Got my A+, Net+ which way should I go next?

[comptek]

Hey everyone,

I got my A+ and Net+, now I dont know where to go next. I am a pc tech right now, I also have my BS in CIS. The BS is what it is. I would like some opinions from you guys out there on what direction/ cert I should go after next.

As a tech I have knowledge of MS products: professional and server, Novell products: Netware and soon Zenworks. Dont know much about our router and switches other than when they are down I should reboot them before I call for support. For now and maybe for the next 5 years I would like to stay in support because the economy for IT is very dry. Where should I gear my education too. I have access to MCSE things, but people on this website are saying ccna? Isnt ccna a little like N+? The only cisco product we have is our firewall. I was thinking about novell certs but we are planning on getting out of netware and go to Zenworks, so should I go for novell?

After 5 years I was maybe considering Network technician, or Engineer. What do network tech's do that differ from pc techs? Because I basically take care of end user issues and just monitor the network in that when something goes down I should be trying to do things try to bring it up before I call support. I was thinking about specializing in Hardware support but I am not sure where to look for that. I know that if I want more money I have to get out of the pc/tech area and go into engineering or some kind of net admin right?

Does anyone out there have or had the same job as me and has moved on to Net engineering/ or Net Admin, and what process have you gone through to get where you are at. Please give me your input.

Thanks

Comptek
A+, Network+

 

[WinZ]

Figure out what you want to do and THEN figure out a direction.

 

[Accessdabbler]

Well, after A+ and Net+ I decided to do Security+. I'm about a week away from writing it.

My feeling is that Security issues are a hot topic with companies nowadays and having a Security Cert is a good addition to a resume.

I considered Server+ but I don't work in IT so I have no access to various types of servers.

The problem with Cisco or Microsoft Certs is they are vendor-specific.