Does CCNA get you a job ???

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This one is specially for those who have recently obtained CCNA certification and doesn't have any market experience and have been hunting for networking related jobs ?
Can anyone answer this also with regards to UK job market.

 

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Hasnt been to good for me, its only got me to 1 interview so far and hadn't got the job.

Seems u got to start at very bottom in help desk

 

Thanks for replying laup, i agree that u have to start from the beginner level position if you lack real market experience and I would be really willing to take this sort of offer in my personal opinion.
have you been trying since long, secondly are you from UK ?

 

I can't speak to the UK market, but I suspect the same dynamics operate here in the US as across the pond.

I got my CCNA because everyone else around me was going after MCSEs and I wanted to be different. Besides, I really like networking. I got my A+ and Network+ certs first, then earned my CCNA. I got calls to perform any number of hardware and operating system rollouts based primarily on my A+ but only got one contract job that even remotely involved my CCNA.

It was actually a "repeater". A number of bank branches in my area were rolling out to Ethernet from Token Ring. My job was to install a Cisco switch at each branch, work with the NOC to configure them (they did the configuring, I just ran a few tests using my laptop) and verifying that everything worked.

I probably installed a dozen or so switches in different branches, but that was my one and only experience working with Cisco equipment in a production environment. I eventually let my CCNA lapse because I never used it.

I'm not saying that there is no worth in this certification or in building a career on Cisco hardware and software...just don't expect employers to immediately hand over the administrator usernames and passwords to their Cisco infrastructure to you. You can earn a CCNA but you'll still have to earn the experience and trust the hard way...one day at a time at the bottom of the ladder.

If you're serious about working your way up, you'll stick with it. There are no short cuts. Any of us who is even remotely successful in our careers had to spend years building up to it.

 

Past month or so ive really been trying for a job, and yes im based in norfolk

 

The main problem with expecting the CCNA to help you get an entry-level job is that entry-level jobs don't entail working with Cisco devices or network administration, and companies won't hire someone without experience to administer their network. Thus, the CCNA isn't very useful in helping you get an entry-level job.

For entry-level jobs, I'd recommend entry-level certifications, like the A+ and MCDST.

 

In the UK CompTIA A+ and Network+ will not get you work.
I have passed them both but when I spoke to employment agencies I was told "Sorry I don't know what that is"
I now also have passed CCNA and have applied for CCNA jobs paying about £20K per annum, but the agencies seem to think they will get an experienced CCNA for that money (don't think so). They will not forward your details - the job does not get filled and after the closing date you will see the same position advertised again

 

If that's the case, you're working with the wrong employment agencies.

Companies won't hire a CCNA without any real world IT experience for a CCNA-level job. The security and the stability of the network is too valuable for a company to risk on someone who has never done the job before. May not seem fair to you... but business is business... and it makes total sense to someone who has seen what happens when a company DOES take a chance on an inexperienced tech doing a job they aren't qualified to do. Passing an exam doesn't make you qualified to do a job... having experience makes you qualified to do a job.

 

Wrong employment agencies?

A+ and Network+ will not get you work in the UK period.
Agencies do not care, it is far easier for them to quote "experience required" than to find out what qualifications are worth BUSINESS IS BUSINESS
As for an experienced CCNA taking a job at £20K look at the market rates.
A CCNA job here on £20K will be on a help desk - you will not go anywhere near a network.
You probably have as much experience of what goes on in the UK as I have of the USA - NOTHING

 

Wrong employment agencies?

A+ and Network+ will not get you work in the UK period.
Agencies do not care, it is far easier for them to quote experience required than to waste their time finding out what the qualifications are all about BUSINESS IS BUSINESS

As for an experienced CCNA taking a job at £20K look at the market rates.
A CCNA job here on £20K will be on a help desk - 1st Line Support.
You will not go anywhere near a network.
Anyway I'm in the UK and my comment was to someone in the UK
May not seem fair to you - but whats it got to do with you anyway
Have A Nice Day!

 

£11K in LONDON?
Maybe on your side of Hadrians Wall

 

You can't survive on £11k in London, not unless you live in a cardboard box under Waterloo bridge.

 

Get your CCNA and look for a temp contract work to get experience even if it means just installing cisco switch onto racks. Everyone has to start from somewhere and from reading your post it seems like your keen.

I'd say go for it and done let anyone tell you otherwise

 

I could care less if you're in the middle of nowhere... companies won't hire people without experience to do network administration regardless of where you live.

As Sparky said, no certification will guarantee you a job. But the A+ and N+ will give you an advantage over those who don't have it.

What it's got to do with me is the fact that I've been in IT quite a while. You'd do well to listen to my advice. That said, if you don't, it's no skin off my back - my career is established.