CCIE or get my degree

I am 32 now and I just got my asscociates degree in networking. I want to know if i should go on to get my bachelors for the next 2-3 years and work partime at my current job in networking as a network admin or IT support analyse position for a small office building.. I have been working there a few months. BTW i live with my parents.

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shodown

I say CCIE 1st as it requires the most dedication. I was able to finish most of my degree without even trying. CCIE has been an on going battle for almost a year now and it requires more focus.

I do want to add that I didn't finish my degree 7 classes away, but still its not much effort/

NOC-Ninja

How long have you been working as a network admin or IT support analyse position for a small office building?
What are your responsibilities?
What Cisco certs do you currently have?

jamesp1983

i agree with shodown. My BS was a walk in the park and my CCIE training has been much more informative than my college course work.

krejustin79

I have been there about two months. Its an electrical company so they run cable install data centers server rooms and such. I learn about the physical side alot and project managment seeing that all project managers work in the building. I just do admin roles for the network client stuff such as computer problems. I do not do engineering on the system or network such as skripts or advanced cisco firewall or advanced router configurations. They have a cisco firewall one servet two switches and a router then about 5 large printers and maby 40 computers.

krejustin79

Would I get a much better position with a CCIE and experiance in IT in genral or a bachelors and part time experiance in 2-3 years?

jamesp1983

ive had a bs for 5 years and didn't see it make much of a difference. my cisco certs have really stood out. i wouldn't say don't do a bs at all, but do it further down the line.

krejustin79

That is exactly what two other ccie's told me that I have met in person. I just am scared to sell my soul haha.

krejustin79

but yeah I believe that is what I will be doing. I will just work get experiance and study for my ccie, well I will get my ccna which I already know. I just need to review for the test and take it. Then study and train for ccie while I work then take my ccnp after I studied for the written.

NOC-Ninja

CCIE is tough for experienced guys. You will definitely have a hard time. Nothing is impossible as long as you are willing to sacrifice your time + life for CCIE. Its still a very long road for you. Yeah, get your NA, NP, and written. I can truly say that those certs is nothing compare to preparing for the lab.

Just read all the CCIE guys that has a blog and put yourself on what they are going through. lol

shednik

I saw work on your bachelors and start working on the CCNA -> CCNP and as you move up you in networking you can then start moving towards the IE. Many people attempt the IE and only a small percentage walk away with a number, while a degree is attainable and will also go nicely on your resume. Many people on here claim you don't need a degree which is the case for a lot of people but it will never hurt you and is something you will always have on your resume. A CCIE is great but from start to finish may take you a lot longer then what a degree will take, a degree can always help open doors to higher level positions. I know for a fact my bachelors and masters have definitely helped my career along with my certs. A combination of experience, education, and certs is the best for a successful IT career.

instant000

krejustin79 wrote: »

I am 32 now and I just got my asscociates degree in networking. I want to know if i should go on to get my bachelors for the next 2-3 years and work partime at my current job in networking as a network admin or IT support analyse position for a small office building.. I have been working there a few months. BTW i live with my parents.

If I was in your shoes, and in your position, I would say to get the CCIE first.

After that, go for the bachelor's. Based on the cost in $$$ and time, the CCIE would give you a greater result than a bachelor's degree.

Still, certs expire, and degrees do not.

instant000

Another thing.

You seem a bit shaky about this right now.

I don't advise going after this, unless you are very committed. It takes a lot of drive and dedication. I know a very bright person who had to attempt the lab twice before he got his number.

I'm not saying that it's impossible, as it is not.

However, part of my reason for saying go for the CCIE now, is that you said that you live with your parents right now.

This gives you a support network, and you also don't seem to have kids or a spouse to worry about right now. All of those takes up lots of time.

Because of this, I say you're in a prime situation to devote your free time to the study required for CCIE.

At least, it'd be easier to get a Bachelor's while having a family than to get a CCIE.

krejustin79

instant000 wrote: »

Another thing.

You seem a bit shaky about this right now.

I don't advise going after this, unless you are very committed. It takes a lot of drive and dedication. I know a very bright person who had to attempt the lab twice before he got his number.

I'm not saying that it's impossible, as it is not.

