What certifications go well with...

[LadyDi]

I just went for the Net+ exam and passed and I'm begining a Cisco course with the intent of gaining that certification. I want to take so many things but I work as a Network Admin. (lucked into that w/o already having the experience) so I can only do a class or two at a time.

What are some of your opinions as to what intermiediate classes or certifications would be good to work toward next.

Thanks,
Diana

P.S. I was thinking about Unix and either another Cisco or perhaps something like JAVA just to have some sort of programing base.

 

[spidey07]

Too tell you the truth DI, useless certs don't mean jack. MCSE is the first thing that comes to mind. Some "engineer" from the big three carriers came in to help with quite a large frame-relay proposal/design. After about 10 minutes of his mouth blabbing nonsense he finally said "Well, I know networking. I'm an MCSE". RESPONSE: "Thank you for your time, please vacate the building immediately" And this is from a carrier SE. They didn't get the bid by the way.

I'm not being a jerk here but the best thing you can do for your career is to get broad experience on all aspects of computing and then specialize from there. Build a home network of windows 2000 and play with it.

Operating systems --- (NT, Unix Admin-Sun's system admin pretty good, too bad nobody uses the superior NOS...NOVELL so don't worry about it)
Networking --- (cisco CCNA and even the MS network essentials will give you a good basis. If you run or want to know about MS IP networking the TCP/IP class is pretty good)
Programming --- hmmm don't know, haven't coded since '93
Security --- Checkpoint's classes are pretty good

Rereading your post I'll add some more tidbits. Go for the cisco CCNA first as this is pretty easy for people that have touched a piece of network gear then try to get a cisco CCNP. CCNA falls under the category of useless cert but the CCNP does not.

Go pick up "Routing IP" and "LAN Switching" by Cisco press. These are invaluable reference tools and will be long lasting sources of information.

Other classes that come to mind are the "Sniffer University" classes by NAI. I'm sending two of my engineers there next week. You can do networking all your life but until you actually see the frames on the wire it doesn't totally make sense.

Really hope this helps
spidey

 

[velvetfreak]

Diana, I'm in a similar position. I'm an MCSE who's done some study in the CNA, CCNA, and CLP directions. I've decided for myself that it's important to specialize. I don't want to end up a jack of all trades with expired certifications.

As for programming, a bit of Perl would come in handy (and scripting in general), but anything else - eg. VB or C++ - for me it's a whole different frame of mind. I can't keep a block of code in my head while I'm running around doing user support. But perhaps that's just me.

My advice is to go with what you enjoy/are good at, while keeping one eye on the market trends.

 

[LadyDi]

spidey07, I do realize that experience counts the most and so I let you know in the original post that I am employed in the industry. In fact I am gaining experience in a very large variety of tasks as I and one other person are running the NOC for a new ISP that is being started by a well founded (18yrs+) company.

I do think that certifications are important. You must realize that certifications can even be nes. sometimes. I want both, the experience and the certifications.

velvetfreak, I will think about what you said in your post carefully. I don't want a bunch of level one certs that expire without having ever helped me in my career either. Perhaps I will go ahead for the next level of CCNA before changing vendors alhough I would like to begin learning more about UNIX as soon as I can focus on that.

A friend of mine is going to help me set up some Linux stuff at home so I can play with it.

 

[Xanathar]

My only input into this is there is a huge difference between certifications and experience. If you have to study, and cram for an exam because you dont know the material, then you may get the certification, but once you are asked to use the information you can be severly burned. Take your time getting the Certs, by knowing the material. Knowing more then what you have on paper is always better then claiming you know it, being put on the spot, and getting fired because you didnt know a simple routing statement because you crammed and forgot it all.

On a side note, also look into the CNX certification, it is supported by NAI (Yea Sniffers !!!, /me hugs his dolche) and the Entry level exam seems to cover networking and subnetting in general more in depth then the CCNA. Cisco is not the only networking equipment out there.

Knowing equipment and networking isnt the only key also, integration is the most important factor.

Best bet is find 2 or 3 machines, load up different operating systems, learn IP first. It is the common ground in network nowadays, then start learning how it works in depth (route statements, and security) from there you can figure out how each machine interacts, Dont forget to learn how to use the operating systems also, knowing what a collision on the wire looks like in bits doesnt help you if the performance issue is a slow harddrive in a webserver.

spidey, in reguards to Novell being the best.... I like it and all, but ever since 3.12 (okay, 3.2 with y2k pathces) it has been downhill, Novell is not an app server, but for file and print it can be beat

- Arcnet and Novell 2.2 nondedicated on a 286

 

[CTR]

Certs are good for getting pay raises from narrow-minded supervisors who will one day be coming to YOU for a job...My NW5 CNE and my CCNA are sitting in a drawer at my house, and those initials will never ever follow my email sig or appear on my business card. They served their purpose and got me more $$$ at my last job. But my job performance was the same before the certs as it was after.

 

[celeritas]

LadyDi: Need more tools?

 

[velvetfreak]

But my job performance was the same before the certs as it was after.

I think that makes you an ideal candidate for certification CTR. Having the vendor recognize your skill set can surely only be a good thing.

Certs are also good for breaking into areas where you don't have commercial experience.