Is cisco certification the way to go?

[fivefm]

what are the opportunities in becomeing cisco certifieed? what are the the best qualifications to get for the future?

 

[dogbert2]

Certification works when you need a specific skill set in order to perform a particular type of job. That being said, the cisco cert program and network academy programs are good, but realize what you are getting yourself into.

I work in a small IT shop (30 employees) and I have to wear many different hats on a daily basis. Today, i'm wearing my system admin hat, and my router hat. Tomorrow, it might be something else.

If you want to look into getting certified, check with the local comm. college to see if there is a network academy in your area. Ask the instructor if you can sit in on a class to see if you will like it, etc.

 

[schemamasta]

For what it's worth, I passed my CCNA and thouroughly enjoyed the class. Definately not a waste of time. Where else can you play and experiment with a dozen or so routers and not get fired if you totally mess up the configuration

Mark

 

[fivefm]

Thanx for replying, but are cisco "engineers" still high in demand? What are the possibilities of finding jobs? (because of the world reccession, wars, etc) are things looking up or at least better, in the IT industry?

 

[SPguru]

Possibly though, with a college education, one could learn how to spell "definitely" correctly.

It seems spelling is not a part of the curriculum for a certification. I notice A LOT of misspelled words in these forums. It appears that a dictionary, either printed or online, is a forgotten tool used commonly in composition. I can forgive a "fat-finger," a typo, however, most are spelled incorrectly because the author believes that spelling in correct.

How sad, but it is a fact that on average, only 25% of students can read, at best, their current grade level.

 

[ANFPS26]

Yeah, these fora need "Spellcheck".

Jim

 

[dogbert2]

The written word (at least in english) is probably the hardest thing to master in the world. All that aside,
it would be nice to see a spell checker here, so that
misspellings could be caught, but I can live with a
mistake in spelling on a forum like this.

On a cover letter, resume, or documents you prepare
for a company, it's unacceptable to have misspelled words
and poor grammar.

 

[fivefm]

thanks i feel like im back at school, everyone understood schemamasta meant so why worry!!
all that aside none of you answered my question

 

[SPguru]

I answered your question - in a roundabout way - get a college education!

And with that maybe you would be able to infer that from the context of my posting about spelling and education.

 

[CajunCenturion]

fivefm - Your question did not get a direct answer because no-one can answer it directly. There is no silver bullet with respect to certifications that will guarantee you anything, other than a piece of paper that you can hang on the wall. Having a CCNA will not guarantee you a job, nor will not having one mean you won't get the job. As far as what are the best qualifications for the future, it all depends on what you envision that future to be. What are your career intentions? Where do you want to be next year, five years from now, ten years from now? As dogbert2 said, a certificate is good only for a specific skill set, which may nor may not be useful in the future. I agree with SPguru in that pursuing a college education is most likely your best bet because it will provide you with a much broader education, a better foundation for many aspects of the IT industry, and will prepare you better to adapt yourself to vicissitudes within the future of IT. Having a degree will not guarantee you a job, nor will not havnig one mean you won't get a job, but it will considerably improve your chances and most likely, your income as well.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[fivefm]

ah now i see! said the blind man. But i still need to find out what other people think, so that i can base my decision (and hopefully my future) on what i'm told, by what i hope to be more experienced people. in other words instead of reinventing the wheel, i can get ideas from other people and use the good ideas to build my own better wheel.