is there a Light at the end of the Tunnel ?

Discussion in 'New Members Introduction' started by purplejade, Oct 27, 2007.

  1. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    Gees, you don't half come out with some funny stuff, whats the 80's got to do with anything ? I'm not sure what you mean, but if you were referring to me I was born in 74 and most of my education was in the mid nineties.

    Education can vary, theres vocational and non vocational, I know many lecturers that do nothing but play with networks all day in a lab. What is that if not valid experience ? What about mechanics, if they had loads of vocational quals it might mean they'd worked on many issues even though they might not have alot of work experience.

    Secondly where did I say a company would let you tinker with their equipment without experience? Thats right I didn't ! This Is why I say read the post!

    Generalisations are just that, learning, discovery and understanding are whats important, this can happen in many ways theres no right or wrong, black or white. Many academics are quite capable, Tim Berners Lee invented the web, Linus Torvalds wrote linux... Also many non academics also do alot of good work, people even get honary degrees in recognition of this. So the distinction purely on their educational background or work situation is fairly meaningless. Good qualifications indicate knowlege AND experience, thats what they are designed to do, you do lessons/labs to gain the experience. So you would not 'Just have qualifications' as you put it, a person with many quals may indeed be very hands on especially if the quals are vocational in nature or involve physical activity.
     
  2. wizard

    wizard Petabyte Poster

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    I'm referring to 80s when the degrees were king and graduates would walk straight into a job. The focus has moved away from degrees to more experience.

    I may have only been a youngster in the 80s, but you could see it on the news the "milk round" where employers would go round picking the cream of the crop of current graduates to recruit.
     
    Certifications: SIA DS Licence
    WIP: A+ 2009
  3. drum_dude

    drum_dude Gigabyte Poster

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    Very good point wizard - there was a time when getting a degree was quite a big step forward with respect to getting a job. Those days have indeed gone - that is unless the degree comes from what the toffs at the top would term "a proper university".
     
    Certifications: MCP, MCSA 2000 , N+, A+ ,ITIL V2, MCTS, MCITP Lync 2010 & MCSA 2008, Sonus SATP SBC 1k/2k
    WIP: Hopefully Skype for Business and some Exchange stuff...
  4. purplejade

    purplejade Nibble Poster

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    Wow, theres lots of info floating around from you guys which I am trying to soak... to be honest I did not have any experience at all in IT,when I started of I took the plunge head in.. I started A+ with the help of good ol mark meyers and it was really helpful.. once I finished that ( yet to give exams ) I jumped on to N+ and then on to CCNA, as I mentioned earlier as CCNA was fresh and vivid, and, I was confidant going through lots of sims, ICND prep exams, I went and gave my exams..and when I hit that button and saw CONGRATULATIONS !!! I went straight to the pub.....I didnt even glance at the scoresheet... You guys have got me thinking here... the stuff like configuring eigrp, ospf, nats frame relay etc... what chance would a newbee, who has joined and started a help desk job have of even have a sniff at ??? when would he ever get a chance to work on those ??? it will take years that way to understand the concepts.. I may be wrong here.. but dont know..

    PS: my CV consists of only one page...I will be more innovative in my covering letters from now ...
    Thanks
     
    Certifications: CCNA N+
    WIP: A+
  5. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    It's an investement in your career - people spend far, far more than that on training courses. Plus, if you're in the industry already, some companies will pay for your certification exams - I have yet to have an employer not reimburse employees for passing them (though they wouldn't usually pay if you failed them).

    If it's worth the extra added advantage to add it to your CV, then get it... if not, then don't. Nobody's forcing you to get certified. Personally, I think it's worth it... after all, network administrators can't bring in an e-portfolio of the networks they've managed as proof of ability.
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!
  6. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Absolutely none. It's one thing to read a book and take an exam... it's another thing entirely to administer a routed network if you've never even worked in IT before. And companies realize this: they will not hand over the administration of their network to someone who has never even supported users in IT. It's too big a risk for them to take.

    Yep, it does take years to truly understand the concepts in a real-world environment... again, that's why companies don't hire newbies to administer their networks. That's why most of us advise to wait on the CCNA until after you've gotten to work on networks (and preferably, real Cisco devices).
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!
  7. MacAllan

    MacAllan Byte Poster

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    If someone was enquiring who had neither, I'd say go for N+ first - I did, and to be honest I think I would have struggled if I'd started with CCNA. But the OP has got his CCNA. From that standpoint I see nothing in the N+ exam of worth, especially since the OP has A+ including the OS part.

    And as for CCNA not being vendor neutral - 75% of it is just that, and at a far higher standard than the 100% of N+. Again, I wouldn't advise anyone to take CCNA without N+, but this is like suggesting that someone who had an A level sit a GCSE in the same subject (sorry, I don't know the US equivalent).
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, CCNA
    WIP: CCNP, Linux+

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