Help With Next Cert Choice!

So guys, I passed my CCENT few days ago. While studying for the exam i asked if i should get any Microsoft cert or not to get entry level jobs just to get into the field.

So i googled a bit and now there's two different exams MCSA 2008 and 2012. I can't decide which one i should follow.

Here are my questions and i would really appreciate input of people who have achieved these certs and more

So far i have ITIl and ccent. Going to get ccna r and s, ccna security, ccnp security and ccie security.

1st: which Microsoft certs should i get which will give me an advantage to land an entry level job.

2nd. How long did it take u to prepare and study materials?

I was thinking to go for MCSA 640 to get knowledge of servers and active directory. But there's also 2012. So I'm confused.

Please advice me on this. Just need a little motivation and info to get started. Thank you.

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Comments

The Reluctant Loser

The answer to this depends completely on where you are looking for employment. For instance, My company doesn't care at all for ANY certifications other than Cisco or Juniper. Your best bet is to scout job postings for the career path you'd like to take and then try to achieve the certs that those careers require. Just keep in mind, getting into the field and getting hands-on experience is just as important as certs. Certs with no experience in the field will not get you very far.

fuz1on

Personal opinion: Stick with Cisco.

chantt

Did you enjoy the material in CCENT? I passed the CCNET in April of 2014 and only started studying for CCNA a few weeks ago. By studying for CCNA I mean having to review (re-read) all of the CCENT material. I wish I had just kept on going but re-reading it now, things make even more sense to me, it's all a bit more obvious which is awesome. If you enjoy the networking aspect, just keep going and get the CCNA R&S. At that point, you'll have an awesome networking foundation.

If you have a specific employer eyeing you and you feel an MSCA or a MS cert in general would really put you into the spotlight, then I would shoot for that immediately.

What do you have going on in your life? What responsibilities do you have? How much time are you willing to dedicate to study daily? Weekly?

OfWolfAndMan

Depends on your interests. Why do you want to get into security? What is it you are interested in? The firewall? VPN? Policy? Network security in general? Or the awesome Cisco ISE?

What is your purpose of getting MCSA? ITIL? These certs are all somewhat general (Aside from the CCNP and up certs). What is your ultimate objective? You can cert up all day, but holding a cert and understanding the technology is two different things.

bharvey92

I'd stick to your Cisco certs mate, I got my first job on a Helpdesk with a CCNA and was then sent on a Microsoft Windows 7 course. But tbh, you need to think where you want your career to go and make a choice where you want to hit whether it's R+S, Voice, Design etc.

samwinchester

OfWolfAndMan wrote: »

Depends on your interests. Why do you want to get into security? What is it you are interested in? The firewall? VPN? Policy? Network security in general? Or the awesome Cisco ISE?

What is your purpose of getting MCSA? ITIL? These certs are all somewhat general (Aside from the CCNP and up certs). What is your ultimate objective? You can cert up all day, but holding a cert and understanding the technology is two different things.

Here's the thing, I have only studied ccent and i loved it. I like networking in general. And I have faith in my self that I'll do well going up the Cisco networking security path. I don't understand fully as of right now but I have decided to finish my ICND2 in the next month and keep going up.

The reason I have questions abt microsoft certs is that I have no background in networking. And network admin job descriptions usually ask for MCSA and MCSE and active directory stuff which I don't know abt. But I am willing to learn.

samwinchester

chantt wrote: »

Did you enjoy the material in CCENT? I passed the CCNET in April of 2014 and only started studying for CCNA a few weeks ago. By studying for CCNA I mean having to review (re-read) all of the CCENT material. I wish I had just kept on going but re-reading it now, things make even more sense to me, it's all a bit more obvious which is awesome. If you enjoy the networking aspect, just keep going and get the CCNA R&S. At that point, you'll have an awesome networking foundation.

If you have a specific employer eyeing you and you feel an MSCA or a MS cert in general would really put you into the spotlight, then I would shoot for that immediately.

What do you have going on in your life? What responsibilities do you have? How much time are you willing to dedicate to study daily? Weekly?

I loved the material in CCENT and will pursue ICND2 and go up to CCIE security. The thing is I have searched jobs like network admin and all and they ask for knowledge abt windows servers and active directory which is the concept of MCSA.

I have a lot of time on my hands and no restrictions what so ever. I just need some input on CCIE security path. Will I be needing other certs along with cisco to land a good job? Since i dont have a degree in comp science.

OfWolfAndMan

I would say that getting the MCSA in conjunction with the CCNA wouldn't be a bad thing. In fact, you would be much more valuable if you understand the collaboration between network, Active Directory, DNS, etc (Not exchange. You don't want to be the guy working with exchange). If you got to know how their capabilities collaborated with each other, your troubleshooting skills could surpass those of anyone just starting out.

As for 2012 or 2008, I'd say go with the newer, but before jumping on that, look up jobs with the title of "Systems Admin" in your area to see what they use for the most part, then go off of that.

Set up a lab w/ 2012 or 2008. You could set it up in either VMWare workstation, Fusion, ESXi, etc. I run one on ESXi at home personally. This is the best book I've heard for the MCSA 2012 cert if you're interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Windows-Server-2012-R2/dp/1118289420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426014190&sr=8-1&keywords=windows+server+2012

Good luck!

[Deleted User]

I recommend doing ICND2. It is hard to go from Microsoft back into Cisco. You don't want your certs to expire.

MCSE also does expire after I believe every 2 years. MCSA 2012 would be your next best bet. 2008 I think will be gone within the next 3 years when the new server OS comes out. Or you could also jump into your CCNA Security studies and not do R&S. CCENT is the only requirement for CCNA Security if your plan is to get CCIE Security. Best of luck with your choice.

samwinchester

OfWolfAndMan wrote: »

I would say that getting the MCSA in conjunction with the CCNA wouldn't be a bad thing. In fact, you would be much more valuable if you understand the collaboration between network, Active Directory, DNS, etc (Not exchange. You don't want to be the guy working with exchange). If you got to know how their capabilities collaborated with each other, your troubleshooting skills could surpass those of anyone just starting out.

As for 2012 or 2008, I'd say go with the newer, but before jumping on that, look up jobs with the title of "Systems Admin" in your area to see what they use for the most part, then go off of that.

Set up a lab w/ 2012 or 2008. You could set it up in either VMWare workstation, Fusion, ESXi, etc. I run one on ESXi at home personally. This is the best book I've heard for the MCSA 2012 cert if you're interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Windows-Server-2012-R2/dp/1118289420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426014190&sr=8-1&keywords=windows+server+2012

Good luck!

Thank you so much man. That was really helpful!

samwinchester

kMastaFlash wrote: »

I recommend doing ICND2. It is hard to go from Microsoft back into Cisco. You don't want your certs to expire. MCSE also does expire after I believe every 2 years. MCSA 2012 would be your next best bet. 2008 I think will be gone within the next 3 years when the new server OS comes out. Or you could also jump into your CCNA Security studies and not do R&S. CCENT is the only requirement for CCNA Security if your plan is to get CCIE Security. Best of luck with your choice.

Thank you! Yes, my next cert will be CCNA R & S and then I'll get MCSA 2012 as mostly suggested!

I want them all now! lol. Thank you everyone for your input. This is the best site I've come across in a while.