CCNA / A+ Certified Career Route? How does it look?

[Airwolf NSX]

It's been awhile since I've touched my hands on computer machinery and i figure now would be a better time than ever to get back into a field I would enjoy.. (I just got laid off as a QA Analyst)

Does anybody have any experience in the tech field?
I used to be a Senior Consultant for a tech firm long ago, and since I want to dip my feet into this industry again, I figured I can start with A+ Cert then move on to CCNA..

Any input is appreciated! Thanks Prime!

 

[flaminio]

Certs are nice, but nothing can replace raw experience. If you don't mind starting low, there are lots of opportunities in IT -- moreso than most any other field, I'd say. The six figure jobs take a lot of experience to slide into; much more than an A+/CCNA cert.

 

[Airwolf NSX]

thanks for the input.

i dont' mind entry level i guess... just want a career path that'll lead somewhere.

i've spent 3 years at a mortgage firm prior to being a QA Analyst and i picked up useless skills..

 

[ALSWEL]

I started in IT back in year 2000 with only a CCNA. It took 6 years to get to 6 figures. It sucked! I got lucky and found a job supporting the WANs for a bunch of companies. My instructor from school knew a guy that knew a guy. It really is who you know.

I did WAN support for Two years and then got picked up by IBM supporting BP's datacenters in North America. I do LAN work for them. Layer 2 is so much easier. Learn how to configure a CSM and FWSM. This knowledge is what keeps me employed.

 

[Malibu Rapper]

Certs are nice, but nothing can replace raw experience. If you don't mind starting low, there are lots of opportunities in IT -- moreso than most any other field, I'd say. The six figure jobs take a lot of experience to slide into; much more than an A+/CCNA cert.

This is very true. A lot of our best guys don't have much in the way of certifications. We've had short stints with some guys that had tons of certs but very little experience. Sometimes that cert can help you land a low level position.

You should find a headhunting firm and let them place you. Then move your way back up. You can make a decent living off of contracting. In the end, you'll probably want the stability and benefits of being an FTE at a good company. But these days, there's a lot of outsourcing going on and stability isn't a guarantee anywhere.

 

[Eclipsed]

I'd also suggest getting CISSP or at least Security+, the government (specifically military) is requiring everyone to have at least Security+ if they work in the IT field. Even us contractors.

 

[enkrypt3d]

I'd also suggest getting CISSP or at least Security+, the government (specifically military) is requiring everyone to have at least Security+ if they work in the IT field. Even us contractors.

the CISSP is not an entry level exam at all..... so this is for someone who has been in the field for 10+ years (like me) and I don't think I could pass it without studying for a few weeks...

 

[Duffer]

I would highly endorse the IT field. I have worked at Cisco for 14 years now and it has been a very nice ride. I would recommend you work your way up all the way to a CCIE. With that, you can easily command six figures. It will take some time, but depending on your aptitude and drive, not as long as some people think. FYI, I have been on the sales end. A good SE is worth their weight in gold!

 

[enkrypt3d]

I would highly endorse the IT field. I have worked at Cisco for 14 years now and it has been a very nice ride. I would recommend you work your way up all the way to a CCIE. With that, you can easily command six figures. It will take some time, but depending on your aptitude and drive, not as long as some people think. FYI, I have been on the sales end. A good SE is worth their weight in gold!

:biggrin: SE's FTW!

 

[EdinKali]

Depending on your area it may take a while to find an IT job. In the past it has never taken me more than a week or two to find a job but when I got laid off last year it took almost 4 months. You may find yourself competing with 100-150 other applicants. Don't lose heart, just hang in there and keep at it. Might also take a few adjustments to get your resume dialed in. Once I got the right format I was getting on average an interview a week. If at all possible keep your resume down to one page(headhunters will tell you the same). When I had my resume at 2 pages I wasn't getting any hits. I chopped it down to 1 and I started getting bites. Treat each interview as a learning experience to fine tune your interview skills.

 

[Eclipsed]

the CISSP is not an entry level exam at all..... so this is for someone who has been in the field for 10+ years (like me) and I don't think I could pass it without studying for a few weeks...

CISSP is a PITA cert. 500$ testing fee, 80$ a year maintenance fees, and at least 180 hours of required training every 3 years just to keep the cert. But it's a nice cert to have. That cert is what got me my bump to 85k salary last year.

 

[enkrypt3d]

CISSP is a PITA cert. 500$ testing fee, 80$ a year maintenance fees, and at least 180 hours of required training every 3 years just to keep the cert. But it's a nice cert to have. That cert is what got me my bump to 85k salary last year.

yup... $500 each time you take it pass or fail...

I'm a linux guy so a CISSP isn't really helpful until I get more into security which is what im trying to do now to push my salary further into 6 figs

 

[H-carWizKid]

I am on the CCNA track right now. I have been a telecom project manager for 3 years now, and it is time to start growing the resume again.

