super_si

Whats the general opinion? worth all the hours or not?

Si

David_Wallis

Depends what you want to do, pointless for a plumber

CCIE anyone?

stevencotton

Very useful entry-level qualification, and you'll need it if you want to go any higher obviously. It doesn't last forever, needs renewing unless you have higher qualifications. I think it's useful even if you don't work in networking (but still work in IT of course, no use to a plumber!) since it teaches a lot of networking basics.

Steve.

Mutts Nutts

Ohh no another cert style question... here we go again

If you want to move into Cisco switches and routers then its a good route - no pun intended

Well worth investing your time and working your way up, as networking is a very lucrative field especially backbone engineering ... nice if you can get the work

A good cert for most IT Pro's to have... All our Project Managers have CCNA this fileds of silly questions of how many IP adresses they can give a customer in a certain slash, how many are useable and whats the mask for a /16 etc etc

we got them coming out the woodwork

keeno

Not an easy exam, you will apppreciate if you have an IP/Router/Switch background

super_si

Only just started first real IT job did alot of theory on the BSc, was told there isnt much more info to learn. Just need more practice really. Working on pure data networks which is quite good at the moment

S

voddie

My CCNA runs out next year and unless the company I work for now (for the moment) want to move me into a position where I could use those skills then I wont be to bothered about renewing. Dont get me wrong, the course and indeed the exam is very worthwhile and I enjoyed doing it very much. But as said earlier, its more a case of what you want it for, not if its worth doing.

I passed my CCNA without any real world experience, only using test material and generally study material I found on the net, ie Routersims etc.

Not really entry level without hands-on real world experience.

smokebelch

My CCNA also runs out next year and I wont be renewing it as my job (3rd line for a bank) doesnt require the cert and they will only pay for directly related topics .... ie microsoft/citrix etc.

That said I am glad I did it as it gave me a good undertstanding of networking and with this in mind I would say do it. Although I already had the likes of MSCE etc, I didnt really fully understand the ins and outs of IP stuff until I did the ccna. When you finish the course/exams etc, you can plot subnets on your fingers and in your head.


RELATIVELY speaking, people with networking certs are pretty rare.
I am the only one in my company
Basically you are going to have to get some certs in one thing or another and the CCNA is a wise choice when trying to market youself for a job and is very good building block.

Yes mines running out next year but I will still list it on my CV when applying for jobs!

I have some excellent router/switching simulators (boson) that i can send you if you PM me your details.

Good luck!

KiwiGTI

Why?? That's the biggest problem in the IT industry, project managers who aren't pure project managers. I worked 5 years at IBM who set many of the standards for project management, well before PRINCE, none of their proper project managers are involved in the technical side.

Mutts Nutts

just the way it isonder2: :Ponder:

Mutts Nutts

When I'm at work monday I'll ask them

super_si

i will now cheers

Si

HHxx

Hi Si, long time no see

I would say it's worth it as long as you have the opportunity to put what you learn't into practice. It will be useful if you company has a Cisco netowork

CCNA is not that hard to do, but will give you a taster for what you are getting into. Could get expensive after a while with all the Cisco gear you end up sticking in your loft

Short answer is "Yay"

H

voddie

You do not need Cisco equipment to learn the skills required for the CCNA. A good book by someone like Todd Lammle and a router simulator like www.routersim.com is all you need

Also some CBT software like Learnkey is worth looking into if you cant be arsed to read

super_si

Have a real job now

S

Chris L

A lot depends on what you want to do in your career. I've mucked around with Cisco routers for the better part of 12 years and never got round to taking any of the exams! But, as many people have said, it does give you a good grounding in networking skills - especially if you're lacking practical experience. I would certainly say in your position it is worth doing.

Beyond that, you might want to look at non-vendor specific qualifications - CISSP for general consultancy (which I took in November last year) or go for a topic specific qualification. For security I would seriously look at OSSTMM. Security is one of the few growth areas and is still struggling to find good people and therefore, rates of pay are high.

Chris

Dazza's-STi

Are you a CCIE mr Wallis?

davegtt

Doind my CCNA at the mo, done the INTRO and doing the ICND next month, personally I thought alot of the info they taught you was boring useless dont need to know stuff. Some of it on the other hand was interesting. The problem with it is that if your trying to get into the industry they dont teach you anything about setting up say a router, they'll tell you to log on and type this and that in and youve just configured the router, great, but if I have a router out of the box how the hell do I connect to it in the first place? how do I attach it to the network? none of this is shown, they dont even show you what the router looks like, so after a week doing the intro, knowing full well how to program the router I dug one out at work and spent ages trying to just connect to it to set anything up. IMO it was a bit of a waste.

Dazza's-STi

icnd mate, all will become clear and if you want go further then be prepared for some hard work...

davegtt

lol took you 2 months to think of that reply? thanks, I should have done the ICND last month but had to pull out last minute due to personal problems. Think Ive lost the course now and wont be allowed back on *****

David_Wallis

still got a job si??

GaryK

Agree technical people dont always make good PMs but saying IBM set the standards for PM as a whole? Your having a laugh right? Its a hugely insular view of the world but having worked alongside consultants from IBM, EDS, CSC, PWC et all I can understand that very blinkered view.

Fact is good PMs were around before computers just in different disciplines, engineering, construction etc. It is not a by-product of IT solution delivery.

Gary

rfowler

I have just completed my ccna and now all i have to do is take the exam i must say after doing a degree in computer science, the ccna is not easy and will need to do a lot of reading. if you want to get into networking this is the best step but be prepaired to work for it. good luck

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

I guess I should do my CCNA (at a minimum) now I'm a technical manager for a network security distributor!!!

NotoriousREV

I wouldn't worry about it, I'm less "qualified" than most of my staff (degrees, MCP, MCSE, CCNA etc.) but can run rings round them technically, commercially and common-sense-ally