My long-term career/cert goals

I guess we all find that, as we go along, our goals work out or make drastic changes. Six months ago I was fanatically in love with Cisco and hoped to have my CCNP by now. Instead, I find that I am working on my MCITP:SA due to an opportunity of advancing my career at my current place of employment. Learning the Microsoft stuff is harder for me because I don't have the background in servers like I do in networks, but I've already found the new knowledge beneficial. Someone in another thread made a great point that SAs that don't know networking tend to blame the network. I have found in my experience that I've put blame in the wrong areas because I didn't know AD/DNS/Ect.

Currently, my goal is to wrap up my Server Admin cert and then take Security+ (preferably before next January) and then get my CCNA in Security. From there, I believe I will stand at a crossroads of three specializations:

Server administration
Network administration
Security

In addition, I could specialize in server adminstration with security or network administration with security. I really don't see myself going the CISSP/SANS/hacker route, but I may fall in love with the stuff when I take the Security+... I guess I won't know till I get there.

At any rate, once I hit this point, I think I will need to make a decision on what route I want to go and then stick with it. I don't think I could handle keeping up the knowledge of an MCITP:EA and a CCNP/CCSP. I'm sure with time and dedication I could get the certs, but can you really maintain that level of expertise in both areas? I love this stuff, but I have a large family and I can't totally lose myself in IT without the fear of waking up one day and realizing I don't know my kids.

I'm not really looking for advice here as much as just getting some of my confused thoughts on paper (heh) in the hopes of seeing things better for myself. I'd love to hear other people's journeys. There is much to learn by hearing how other people have made it to where they are.

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Comments

Bl8ckr0uter

I have thought about the same thing for a long time now. Basically I know I want to go into Network Security ( I am kind of in a security role now in a smaller shop). Since I know where I want to go, I look at popular, worthwhile certifications rather than stuff my resume. Knowing what you want to do is pretty easy (relatively), knowing what to do is pretty hard. There are simply too many certs out there and its hard to know which are worthwhile for YOUR career, not just worthwhile.

I think I have come up with a number which makes life easy for me to determine what certs I am going to do. After deciding if they are worthwhile, I decide how much my while is worth (see what I did there). Put another way, how much do I think the actual time will cost as well as the material and test cost. The number I have come up with is 1.5 X total cost of the cert. So lets say I earn my CCNP next year. Lets also say that I don't fail any test and spend a relatively small amount on study material and the total cost comes to 1k. Either at this job or my next I plan to get 1.5k added to my salary. If I don't think the cert will be able to add at least that amount to my salary (along with more experience) then I am not doing it. It may sound crazy but it is just what I believe. You have to determine a number (I pulled this number by looking at salary ranges for people with my experience and my career level in my area). When I took that into consideration, it was easy for me to rule out MCSA, MCSE, GCWN, and a few other. On the other side, I was able to justify the CCNP, GSEC, SSCP and a few others.

RobertKaucher

2ndchance wrote: »

I don't think I could handle keeping up the knowledge of an MCITP:EA and a CCNP/CCSP. I'm sure with time and dedication I could get the certs, but can you really maintain that level of expertise in both areas?

I think that to a certain extent you can, provided you work with aspects of it on a daily basis. Let me explain why I believe this:

1. The two fields go hand in glove and their basics will not be changing any time soon. Once you have really mastered the basics it becomes easier to keep up with the new stuff.
2. You will forget some stuff. It would be that way even if you didn't bridge both worlds. But if you do some review on a consistent basis you can keep a lot of things fresh in your mind.

I hold the MCITP EA and I have worked with a number of CCNPs and I am certain that if they had been in roles that required them to have had that level of server knowledge they would have. They were all smart guys, but no more than your average nerd.

But it all comes down to effort vs. reward. And I really think that is what you are hitting on in your message. Could you do it? Yes! I am certain that with a little creativity you could have a very good family life and continue to keep your knowledge sharp. But do you have to? That's the question you need to know the answer to!

2ndchance

RobertKaucher wrote: »

I think that to a certain extent you can, provided you work with aspects of it on a daily basis...