P

 

[Airwolf NSX]

I would highly endorse the IT field. I have worked at Cisco for 14 years now and it has been a very nice ride. I would recommend you work your way up all the way to a CCIE. With that, you can easily command six figures. It will take some time, but depending on your aptitude and drive, not as long as some people think. FYI, I have been on the sales end. A good SE is worth their weight in gold!

SE = Systems Engineer?

 

[Airwolf NSX]

What can ONE do if he/she wanted to be an entrepreneur in this field? Start up their own consulting business?

I ask this because I would want to have my own business someday...

 

[enkrypt3d]

SE = Systems Engineer?

yup

 

[ALSWEL]

'SE' (systems engineer) are words spoken from PMs (project managers) or a sales guy. The PMs would like to believe that you know all and will do anything for them. This is bad for you. Presale and post-sale work is different. Thats consulting and is where the real money is. You really have to know your $h!t though.

You want to be titled as a Network Engineer or Security Engineer. Avoid 'Network Administrator/Systems Engineer' like the plague. An NE's responsibilities end at the switch port. We have about 300 6509s in our datacanters and they never go down, while the server guys work constantly to 'keep things up.' An 'NA' does everything including front end/server-side and deals with end users, applications and DBs. These are your Microsoft/Unix/Linux/Sun guys. They also may do some networking but not much. Do not get involved with end users EVER!!!

IMHO

 

[enkrypt3d]

'SE' (systems engineer) are words spoken from PMs (project managers) or a sales guy. The PMs would like to believe that you know all and will do anything for them. This is bad for you. Presale and post-sale work is different. Thats consulting and is where the real money is. You really have to know your $h!t though.

You want to be titled as a Network Engineer or Security Engineer. Avoid 'Network Administrator/Systems Engineer' like the plague. An NE's responsibilities end at the switch port. We have about 300 6509s in our datacanters and they never go down, while the server guys work constantly to 'keep things up.' An 'NA' does everything including front end/server-side and deals with end users, applications and DBs. These are your Microsoft/Unix/Linux/Sun guys. They also may do some networking but not much. Do not get involved with end users EVER!!!

IMHO

I never have this problem... we're a team of 5 dealing with a sever farm of about 700 servers. We use BladeLogic to do all of our provisioning, config management and auditing so it keeps the team's head count down. I'm always busy with new projects rather than troubleshooting hardware / software issues. And thats what my team does if there is such a problem. So no, you shouldn't "Avoid 'Network Administrator/Systems Engineer' like the plague"...

We run Dell hardware with Redhat and have 99.9999% uptime on our website. We get along with the network guys really well. :smile:

And yea its great that I never have to talk to the end user That's what the IS (windows bleh) guys are for and the help desk. :biggrin:

 

[H-carWizKid]

'SE' (systems engineer) are words spoken from PMs (project managers) or a sales guy. The PMs would like to believe that you know all and will do anything for them. This is bad for you. Presale and post-sale work is different. Thats consulting and is where the real money is. You really have to know your $h!t though.

LoL- as a PM I can only echo your sentiments here- this is also why I am studying ICND1 right now. I got tired of taking the specs from the customer and delivering them to the engineers- my plan is to also be the engineer and cut out the middle man (thus making myself more marketable)

P

 

[nsxotic911]

LoL- as a PM I can only echo your sentiments here- this is also why I am studying ICND1 right now. I got tired of taking the specs from the customer and delivering them to the engineers- my plan is to also be the engineer and cut out the middle man (thus making myself more marketable)

P

You want to be the engineer? Have you heard of India and outsourcing?
I like being the PM.. for the most part.

 

[H-carWizKid]

You want to be the engineer? Have you heard of India and outsourcing?
I like being the PM.. for the most part.

My company was British, but after an unfortunate turn of events it is now Indian, and they are currently outsourcing PM jobs to India, so there isn't any safety staying where I am. The job market is looking bleak in Project Management here in Denver (PMs are a dime a dozen it seems)

What I really want to do is to be a sales engineer. Pay grade increase would be welcome- anywhere but where I currently work.

P

 

[Ko-nsx]

How much does a sales engineer make?

 

[Eclipsed]

You want to be the engineer? Have you heard of India and outsourcing?
I like being the PM.. for the most part.

I'm sticking with my Government contracts. obviously it's lower pay at the moment, but they foot the bill to renew my TS/SCI clearance every 5 years and currently my contract is only renewed every 5 years. This Sept 30th is the current end date for this contract. There has been massive changes, but over all my salary and position wont change. So i'll be good for another 5 years.

 

[enkrypt3d]

You want to be the engineer? Have you heard of India and outsourcing?
I like being the PM.. for the most part.

You can't always outsource engineering when it requires on site work like deploying new environments (racking servers / cabling / configuring / provisioning etc)

You can of course outsource less tangible things such as development work like programming code... I don't agree with it but businesses see it as a viable option for supplementation to their work force rather than laying off a portion of them... some companies don't have the presence of mind to do both..

 

[H-carWizKid]

How much does a sales engineer make?

Depends on where you work- at my company the scales range due to being part of the sales process. Contract size is a variable. The base is close to my current salary so contract incentives would be the increase.


P