Freshmen in College needs advice...

I took some net+ stuff in high school and never got the certification....i plan on doing these certs:

A+
Net+
Security+
Server+

also i was wonderking about CCNA and Security stuff from Cisco.

My main goal is to get Certified Ethical Hacker.

So, is this a good path? advice? or some guidance?

please reply or PM, thanks

~IceMagic09

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Comments

shaqazoolu

I haven't touched any of the CompTIA material at all but having just finished CCNA and CCNA:Security I can tell you to not set your expectations too high. It will take a long time to get that while you are in school unless you already have networking experience. In hindsight, if I would have been trying to study Cisco while I was in college with a job, I would have wanted to cut myself on a daily basis. It's just too much.

I would focus on school for now and try to get some internships or something that will get you some tangible experience. Experience was my absolute #1 hang up in getting a job after I graduated. If you have a light semester or something you can try and knock out a cert in parallel, but your grades need to come first. Going to school won't do you any good if you don't graduate. GPA doesn't mean much after you get that first job, but it goes a long way in terms of getting your foot in the door. If it helps, think of your degree as a really important cert.

TL;DR - School/Experience > Certs IMO

Bl8ckr0uter

shaqazoolu wrote: »

I can tell you to not set your expectations too high.

I have to respectfully disagree. Get the A+, N+ and Sec+ this year so you don't have to worry about recertifying. Server+, hmmm I don't know about that. It might not be worth the money to get it. I think it is very possible to get these done at least by the end of the year while holding down school. I will say don't get you hopes to high but not for the reason shag mentioned. I will say that while these certs may help you differ yourself from fellow students, they will not have the same "weight" as a Cisco, Microsoft, and other vendor certs. If you are somewhat short on cash, you may want to just do only the security.

As far as cisco, you might want to do it instead of the N+ but it is only going to matter if you can get some experience w/ cisco gear or networking as a whole.

I think that your goal might be a bit skewed unfortunately. You goal shouldn't be a certification, your goal should be a skilled pro with the knowledge and experience that is backed up or reinforced by your certifications. C|EH also has an experience requirement as well so keep that in mind. I will also suggest that you try to find an IT related job (even at a geeks squad or something like that ) or an internship to get some exp on your resume.

brad-

IMHO, focus on school first. These certifcations are expensive, and studying for them is time consuming. If you feel the need to do anything right now, do the A+/N+/Sec+ then re-evaluate your goals...since those will have to get renewed later unless you do them this year.

Devilsbane

To keep this short, any path is a good path, as long as it leads to where you want to go.

CompTIA certs are always a good place to start because they are vendor neutral. Also, the A+,Net+, and Sec+ will start to require recertification every 3 years if they aren't achieved in 2010. So keep that in mind.

Cisco is also always a good path.

shaqazoolu

knwminus wrote: »

I have to respectfully disagree. Get the A+, N+ and Sec+ this year so you don't have to worry about recertifying.

Yeah that's why I said I didn't know about the CompTIA material...I don't know how intense it is. With no experience, studying the Cisco stuff would be extremely difficult while maintaining school grades.

KNW does make a good point of the CompTIA stuff not expiring though. If you really have to go after a cert, those should be first since they don't expire if you get them in 2010. If you're a freshman and you get a Cisco cert right now, it is going to be worthless for the most part because it will expire right when you graduate.

networker050184

I'd say skip the CompTIA stuff. They are WAY over priced and aren't going to really help much with your career. Grab the A+ if you want to work on a helpdesk, but thats probably the only one that is going to get you any kind of return on investment.

My $.02.

veritas_libertas

networker050184 wrote: »

I'd say skip the CompTIA stuff. They are WAY over priced and aren't going to really help much with your career. Grab the A+ if you want to work on a helpdesk, but thats probably the only one that is going to get you any kind of return on investment.

My $.02.

I completely agree. I'm only doing them right now because of WGU. After that I will only be taking vendor specific certifications. The A+ and Security+ can help some, but the rest have a very low Return-on-Investment (ROI).