How highly do you rate CCNA/CCNP?

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I'm going to be starting a Degree in Networking next September. I'm caught between two Courses/Universities at the moment though.

One of the courses promises to include the Cisco syllabus and provide opportunities to get the CCNA and CCNP certificates.

The other has no mention of Cisco certificates. But it was my original choice for the location.

How highly regarded are the Cisco certificates to Employers? Do you think the first course would be better so I can equip myself with CCNA and CCNP? I'm a bit unsure what exactly Network Employers are looking for.

Thanks!

 

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Well the CCNA and CCNP are world recognised Networking certifications, what they aren't aimed at however is people with little to no real world experience, personally speaking I would go for the course without the CCNA \ CCNP because what manager in their right mind lets someone loose on their network with no real world experience.

Please understand that IT Certifications (especially the CCNP) are aimed at people with the experience to back up the certification, that experience comes with years of working with the gear.

If I were hiring someone for a network position and they had a CCNA\CCNP but no commercial experience I wouldn't even bother bringing them into the interview.

 

Thanks for the reply, bang on what I was looking for really. So it would make more sense to see the CCNA/CCNP certificates as something to work towards a few years down the line, after a few years working experience.

The course without the Cisco certificates seems to have a wider syllabus and more varied content, which I suppose would be better instead of being pushed down the Cisco route so early on.

 

I have to disagree with SimonD here. Cisco actually encourage University's to include their courses such as the CCNA into degrees as it provides a ready stream of graduates who can use Cisco kit. So i think its disingenuous to say they are solely aimed at IT professionals.
I would also say that i would expect someone who has spent 3 years studying networking at University to be able to pass a CCNA with minimal training. You would need to learn the Cisco commands and Cisco proprietary protocols but if you didnt know what OSPF or RSTP or 802.1q was id say you'd wasted 3 years.

I wouldnt hire a graduate as a Network Manager but i would hire them in a junior or graduate role in the knowledge that they should have lots of theoretical knowledge and unless they did a placement year little practical experience. (i wouldnt consider building labs in a study group proper experience)

That being said i would pick the course that gave me the broader knowledge and didnt focus my knowledge on one vendor.

 

Thanks for the reply mcbro.

The two University courses are here:

www.staffs.ac.uk/courses_and_study/courses/network-computing-tcm428364.jsp (CCNA/CCNP)
www.shu.ac.uk/prospectus/course/1129/content/

The syllabus listed are quite vague. But it does seem like the CCNA/CCNP one is steered quite prominently towards gaining the Cisco certificates.

 

I would go for the one that includes Cisco syllabus. They are not forcing you to take the exams, but will cover the material as part of the course. Far more useful than coming out of university with a networking degree but no knowledge of Cisco. Also, look at the list of possible placement locations in year 3, this will give you a chance to use some of that knowldge gained in the course. I would then certify that by doing the CCNA.

I did a very similar course, with a placement in year 3. The best two things about that course were the Cisco syllabus and placement in year 3.

 

Am I right in thinking that the Cisco certificates will need renewing after 3 years though?

 

Thats correct.

 

Yep, but as i said, you don't have to take the certification exams, so i wouldn't base your decision on this fact. You will get tested on the Cisco syllabus, but this will only be as part of your normal university testing - it won't count toward CCNA certification.

 

The shu course looks like the same one I did at shu. It was called Information Technology Networks back then. It did encompass cisco certifications.

It also included many useless things, it was not specialised in networking. The mathematics was basic maths, with the inclusion of stuff like converting between hex and binary and arithmetic with binary numbers. It also included project management, sql, data warehousing, database design and a bit of web development. So it was a bit of a jack of all trades, proficient in none kind of course.

Personally, I wish I had not bothered with it, and that was with the cost of only around £1.5k tuition for a year, never mind the crazy 9k debts per year they are saddling your age group with nowadays. Plus also consider your loans for living expenses, the average back then was around 4k a year.

Not long after the end of the course, we had a recession. That I know of, two out of the entire course got networking jobs. Some others (myself included) ended up with support roles, the rest in office jobs or unemployed.

I think having a degree hindered us getting jobs, the unfortunate combination of a recession, little experience and being overqualified for entry level positions.

Unfortunately I have found myself out of work again. So I am now doing what I wish I had done initially. I have the Comptia A+, I shall self study the CCNA again and perhaps do the MCDST then leave it at that.

On the other side of the coin, uni is super fun and probably the best time of your life. Can you put a price on great memories? Well some memories are quite hazy, I blame the 50p shots, but you get the picture.

 

If I'm not mistaken the MCDST has retired!

 

Thanks. I'm quite out of the loop.

Would the 'MCTS: Windows 7, Configuration 070-680' be the way to go nowadays?

Actually I think I will drop redoing the CCNA for now and concentrate on desktop support certs.