years in college if im honest im already 20.

I can't believe I am reading this.. You're 20 and using that as an excuse not to go to school? Man, I hope you don't express this poor attitude when your in a job interview, for your sake. Go to school, study certs on the side, get a part time job, and then get your internships. You're not going to get anymore out of life than you put into it.

Good luck.

Turgon

uperkurk wrote: »

Hey guys, I am going to college soon to study for the CCNA certificate but before I do I just want to tell you that I have no other IT qualifications like a degree or anything but im more then capable of installing hardware/software and know a decent amount about windows. When I search for "ccna jobs" is comes up with CCNA network engineer wanted ect. It says the ideal candidate should have knowledge of CCNA, pix, checkpoint and data communications. It also says candidates that have the CCNA would be at a distinct advantage.

What I want to know is do you learn all these extra things like checkpoint and pix in the CCNA courses? Because I could spend 1 year at college, leave with my CCNA and still not find any jobs because I dont have any knowledge of the other stuff. Basically with just the CCNA qualification alone would I be able to install, configure, trouble shoot networks ect?

Why go to college to get the CCNA? I knocked out the CCNA with a book or two in 10 weeks back in the day. There is no need to drag out the CCNA for a year. Go to college for something else and do CCNA and the side try and get some parttime work too. You are young and have plenty of time to get an education but you might as well start now.

billscott92787

Riskbling wrote: »

I can't believe I am reading this.. You're 20 and using that as an excuse not to go to school? Man, I hope you don't express this poor attitude when your in a job interview, for your sake. Go to school, study certs on the side, get a part time job, and then get your internships. You're not going to get anymore out of life than you put into it.

Good luck.

Definitely have to say you need to think positive. Get the CCNA on your own. There is no point in going to school for it. I studied and got mine outside of my degree that I'm working on in Networking and Communications Management. 20, you need to have more ambition to get ahead of the other individuals out there in the job market. I'm 22, 11 course left to complete my degree, CCNA, working on CCNP. Plan to go after the CCIE once I'm done the CCNP. You'll find you can't really find anything with just CCNA experience. Most want CCNA and a few years experience or CCNP, and some even want the degree to replace the experience even if you have the CCNP. I would recommend doing college for whatever you decide to major in and getting your CCNA on the side and deciding what you want to do from there whether it be CCNP, Security, Wireless, Voice. Keep motivated because the time that you waste and spend slacking in any way shape or form someone is out there that will beat you to that job you want to land.

Kaminsky

uperkurk wrote: »

The only problem for me is I dont want or need to learn excel or microsoft office and spreedsheets ect if im going to be installing networks.

A good working knowledge of those applications, especially Excel, is almost an unspoken minimum requirement of most IT jobs, especially networking.

networker050184

Kaminsky wrote: »

A good working knowledge of those applications, especially Excel, is almost an unspoken minimum requirement of most IT jobs, especially networking.

That is true. You will be making diagrams, spreadsheets and write ups all the time. Management likes everything with pretty little pictures and formulas. I wish I was a lot better with the MS Office applications.