CCNA or MCSE?

digitalwolf

digitalwolf

digitalwolf

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England
I haven't done any qualifications for nearly two years and it's time to get stuck into something.

I have got my MCDST, A+ and N+ . Work have got MCSA planned for me sometime next year but I am itching to get stuck into something now.

I have seen the CCNA at my local college for £1200, four week course.

Is this the going rate?

Do you recommend CCNA over MCSE? I want to go into Networking :)
 
It depends on what you mean by "get into networking". If you want to become a network architect, then the Cisco route. If however you want to become a network administrator, MCSE in the latest products.

Personally when hiring someone new I'd take an MCSE holder over a CCNA holder, as I can quite easily teach someone the necessities from a CCNA course.
 
The only issue I have with MCSE is the ammount of exams and the fact I would need time off work.

CCNA can be done in four weeks.

Do any training companies do a "boot camp" like course where you can do it quickly?

Is college the best method of completing these courses or is there a better route?

I do like the sound of being an architect but I would need to experience both job roles. At the moment a server manager/technician role is not appealing.

In all honesty, without sounding big headed, my knowledge on internet connections is spot on, so the infrastructure side of things is very appealing.
 
Well if you knowledge of internet connections (as you put it) is spot on then you should be looking at CCIE or such like but they are unbelievably hard.

It all depends, though, on your area of work. If you are working with Windows then you should be looking at Microsoft exams. Yes there's a lot but that should give you an indicator of how valued it is (with experience, not on it's own!).

There are boot camps out there but it sounds like you want the qualification without the work in that case and they are very intensive exams (one a day for all 7 modules! or 1 every other day for the 2 week bootcamps).



M.
 
CCNA first - it tends to be taken more seriously. Certainly all the systems and network managers who like me and want to see me do well tell me to do it first, as MSCEs are taken with a pinch of salt these days; CCNAs less so.

I currently have neither, but if I had a few hundred quid to spare, I'd be doing the CCNA courses.
 
The Cisco qualifications seem to be more straight forward in terms of what you need to do.

Is the Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) worth anything for someone who's never used Cisco gear, or should I just bite the bullet and look at the CCNA? Interested in doing some learning over winter.
 
platypus said:
The Cisco qualifications seem to be more straight forward in terms of what you need to do.

Is the Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) worth anything for someone who's never used Cisco gear, or should I just bite the bullet and look at the CCNA? Interested in doing some learning over winter.
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I have just about finished my CCNA course with the OU, all I have left is my final OU exam in about 3 weeks. I have never touched Cisco kit before, the limit of my networking knowledge was about cable type and how to wire them, some of the layers of the OSI model and a basic understand of what happens at those levels, and how to set up a simple home network with unmannaged kit.

Now that I have finished I have a much better understanding and can easily use cisco kit without much trouble.

So if you have no cisco experience you can still go for the CCNA, as long as its a good course it will cover it from the ground up, without assuming you have previous networking knowledge (it will assume you can operate a PC though :p)
 
Aye I can just about manage that :p. Would you recommend the OU course?

Hmm, £825 seems high when they don't put you in for an exam.
 
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It is a little expensive, but if you get a sufficiently high score they give you a 50% off voucher for the offical CCNA exam. I do highly recommend it, its spread out over a long period so its only a few hours a week, you get constant contact with your tutor should there be any problems, you get the Cisco packet tracer for running simulations and learning the commands, as well as netlabs, which is remote access to real physical hardware, and 4 day schools where you can get some hands on time with the cisco kit.
 
I`ve did MCSA and CCNA, for me CCNA is way more worthy, buy the books and self study is the way to go IMHO, I also bought a couple of routers and a 2950 for hands on tho thats not strictly necessary.
 
I went straight for CCNA, then did the 4 pro exams and became CCNP, now CCIE and specialising in voice and security.
Worth it if you enjoy the work.
 
Badboy2k3 said:
This is what i did, 3 years later i'm in a great position.

I did my MCSA first took a break then did my CCNA then I did a further 2 exams and became MCSE

My CCNA is going to expire next year so i'm working on the first CCNP exam!

All fun stuff lol!
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I need to get my bum into gear and get some qualifications under my belt, for a NOC Engineer, I am quite under qualified. The only reason I got the job was 4 years of experience.

newbiejim said:
I`ve did MCSA and CCNA, for me CCNA is way more worthy, buy the books and self study is the way to go IMHO, I also bought a couple of routers and a 2950 for hands on tho thats not strictly necessary.
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Slightly overkill. A couple of 800 series routers would do the job.
 
MarcLister said:
How much are we talking for the gear? :)
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erm cant remember lol, but it wasnt outrageous, loads on auction site

Janesy B said:
I need to get my bum into gear and get some qualifications under my belt, for a NOC Engineer, I am quite under qualified. The only reason I got the job was 4 years of experience.



Slightly overkill. A couple of 800 series routers would do the job.
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true, esp for the switch but i wanted to do inter vlan stuff etc, AND more importantly so i could be up to speed @ work :)
 
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