I only work with the Microsoft side enough to justify the high level of certification in my current job. I work for a school district that operates completely at the Local Area Network and Campus Area Network level. A CCNP knowledge of routing would never come into play.

For that reason, I have often considered a scenario in which I get all the MS certs I want/need and then pursue my CCNP only if/when I am ready to move onto a larger organization.

RobertKaucher wrote: »

But do you have to?

In order to get a good job down the road? I don't think that to be the case, provided I can patiently await the ideal position. I've seen postings asking for CCNP and MCSE, but the illustrative job duties were predominately towards one discipline or the other.

I believe, therefore, my question must be do I want to? I find both disciplines to be rewarding. I have also noticed that I prefer the one that I am currently working on. I think this question will only be answered by time. In my current job, I am more likely to have my salary increased by getting MS certs, so I think that skews my perception.

RobertKaucher wrote: »

1. The two fields go hand in glove and their basics will not be changing any time soon. Once you have really mastered the basics it becomes easier to keep up with the new stuff.
2. You will forget some stuff. It would be that way even if you didn't bridge both worlds. But if you do some review on a consistent basis you can keep a lot of things fresh in your mind.

Good points. I completely agree that the fields go together, which is why I want a minimum of CCNA/MCITP:SA no matter which way I go. I found myself very limited when the only thing I undertood was the Cisco side.

When I did my CCNA, I used Adobe Fireworks to create drawings of scenarios showing how you would use various routing protocols or layer 2 technologies. I included the IOS syntax and an explanation, in my own words, of how and why to use this technology. In that way I hoped to ensure I could quickly brush up on something that I learned but do not use daily, such as Frame Relay or OSPF. I guess I could do the same thing on the MS side.

Thanks for the advice.

2ndchance

knwminus wrote: »

I think I have come up with a number which makes life easy for me to determine what certs I am going to do.

That makes sense too. Let's apply your theory to an example. Say I know for a fact that I want to be a Network Specialist or Engineer. Would it increase my salary, or make me more marketable, to get MS certs or Cisco? Clearly Cisco would be the answer. Of course, first I have to decide which I want!

Bl8ckr0uter

2ndchance wrote: »

That makes sense too. Let's apply your theory to an example. Say I know for a fact that I want to be a Network Specialist or Engineer. Would it increase my salary, or make me more marketable, to get MS certs or Cisco? Clearly Cisco would be the answer. Of course, first I have to decide which I want!

Well it depends on how you define "network". If you consider "network" to be the routers, switches, firewalls, and etc that are used to facilitate traffic across to the end points then having the the worlds largest network gear company on your resume would probably be a good thing (CCNA, CCNP, CCIE etc). If you consider "network" to be the servers and end points, then having the worlds largest software company (in terms of market percentage) would be a good thing (MCP, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP). If you consider a mix of the two, do a mix of the two.

For me, when I think of "network security" I don't think of MS right away. I think about the actual network gear so that is why I am doing what I am doing. If you think differently you should do differently.

I also want to stay vendor neutral as much as I can because I don't want to limit myself or my skillset so I want SANS, E-Consul, and other certs of that nature.

2ndchance

knwminus wrote: »

Well it depends on how you define "network". If you consider "network" to be the routers, switches, firewalls, and etc that are used to facilitate traffic across to the end points then having the the worlds largest network gear company on your resume would probably be a good thing (CCNA, CCNP, CCIE etc). If you consider "network" to be the servers and end points, then having the worlds largest software company (in terms of market percentage) would be a good thing (MCP, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP). If you consider a mix of the two, do a mix of the two.

For me, when I think of "network security" I don't think of MS right away. I think about the actual network gear so that is why I am doing what I am doing. If you think differently you should do differently.

I also want to stay vendor neutral as much as I can because I don't want to limit myself or my skillset so I want SANS, E-Consul, and other certs of that nature.

I think we understand each other well enough. I think of the network as being routers, switches, firewall appliances, access points, etc. When it comes to Microsoft, I think of roles like Systems and Server Administrators, although I belive Sysstems Adminstrator is also a widely-used term on Unix environments.

Good luck on your goals! Hopefully one day soon I'll be sure of where I want to go too.