Originally Posted by
Seamonkey
Congratz on the CCNA! I assume R/S?
I'm CCNP R/S and while the material didn't seem very relevant for my TSC job at the time it has proven useful in my current role in a core networking position. I work in a multivendor environment so we only use open protocols. I'm working on the JNCIP-SP and it's been a hoot.
I recommend you set a goal of one cert a year as a life long education process. Keeps you learning, keeps the material fresh and always looks good on a resume or at review time. I'd skip the CompTia Net+ unless it's a job requirement. The official book I had was complete with typos, sentences chopped in half and I found contradicting information pages apart. Didn't do anything for my job search at the time.
Cisco is the gold standard for most IT jobs due mainly to ignorant/lazy hiring managers and HR people. Unless you can get your resume in front of the hiring manager you have to deal with HR. HR goes off check marks. Hiring manager slops CCNA in the title and that's what HR looks for. Doesn't matter if it's even relevant to the job. How many job postings have you come across where they slop "CCNA/CCNP/CCIE preferred" for a $50K job. Do you really expect to land a CCIE for that?
Explore Juniper, Sec+, some scripting, keep the journey going!
