CCNA for possible career change

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Hi,
Very interesting and informative forum. I am considering a possible career change from about 20 years as a technician working high-tech avionics equipment repair. I have about 6 years as a volunteer workgroup administrator for the IT dept. supporting the NT workstations in my area at work (HW-SW/about 40 systems). Looking at taking the CCNA Cisco academy course at the local community college on my employers tab (tuition reimbursement). Does the Cisco academy hands-on labwork with the routers/switches/cabling equipment give a person a feel for real-world networking? Is it of any value as experience?

I thought it might help embellish the WG admin experience on my resume if I were to apply for an IT position. I'm not in any danger of being unemployed (as long as people are flying, I'll be fixing the black boxes), but I've got a lot of spare time, and would like to take advantage of free education. May need to relocate due to health issues and can't hurt to broaden my experience. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

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Hi and welcome to CF I'd advise if your employer is paying for your ccna cert then that's good. On the other hand just the cert wouldn't land you a IT network support role as experience is the key. If you can you might want to look at the Comptia Network+ too.

Just out of curiousity why a career change? I mean am sure your current role was okay hence you were doing that for last 20 yrs. Anyway, best wishes on your plans and studies.

 

Hi,
Thanks for the quick reply. A career change may be required if I'm forced to relocate due to a health issue related to the local air quality. As in I may not be able to find avionics work elsewhere. Reason I'm interested in networking cert is I've always been a computer freak and a techie, building systems, doing repair work for co-workers/friends, along with the admin role at work (which actually ended years ago, but I am still called upon daily by my co-workers for support-it's a curse). Even built a home network years ago studying for the MS server certs when layoff threatened, but never happened, so kind of forgot about it for awhile, although it was interesting and fun. Now my son is getting ready to start college, and kind of got my blood up for learning again. I figured learn something that's interesting and might be beneficial (Maybe I could intern with my employer's IT dept.) It's almost a free education, except for books/lab fees. Anyway, thanks for your input, I really appreciate it.
BTW, I do have a Network+ guide from Sybex, and its pretty good reading, but I've gotten the impression that the CNAP curriculum pretty much covers the Network+ material in the first session (ironically, from reading forums).

 

Hi & welcome to CF!

NB

 

You mentioned volunteering for an IT department, that's a great start. I'd say take the course, especially since your employer is covering the cost and you have some IT background.

Keep in mind though, the CCNA is Cisco centric. Meaning that you might want to brush up on general networking knowledge (if you're lacking) or consider more "entry" certs like Network+ or CCENT (Cisco'a pre-CCNA but not req'd).

Hopefully you won't be forced into a job change, but if you are at least you'll have some career options. Good luck...

 

Hi,

Thanks for the input. The Network+ material did seem a little easier to start with. And the CNAP doesn't start until June '08, maybe I'll crack open that Sybex N+ again.