Which certification for IT contracting?

Prophet · 28 Nov 2012 at 17:13

I've been thinking about going into IT contracting but as I have no formal qualifications I'd like to get at least one under my belt before I jump in.

I'm thinking CCNA etc. If I went the Cisco route which qualification what path should I take that will appeal to the people offering the contracts?

Raumarik · 28 Nov 2012 at 17:37

CCNA is all well and good but you need experience to back it up, same with most qualifications. Very few people will hire you without relevant experience, especially in contracting roles which might demand X qualification. Wont' matter for a pool of contracting staff doing general IT roles but I'm guessing you'd rather earn more than that.

If you've got IT experience then personally I'd go for a qualification which matched it.

Prophet · 28 Nov 2012 at 20:17

I've been working in IT since 1994 and have covered most aspects but never specialised. I have a great understanding and practical knowledge of networks and have installed 100's over the years, however I've never touched Cisco kit.

I had a call from a contracting agency earlier who were really impressed with my CV but asked if I was thinking of getting a Cisco qualification as it was the only thing letting me down. And you're right I do want to earn more, especially as this job was a 6 month contract on a £375/day rate.

Snomad · 29 Nov 2012 at 08:29

CISCO now is THE main qualification to get now, a lot of IT companies would say that networking is where the money is right now. I was offered to do that but i decided not to due to the fact that the education system in UK is dreadful imo and the course was 2 years and although it was free, i did not like aspect of being around 16/17 year old kids for 2 years lol

Anyhow im going off topic, i think CISCO would be good to have even if your not going down the networking route, because general IT jobs uses networks and having basic knowledge is always a plus. If your lucky and work for company who trains their workers to gain this then this would be known as a charlie sheen "winning!" but if your looking to do this outside of work, expect to pay a lot of money

Microsoft certification is also a must but yet again the cost of them are huge.

Gain experience by getting into apprenticeships, better if your between 16-24 but if your older then you would need to fund yourself in this. But if your working at the same time then i say its worth going for as apprenticeship scheme has been improved in UK (******* finally) and the government is funding them and not the employer. You may also be lucky to land a placement and actually gain employment with them if you complete your course.

I might of rambled on abit but to sum up, CISCO is a must for networking, Microsoft certification is also a must they are the top 2 to gain, but to gain experience apprentice courses are the best thing to go for right now.

Raumarik · 29 Nov 2012 at 11:21

Orange Peel said:
I've been working in IT since 1994 and have covered most aspects but never specialised. I have a great understanding and practical knowledge of networks and have installed 100's over the years, however I've never touched Cisco kit.

I had a call from a contracting agency earlier who were really impressed with my CV but asked if I was thinking of getting a Cisco qualification as it was the only thing letting me down. And you're right I do want to earn more, especially as this job was a 6 month contract on a £375/day rate.

Sounds like a no brainer tbh mate, Cisco is ideal for you then. Unlike MS certs there's fewer off them and you arguably getting a better return for the investment.

Biggest issue with the MS certs is that products are changing, older certs become useless and there's so many products to cover.

Ev0 · 29 Nov 2012 at 11:38

All I'll say is go for certs in the areas that you want to work in, in the technologies the roles you are looking at use and ask for in the job ads.

Don't be one of these people that just goes and gets a random cert then sees how/where you can use it

Saying a cert is a must without saying for what sort of role isn't really helpful.

Cisco is good if it's a Cisco role, MS certs good if it's a Wintel role, but both wouldn't be much use in other roles that have nothing to do with them

(ok so there is some transferable knowledge in those areas, more so with Cisco and networking, but you get the idea

).

What sort of contract roles is it you are looking to do?

Prophet · 29 Nov 2012 at 12:52

I'd like to go down either the networking route or into virtualisation. I didn't realise how out of touch I was having been in the same role for the last 8 years! Despite earning a good wage and being the department manager it all means nothing if I can't progress in todays IT market.

Lucas Fenix · 30 Nov 2012 at 11:41

I'm starting the Microsoft route as my work is a Microsoft Academy and will eventually pass the training certificate so I can teach.

The guy who does the training went to an event a few days ago where all the IT training providers were in one place and he managed to get some insights from other professionals.

A lot of people look up to Citrix's qualifications, especially for virtualisation.

Cisco are probably at the top spot due to the name and the difficulty of the top courses.

There's a Linux Essentials course, they really tried to hype it up as "everyone uses Linux on their servers".

If I were you I'd stick with Cisco as you know they're respected and networking is really useful. Finding a cabling course would be excellent down the line, a lot of people have to call in cablers, even IT support companies outsource a lot. Make sure it's got some fiber optics involved though, gotta stay modern.