However, part of my reason for saying go for the CCIE now, is that you said that you live with your parents right now.

This gives you a support network, and you also don't seem to have kids or a spouse to worry about right now. All of those takes up lots of time.

Because of this, I say you're in a prime situation to devote your free time to the study required for CCIE.

At least, it'd be easier to get a Bachelor's while having a family than to get a CCIE.

Yeah I hear ya so true. I dont have kids or a wife but I dont want to be 35 and just graduated college with my bachelors and only part time experience at a small office doing administration. I just wonder if in 3 years I will be better off with a degree or if I had more experience with different companies and larger ones and a CCIE.

hkechoes

krejustin79 wrote: »

Yeah I hear ya so true. I dont have kids or a wife but I dont want to be 35 and just graduated college with my bachelors and only part time experience at a small office doing administration. I just wonder if in 3 years I will be better off with a degree or if I had more experience with different companies and larger ones and a CCIE.

Same boat with you

It's a race against yourself. Success comes after dedication, hard work, sacrifice, and the willingness to keep on when things don't come out as good as you think.

instant000

krejustin79 wrote: »

Yeah I hear ya so true. I dont have kids or a wife but I dont want to be 35 and just graduated college with my bachelors and only part time experience at a small office doing administration. I just wonder if in 3 years I will be better off with a degree or if I had more experience with different companies and larger ones and a CCIE.

Just so you know: I'd hire someone with a CCNA before I hired someone with a bachelor's degree. The person with the CCNA would be more useful to me.

Like I say, don't slack on the education, it will come in handy in a little bit. I just figure that if you have an Associate's degree in networking, you should know enough that the CCNA won't murder you to take it.

Turgon

instant000 wrote: »

Another thing.

You seem a bit shaky about this right now.

I don't advise going after this, unless you are very committed. It takes a lot of drive and dedication. I know a very bright person who had to attempt the lab twice before he got his number.

I'm not saying that it's impossible, as it is not.

However, part of my reason for saying go for the CCIE now, is that you said that you live with your parents right now.

This gives you a support network, and you also don't seem to have kids or a spouse to worry about right now. All of those takes up lots of time.

Because of this, I say you're in a prime situation to devote your free time to the study required for CCIE.

At least, it'd be easier to get a Bachelor's while having a family than to get a CCIE.

Assuming you dont **** the lab exam I would say having the CCIE says something about your intellect. I have worked with five CCIE's and I would say they are all bright people. One has a PhD in electronics. All that said, being very bright isn't enough to clear this track alone. Lots of intelligent people have tried and failed to obtain their number. Your biggest issue is work ethic and available time to study regularly.

Doing it when younger has benefits. You generally have more time at your disposal to prepare for the exam on a regular basis. Once your responsibilities rise in the world of work you are just too busy to put the time in. At senior levels you often have demands on your time to work extra hours to get complex pieces of work finished and that's where your time should be focused as opposed to kicking back so you can do your practice labs. It's also important to disconnect from work and three hours of lab work after a busy day doesn't always sit well in that regard at a time when you should be recharging ready for the next important day in the office. I have lost count of the lab sessions that didn't register too well with myself because quite frankly I have just been too engaged at work during the day and ultimately too shot to concentrate anymore.
Family time is important too. With two small boys it's just not practical to hole myself away for hours on end in the evenings and particular at the weekends when there is so much stuff to do at home together.

For all these reasons I say have a go at the CCIE when you are young and single and when the demands on your time at work are lighter. I probably have 20 hours of meetings to prepare for a week. If you are going to do the CCIE when already timeserved and fully engaged at work and at home, go for a practical approach to the studies, which takes longer and has a risk of bail out, but at least the learning experience makes more sense and has more application than a blitz strategy which often leads to disappointment and burn out, two things that if you are not careful will affect your relationships at home and your performance at work.

For me, the CCIE gilt edges my experience but Im already through experience very employable. It isn't an essential thing. I find learning the track when I do have the bandwidth to do so teaches me some useful things and helps keep me sharp operationally at a time in my career when my role is increasingly more strategic. But the CCIE wont help me design a better network or pull together a migration for hundreds of customers, much less define the technology strategy and standards to support our commercial objectives.

