Where to now with Certification??

conorw

Hi,

I have just completed the CIW web master course and exams. I studied this in Ashfield college.

My problem is where to now? Do I keep going down the web direction or go a different route.

I have been lookin on-line at different courses, and have looked at the CCNA.

By the way, I do not work in IT, but am extreemly interested in IT. I am currently running a few websites as well.

Any help with this would be great.:D

donaghs

If you don't work in IT, and don't necessarily have any plan to go in that direction, I can't see why you'd want to do an industry qualification like CCNA. Its a lot of effort, people do it to understand cisco kit they work with, or in the hope that they'll get a job working with cisco kit - and a nice pay rise;) .

If you're a web hobbyist, it might be more advisable to look into a college multi-media course, or maybe looking in the software programming direction. You would learn a lot about networking, TCP/IP, etc from CCNA, but unless you work with cisco kit, you'll gradually forget a lot of the course material. CompTIAs Network+ would cover a lot of the networking basic in an easier format.

If you've a general interest in IT and want to learn more about the OS, you could look at exams like Microsoft MCPs for XP or Vista, or CompTIAs Linux+

conorw

It's not that I don't want to work in IT, and I wouldn't mind making a career change.

I work as an electrician and do alot of work with DeviceNet and PLC's, drives etc. I thought that the CCNA would bring on my Networking skills.

I found while studying for the CIW foundations, that there was a good bit of networking, which I found interesting. I have some knowledge of computers and networking and did not find it too taxing.

Is the CCNA very hard?? Also, would I be better starting with the Network + first??

I was also looking at a course yesterday (can't remember college) that was a Diploma in Web design (found it through a link from Boards.ie).

axer

conorw wrote:

Is the CCNA very hard?? Also, would I be better starting with the Network + first?

I did a course in CCNA but never did the exams. I have seem a lot of the types of questions that come up. Its not hard but that is relative. I had being working with computers for a few years before I did the course. They have a new syllabus just out in July that has dropped older technologys and added wireless technologys.

CCNA tends to focus on IP Address subnetting and router commands protocols. If you have a good logical head on you then you shouldn't have a problem doing the CCNA. From what I can see though it is for people that are or want to become network admins.

I would do the Network+ exam first or totally instead of CCNA unless you are going to be working with routers.

conorw

Thanks for that. I think I will try the Network+ first. As you both have said, this would be a good place to start with networking. Maybe this would follow on to the CCNA? Or is there Microsoft Networking that would be better? Having read posts on Boards.ie, I have seen people saying that employers think more of Microsoft than Comptia??

Which do you think is better, self study or doing the Fas e-college course in Network+.

Thanks again for your advice

_CreeD_

CompTIA offer some very good course but they are all for the most part entry level. If you don't have much networking experience then do the Network+, even if you don't sit the exam study the material before the CCNA as there is a fair amount of over lap with the INTRO at least. Which route to take really depends on what you want to do. If you want to work from Desktop to Network Administration then Microsoft is your best choice (and the easier to get into). Going the Cisco route is harder to break into from scratch but can ultimately be more rewarding, if you find it interesting anyway... Personally I prefer my Cisco work but I wouldn't have my current job without the Microsoft side.