Certifications

[Megadeth]

I've seen a lot of talk lately about getting certifications.... I've come to the conclusion that I need to start get some more myself. I only have the A+ right now and I make 40k per year. I've been working at my job straight out of high school so going on 6 years now. I also had a business on the side with my friend for 2 years doing computer reapirs.

I want to start simple and get back into the swing of things, should I go that route or just jump into studying for some bigger certifications.

I was thinking about taking my network+ followed by my security+.... I did have 4 semesters of a Cisco Class in High school that was to prep us for the CCNA but that was almost 6 years ago.

My future father in-law teaches a Cisco class once a week in addition to his Job as a senior network engineer. So I have been brushing up my old Cisco knowledge with him over the past couple weeks.

I think once I get the net+ and security+ I will look into the CCNA.

I was also wondering what anyon thought about going for an MCSE... Should I start taking some of these MS certs as well?

Does anyone know anything about the server+ cert? Is that worth getting?

 

[AnyMal]

CCNA market is oversaturated. I'd get MCSE first.

 

[Czar]

right now I'm going for mcsa, after that adding on mcse

 

[DougK62]

Originally posted by: AnyMal
CCNA market is oversaturated. I'd get MCSE first.

I agree. I found my CCNA to be worthless and did not renew it. I'm working on MCSE currently.

 

[CVSiN]

this is bad advice... the market is mega oversaturated with paper MCSEs as well..
at least the Cisco testing process is actualyl worth a darn..
most cisco certed people I have met have actualyl known what they are talkign about where 3/4 of the M$ certed people the instant you talked to them or interviewed them it was clear they got the answers from testking...


now..
with that being said..
with 15 years exp I currently have
MCSA2003 (2 tests left till MCSE)
MCPs in 2 different older OSs other than my required for MCSA
MCDST
A+
NET+
Security+
working on CCNA

I must say that for many years my Expereince alone carried me.
within the last 5 years Certs started being looked at very hard in conjuction with exp.
I was then forced to get on the cert wagon.

 

[DougK62]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
this is bad advice... the market is mega oversaturated with paper MCSEs as well..
at least the Cisco testing process is actualyl worth a darn..
most cisco certed people I have met have actualyl known what they are talkign about where 3/4 of the M$ certed people the instant you talked to them or interviewed them it was clear they got the answers from testking...

Well anything is going to be a "paper cert" if you have no work experience with the stuff.

The CCNA is way too easy. It's hardly considered a mid-level cert like it used to be -- it's more entry level.

 

[edro]

I got the MCDST, then 2 months later, got a job out of IT. I hate certifications with a passion.

 

[isasir]

Where does MCSA rank in the scheme of things? I don't think my company would foot the bill for MCSE, but I probably can take enough classes and use my work experience to get an MCSA while I'm at my current job.

 

[talyn00]

Originally posted by: DougK62

Originally posted by: CVSiN
this is bad advice... the market is mega oversaturated with paper MCSEs as well..
at least the Cisco testing process is actualyl worth a darn..
most cisco certed people I have met have actualyl known what they are talkign about where 3/4 of the M$ certed people the instant you talked to them or interviewed them it was clear they got the answers from testking...

Well anything is going to be a "paper cert" if you have no work experience with the stuff.

The CCNA is way too easy. It's hardly considered a mid-level cert like it used to be -- it's more entry level.

since when was the CCNA ever considered a mid-level cert?? i thought it was always considered an entry level one, since there is CCNP, CCIE which much higher up.

 

[engineereeyore]

I would do CCNA only if you are planning on continuing on with it. Network+ is about the easiest certification test you will ever take, so definitely get it. Security+ isn't a bad idea either. If you want to get Server+, you might want to look into Linux+ as well, seeing how many servers today currently run Linux.

I agree that I've seen more MCSE's that don't know what they're talking about than CCNA's, but that doesn't mean you have to follow that. Both have their advantages and it really depends on what you want to do. Do you want to focus more on the operating systems portion, or do you want to focus on the networking portion?

Just something to think about.

 

[Megadeth]

Can anyone suggest any good books to study from?