For the young, do as much labtime on workstime as you can, but level with your boss and peers about that first so you are not accused of slacking at work. Watch your lifestyle management. Give up WoW.

As for college, you do want to complete a degree. It should be possible to attack the CCIE over 18 months and do a degree parttime. For the CCIE preparations themselves, you want to be putting in 2-4 hours study in 3-4 nights during the week. At the weekend you want to be putting in 4-6 hours in on Saturday and Sunday. Those two things combined make the CCIE practical inside 18 months.

hkechoes

I don't agree on the idea that doing a serious cert like CCIE and a college degree in the same time - simply too stressful. College courses will have a fixed schedule for attending lectures, doing assignments, projects and examinations that you couldn't have much flexibility on them, and you have to put them into first priority within your free time. By pushing CCIE in second/third priority, you just easily get lost focus and attention to be succeed on getting it.

Not to say work and family commitments.

nel

i would hit the lower levels of the cisco track first and work your way up to CCIE. imo, a bachelors and a CCIE arent on the same level in terms of ability so its an unfair comparison. its like saying which is better a phd or a bachelors in my eyes.

Turgon

hkechoes wrote: »

I don't agree on the idea that doing a serious cert like CCIE and a college degree in the same time - simply too stressful. College courses will have a fixed schedule for attending lectures, doing assignments, projects and examinations that you couldn't have much flexibility on them, and you have to put them into first priority within your free time. By pushing CCIE in second/third priority, you just easily get lost focus and attention to be succeed on getting it.

Not to say work and family commitments.

I think you can prepare for the CCIE and keep up a degree part time. You should be keeping your academic progress moving during the CCIE study track. The two things are not the same, but a degree gives you more employability capital as time goes by than the CCIE, not least as many people who get the CCIE actually drop out of networking at some point. Add to which, the attrition rate on CCIE candidates is appalling. Some very committed and capable people on TE have choked on the track, as they do generally. I estimate out of 50 written passers only one will go on to pass the lab, 18000 in the world since 1996. Given all that, I think it's important that you dont postpone your degree studies for two years while you embark on the CCIE. The statistics show that most CCIE candidates dont get through it. Compare that with most degree students and you should find that so long as they stick at it, they will eventually get a degree.

shednik

Turgon wrote: »

I think you can prepare for the CCIE and keep up a degree part time. You should be keeping your academic progress moving during the CCIE study track. The two things are not the same, but a degree gives you more employability capital as time goes by than the CCIE, not least as many people who get the CCIE actually drop out of networking at some point. Add to which, the attrition rate on CCIE candidates is appalling. Some very committed and capable people on TE have choked on the track, as they do generally. I estimate out of 50 written passers only one will go on to pass the lab, 18000 in the world since 1996. Given all that, I think it's important that you dont postpone your degree studies for two years while you embark on the CCIE. The statistics show that most CCIE candidates dont get through it. Compare that with most degree students and you should find that so long as they stick at it, they will eventually get a degree.

This was more of what I was getting at with my last post, start working full time and continue working on your degree. A lot of programs now are flexible enough to take 9-12 credits a semester with only going to campus once or twice a week. Get your experience, get your certs, and get your degree...without a large amount of experience you're not going to have any easy time getting through the CCIE and even then it's still hard for people who do. Do you even know which track you want to head down yet for the CCIE? I think getting your feet wet and finding out what technologies you enjoy most and work best with is important before embarking on a CCIE journey. Me personally I'd like to eventually get my # but I'm still torn between R&S or Security so I continue to learn both spectrums until I decide which way I want to go. I will however finish my CCNP and CCNP Security along the way.

My experience has been my degree has helped me get my first real job, I wouldn't have getting my job at my last company without it. I got my new job based on my degree, certs, and experience.

krejustin79

Thanks for the advice!

krejustin79

Sounds like a plan. I am thinking those hours and after the CCIE part-time school.

Turgon wrote: »

Assuming you dont **** the lab exam I would say having the CCIE says something about your intellect. I have worked with five CCIE's and I would say they are all bright people. One has a PhD in electronics. All that said, being very bright isn't enough to clear this track alone. Lots of intelligent people have tried and failed to obtain their number. Your biggest issue is work ethic and available time to study regularly.

