Suggestions if you please

Discussion in 'Training & Development' started by Jaron78, Aug 3, 2011.

  1. Jaron78

    Jaron78 Gigabyte Poster Forum Leader

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    Afternoon Chaps,

    December 2010 I passed the A+ followed by becoming an MCP in May / June. I am now working as a Second Line IT Helpdesk for a Insurance firm in the city. Must admit, I love it. However, I am missing studying :eek:

    The company have been very kind and have given me access to everything on CBT Nuggest for 400 days, the question is, where to start.

    I am certainly starting with the Network+. Failed the MCDST twice and I really think it was down to my lack of networking knowledge so I am going to start there. I will be using Citirx at work to connect to remote users, and I will be also using CISCO to setup our phones etc. Sadly, the company is using Vista Pro (Boo) on all systems.

    Now with me having a general hatred for Vista, I dont really want to go down the Vista route. Would it be an idea to take the Network+, then look at Citrix (CCA)? I just dont want to run before I can walk. Would it be an idea to look at Windows 7 certs?

    I think once I am more settled that the company would invest in a week long citrix course (if I can swing it anyway).

    What I dont want is for my CV to have all these random certs and say 3 years down the line, a possible new employer wont touch me due to my erratic list of certs.

    Thanks Guys,

    Ron
     
  2. Shinigami

    Shinigami Megabyte Poster

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    Network+ is a good exam to do IMO, it helps one to understand fundamental networking technologies and will help in all aspects of computing in an enterprise. However, if you go down the Cisco route, you'll start to drift away from the operating systems and into serious networking territory very quickly, so just know what you'll be setting yourself up to if you'll be pursuing that.

    Rather than doing any Vista certs, you could always just substitute that for Win7. Win7 knowledge won't radically differ from Vista, but can possibly be of use in the future if you want to sell yourself to another company (uptake of Win7 has already surpassed Vista after all).

    But the N+ and an entry level Cisco certification should keep you busy for the next 3-6 months. Maybe things at work will change by then, and you'll want to expand even more seriously on Cisco certifications (As they do have quite a large scope of things you can study for) or your company might let you start working on servers, in which case you could start with some MCTS/MCITP's on 2008/R2. That alone would keep you occupied for the remaining of the 400 days the company has provided you (and it sounds like a nice deal really).

    Admittedly, you should have 1-2 years of server experience before attempting a server related MCITP, but an MCTS could prove truly useful in helping you pickup knowledge at speed. The studying might be a little harder if you don't have the 1-2 years of experience, but on-the-job training/learning is one of the fastest way to earn a passing grade in an exam.

    Whatever you do, don't try to think TOO far into the future. The IT industry and jobs at companies in general, are such finicky and ever changing things that if you try to plan a curriculum for the next 12 months, you just might find that 6 months down the line the game has changed and your company wants you ro concentrate on X, while you planned to study for Y. Be flexible and try to keep a small handful of exams in your pipeline when you're this early into the certification cycle. It'll help in the sense that the whole proceeding won't simply drive you mad with frustration if you are to miss deadlines you've fixed yourself :)
     
    Certifications: MCSE, MCITP, MCDST, MOS, CIW, Comptia
    WIP: Win7/Lync2010/MCM
  3. soundian

    soundian Gigabyte Poster

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    Network+ is a good call for your next one, especially since you have identified that as a weak area. I've found the knowledge to be really useful in all the MS client certs I've done. I don't think you should plan to go down the CCNA route, it's not really knowledge you need for your current role and I think you'd be better with some client exams: whichever OS you work with most, or W7 if there's a significant amount of W7 boxes at your work. Concentrate on certifying the knowledge you gain at work, once you have that nailed look to expand.
    If you look at my list of certs and my WIP, you'll see that's pretty much the plan I'm following. I've certified everything I have documented work experience of, now I'm studying one cert that interests me (CCENT) and one that will enhance my understanding of working in a domain environment (70-290), even though I don't have experience in server work. Basically I'm keeping one eye on improving the work I'm paid for and another on improving my general knowledge and nudging a little step closer to the networking job I want.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+,MCDST,MCTS(680), MCP(270, 271, 272), ITILv3F, CCENT
    WIP: Knuckling down at my new job
  4. Jaron78

    Jaron78 Gigabyte Poster Forum Leader

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    Cheers Guys, that has really helped.
    Starting to work on the N+ as we speak as well as CBT Im also looking at Professer Messer too.

    Ideally, I will look at some Windows 7 Certs, and have spoken to my boss about Citrix which is used to Remote to our Underwriters at Lloyds so the CCA could be an option....though I would rather do a Class Based 5 day course for that....especially if I can get work to pay for it ;)

    Thank you,

    Ron
     

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