rebelprince91

I plan on going for a few certifications, but before I do so, I'd like advice on a few issues. Basically, I'm a novice to these certifications, and all I have is a CompTIA A+ cert.
I want to pursue a few certifications in the networking sector, but am unsure about a few things. First of all, is it better to do my certifications from CompTIA or from Cisco? Which one is more recognized, and has more market value?

If I go for the CompTIA:
A+ -> Network+ -> Security+


But if I go for Cisco, I can't decide whether to go for Network Design-
CCENT -> CCNA & CCDA -> CCDP -> CCDE

or for Network Routing and Switching-
CCENT -> CCNA -> CCNP -> CCIE Routing & Switching

or for Network Security-
CCENT -> CCNA Security -> CCSP -> CCIE Security

I'd like any points which might influence me on my decision, i.e, market value, ease of learning, recommended previous experience, etc. For all who wish to know, I'm 22, in my final year of college, doing CSE and planning on going for an MBA to boot from a top Grad. I already held an internship with Symantec, and applying for a Google Internship this summer. I also held a two month job as a network technician in a Small Business.

Non-relative advice is welcome.

*Cheers*

rs21

hi there. i suggest you shud go for ccna router & switches. It has great demand. Employers are looking forward for cisco certified professionals. even the salary packages they are getting is also very good.

rs21
system engineer
hyperlessons.com

SilverDwn

I would definatly reccomentd the Cisco route if you want a serious career in networking. Also can I suggest you start at basics.

Respectfull advise, Forget about the CCIE, thats way out of your league!

Start by doing a CCNA:
http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le...type_home.html

See what areas you like and then go from there. Get A CCNA first, then afterwards make the decision of where you want to go, ie security, design etc

rebelprince91

OK. I've more or less decided on going for Cisco. Thank you both, rs21, and silverdwn.

silverdwn, I know that CCIE is way out of my league for the moment. I was thinking of it far into the future, somewhere around eight years from now, with at least 4 years of network experience in at least a medium size business environment. In that respect, I had asked for your advice.
Nevertheless, both of your contributions were invaluable.
So, for now, a CCENT is what I start with. Question is, after that, do I branch out into CCNA or CCNA Security?
Any tips on deciding this? Are security technicians in demand?

SilverDwn

You need a CCNA first in order to do a CCNA Security. If you have a decent knowledge of networking its possible to start straight out with a CCNA though it has a reputation for being difficult. If you dont feel confident enough, CCENT is a good place to start. In the long term, security engineers are always in demand and is always evolving ie; new vunerabilities are always being discovered and exploited.

But basically, the whole cisco career certification path all starts from the CCNA. CCDA is a specialised track for Designers buts its more a political course rather than technical ie meeting customer demands and cost. CCNA is mostly technical routing and switching which is the foundation of networking.

rs21

Its really good that u r goin for ccna. u cn go for ccent in start, as ccna has very difficult-to-solve reputation in market.but its demand is also very high.there are few specialisation in ccna. cisco has started new specialisation. i have seen very gud article on these specialization on a hyperlessons blog/beyond ccna. i can't post direct link here. there u can c the whole infor abt ccna(security) ccda, ccva(voice) & ccwa(wireless). you can also c the job demand & salary trens for every specialization including of CCNA. al d best

rebelprince91

Thanks a lot everyone. All you help has made things much clearer for me. I'm going to start with CCENT this year, then go for a CCNA next year... i'll worry about the rest later. I appreciate this forum a lot, and hope to be back more often for help and advice. Thanks again.
Cheers

JeffreyNYA

If you are going for CCNA and are going to learn self study style I would suggest you look into getting some equipment purchased to learn on. Simulators will only get you so far. Kits can be picked up for pretty cheap on e-bay.

Cellus

One very important thing to note is if you buy any Cisco gear off of eBay, you will not get support from Cisco for it (nor will you be able to download IOS or special documentation from their site). Keep this in mind if you decide to go this route. You are essentially "on your own" when it comes to the hardware.

By the way you should know that to obtain the CCIE you will have to pay thousands of dollars, fly yourself over to Cisco's headquarters, and spend at least a couple of days designing, configuring, and refining a fully functional and optimized network infrastructure in their labs with actual Cisco engineers breathing down your neck the entire time. It is, simply put, one of the most brutal certifications to get on the entire planet. Extraordinarily few people have the cert, and unless you intend to specialize in networking it is rather somewhat superfluous.

Do know that if, by chance, you are insane enough to go that route that you are heavily investing in a career specifically towards the somewhat niched and eccentric field of networking, which is a different breed of IT animal.

rebelprince91

Lol cellus.. nice post. Enlightening. I didn't know that. But I just have one question for you. Does this rigor have its rewards? Is it worth all the capital, time and trouble?

bilbus

CCNA is a basic test. CCNP is the harder one.


It is true, CCIE has 2 parts. A written and a lab. You must first pass the written before you can take the lab.

The lab is $1200 per atempt, and you must do it in their lab. It is also a 6 or 8 hour test.

It is very hard.

SilverDwn

Lol I like your views on CCIE. There are a fews CCIE's in my company but none of them passed the lab test first time. The written is passable apparently, its the dreaded Lab exam thats notoriously difficult.

Theres some benefits to having a CCIE. Most obviously it gives you more weight to command your own Salary. The two most common ways to do this are:

a) work for a company and register your CCIE with them (requires more than 1 CCIE employee) to enable them to have Gold Partner status with Cisco, as a result getting discounts on Cisco products (up to 50%!) in the long run saving your company a lot of money, also giving you the edge to negotiate a salary with them because if you leave they lose all their discounts!

b) Go contracting and potentially earn a 6 figure salary on certain projects.

But to get there, its a lot of hard work. You need to know your stuff.

bilbus

I will be stopping at CCNP, CCIE is way to much work.

rs21

u can go e-learning way for ccent, i have gone through a site thru google,its hyperlessons. They had very good vlabs with them for practice session with that chat sessions with experts.