Doing it when younger has benefits. You generally have more time at your disposal to prepare for the exam on a regular basis. Once your responsibilities rise in the world of work you are just too busy to put the time in. At senior levels you often have demands on your time to work extra hours to get complex pieces of work finished and that's where your time should be focused as opposed to kicking back so you can do your practice labs. It's also important to disconnect from work and three hours of lab work after a busy day doesn't always sit well in that regard at a time when you should be recharging ready for the next important day in the office. I have lost count of the lab sessions that didn't register too well with myself because quite frankly I have just been too engaged at work during the day and ultimately too shot to concentrate anymore.
Family time is important too. With two small boys it's just not practical to hole myself away for hours on end in the evenings and particular at the weekends when there is so much stuff to do at home together.

For all these reasons I say have a go at the CCIE when you are young and single and when the demands on your time at work are lighter. I probably have 20 hours of meetings to prepare for a week. If you are going to do the CCIE when already timeserved and fully engaged at work and at home, go for a practical approach to the studies, which takes longer and has a risk of bail out, but at least the learning experience makes more sense and has more application than a blitz strategy which often leads to disappointment and burn out, two things that if you are not careful will affect your relationships at home and your performance at work.

For me, the CCIE gilt edges my experience but Im already through experience very employable. It isn't an essential thing. I find learning the track when I do have the bandwidth to do so teaches me some useful things and helps keep me sharp operationally at a time in my career when my role is increasingly more strategic. But the CCIE wont help me design a better network or pull together a migration for hundreds of customers, much less define the technology strategy and standards to support our commercial objectives.

For the young, do as much labtime on workstime as you can, but level with your boss and peers about that first so you are not accused of slacking at work. Watch your lifestyle management. Give up WoW.

As for college, you do want to complete a degree. It should be possible to attack the CCIE over 18 months and do a degree parttime. For the CCIE preparations themselves, you want to be putting in 2-4 hours study in 3-4 nights during the week. At the weekend you want to be putting in 4-6 hours in on Saturday and Sunday. Those two things combined make the CCIE practical inside 18 months.

krejustin79

imo I think a bachelors is not even close to learning what you would be able to accomplish with CCIE knowlage. Apples and oranges agreed, I will ofcourse do the lower lvl certs first. I just wanted to know which direction to start heading in terms of college or ccie.

nel wrote: »

i would hit the lower levels of the cisco track first and work your way up to CCIE. imo, a bachelors and a CCIE arent on the same level in terms of ability so its an unfair comparison. its like saying which is better a phd or a bachelors in my eyes.

krejustin79

well I just relized the better question would of been do you think I will get a job faster as a CCIE ONLY and no degree or a job faster with a degree? And how much pay rate would you expect from both options?

NOC-Ninja

Im guessing you dont have CCNA yet? I think you are jumping ahead of yourself here.

Dont you have a job already or are you talking about full time job? CCNA should help you find a better job.

sides14

The degree will be an invaluable tool to opening many doors. While the CCIE is definitely a good goal, just studying for the CCIE will not land you the job. Many job prerequisites is a 4 year degree. This doesn't mean that you can't work towards your ultimate goal, but the degree is essential.

What would you major in and what school? Both parts of the question play a significant role in employer perception.

barquera

You are in a tough spot because of your age.
I would say stay with your parents, work part time and knock out the college degree. Just get it over with.
Also get your CCNA while getting your degree.
Degree + CCNA is good and the Degree doesn't expire.
Also, you will kick yourself if a job tells you that they won't even speak to you because you don't have a degree.
That has happened to me several times. Now that I have my Degree it's not a problem.

If you go straight for the CCIE then you need to get the CCNA->CCNP then CCIE.
Get the CCNA->CCNP first because you have a better chance of passing. CCIE is much more dedication and if you don't pass then you will have wished you got your degree. If you eventually get the CCIE you will get a job even if it's entry level so that's a good thing.

Another thing, if you ever decide to change careers the Degree will come in handy. Things change all the time and you can take the Degree to other fields not the CCIE.

nel

you also have to take into consideration the inflation in prices of degree's. In the US there already crazily overpriced imo. In the UK, we are following suit sadly. Silly mistake on our part if you ask me but what im trying to say is that a degree may also cost you more if you study later in life.