Career move into IT Networking.

viperirl

Hi Guys,

I'm hoping some of you might be able to give me some advice or pointers as I'm considering moving into IT.

Until recently I've worked in microchip design, mainly digital design and verification. I have approx 10 years experience in this field. (did Computer Engineering in UL, graduated in 1999)
The whole chip design industry in Ireland has taken a pretty big hit in the last few months with huge job losses including my own. There are now very few IC design companies in Dublin these days never mind actual job vacancies. The future for this industry looks very shakey at the moment.

Because of this I'm considering getting some IT certification in order to broaden my skills. The Cisco networking stuff looks interesting to me and I've briefly done some reading of some of the posts here on things like CCNA certification and the like. I do realise that nothing beats on the job experience, and certs dont necessarily mean you can do the job, but I have to start somewhere.

A few questions:

1. Has anybody here moved from an engineering background into IT?

2. Regarding the Cisco certification where should one start if they have a solid hardware design background? I was considering doing the full CCNA course.
(note, that I did work in a helpdesk environment in a student placement program from UL. A long time ago I know)

3. To people working with Cisco stuff a lot: How do you find the job?


I realise that getting a foot in the door in IT is tough in this current environment. Maybe some sort of training like above might help??

Thanks.

hobochris

Ccna is never a bad cert to have.

this may suit you perfect as you can do it outside of work hours:

http://www.it-tallaght.ie/PartTimeCourses/Computing/Name,17547,en.html

viperirl

hobochris wrote: »

Ccna is never a bad cert to have.

this may suit you perfect as you can do it outside of work hours:

http://www.it-tallaght.ie/PartTimeCourses/Computing/Name,17547,en.html

Thanks for the link above. I'm out of work at the moment so I was considering studying at home. How long would it take to get through the CCNA material assuming I was able to study 4 or 5 days a week?

NullZer0

As far as studying at home, everyone is different but I'll give you some examples.

2xCisco Books (ICND1 and ICND2) reading - 10days
Lab practice (dynamips/dynagen) - 5 days
CBT Nuggets (video training) - best to spread it over 3 days

Now,this can get you past the exam but you NEED to understand the technologies. You can't just skim this stuff, thats not how it works - you need to realise that.

Internetwork Expert have some new all-in-one training solutions introduced. At the moment they have a CCENT course and they are releasing the CCNA course sometime in March.

These guys are responsible for the majority of people that have received their CCIE certification in the past 3 years (possibly more).

Have a look here:
http://www.internetworkexpert.com/ccent.htm

If you are buying ANYTHING - buy this.
I've often emailed Scott Morris (from internetwork expert) night and day and I get a response straight away (even before I ever spent money with them).

They're all round nice guys and they are not just in it for the money.





HTH,


iRock

NullZer0

This book should cover everything that you need -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-Certification-Library-640-802-Guide/dp/1587201836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236957385&sr=8-1

Great Author too.
Also check out the cisco learning network

hobochris

Id say you'd do it in 2-3 months. but I would recomend more time for getting hands on experience with the gear, not everything you can learn off of cisco's packet tracer(like flashing a router, romon mode etc...).

Also you can usually pick up good Cisco lab gear on adverts.ie pretty cheap.

NullZer0

hobochris wrote: »

Id say you'd do it in 2-3 months. but I would recomend more time for getting hands on experience with the gear, not everything you can learn off of cisco's packet tracer(like flashing a router, romon mode etc...).

Also you can usually pick up good Cisco lab gear on adverts.ie pretty cheap.

http://dynagen.org/tutorial.htm

Worth a look - I use it for Full CCIE Lab. Doesn't support some switching but thats not as of much concern for CCNA level.

viperirl

Thanks for all the replies guys.
As for books to rent or buy what would you recommend?
I've seen a CCNA self study guide from Cisco themselves. It appears to cover ICND1&2.

_CreeD_

Cisco is a great path to follow and one of the most rewarding in IT (any field can be rewarding if you like it enough but from an advancement point of view there is no one area of technology or education/certification path that can advance your career so quickly). After the CCNA you have a wide choice of paths to follow all the way to CCIE (and maybe CCDE ), each and every cert. level provides a very tangible increase in your earning ability. I've enjoyed each and every cert. path I've taken and they have all helped with my career and plain old knowledge for knowledge's sake but looking back for milestones over the last 3 years of how I got from there to here the Cisco ones stand out brightly.
Did I mentioned I like Cisco

As for study materials a lot of those recommended already are excellent. The Cisco Press books are quite good but don't forget to have a read of some of Ciscos official online docs to fill in whatever gaps you find. Also Dynamips/Dynagen (and GNS3 as a front end) are superb, but if you want to use the CCNA to try and break into networking it might be worth shelling out for some real equipment so you have actual hands on to some extent (even though functionally they are the same thing), it's all well and good to know how to configure OSPF on the first day but not if you have trouble identifying the actual router in it's rack.
CBTNuggets are great for video training, and relatively cheap.

As iRock mentioned Internetwork Expert are a great training company. I haven't seen their CCNA product range but it's being developed by Anthony Sequeira and besides authoring a lot of those Cisco Press books he's a very knowledgeable and nice guy (I had the pleasure of meeting him at one of their bootcamps last year), the same with one of the founders Bryan McGahan, they are definitely a group that believes in what they do to help you, not just taking your money.

viperirl

Thanks _CreeD_!
How technical are the courses themselves? Is more of a case that there is a huge amount of info to assimilate?
My previous job was pretty technical, demanded a lot of analysis, debugging and naturally with digital stuff, a very good level of binary arithmetic is required. Some of the chips I worked would have actually found their way into some Cisco products.
I'm just wondering what, if any advantages I'd have, given my background in regards picking up the stuff from a theoretical point of view.
I'm well aware that on the job experience is more important.

D

_CreeD_

Cisco stuff is very structured, very little in the way of arcane trickery from leftover code that you'll find in other tracks (They do still have bugs in their code I just mean when you are scratching your head over something it won't be because you're wondering why the hell they did it that way...well usually ). So I think you'd find it a good match.
As for how technical that depends on how far you go. None of their courses are easy (if taken at the experience level they are intended for) but the gap between CCNA and CCIE is huge so there is a long and interesting journey ahead if you do find it is your thing. I've just started my first CCIE level job and it is very much about debugging and analysis right down to the packet level, it's taking me a bit of getting used to as I started as a Microsoft guy so each level up the Cisco ladder has meant digging down deeper into the backbone so I'm kind've clawing my way down into the code, with your background you'd be doing the reverse for a while I think then drop back into your comfort zone.

NullZer0

viperirl wrote: »

a very good level of binary arithmetic is required.

This is one of the main things that throws people off when starting with the CCNA. It's not going to be a problem for you.

The CCNA Cisco Press books assume you know nothing at all... thats what I found the best. Follow them and you can't go wrong!

mark renton

iRock wrote: »

As far as studying at home, everyone is different but I'll give you some examples.

2xCisco Books (ICND1 and ICND2) reading - 10days
Lab practice (dynamips/dynagen) - 5 days
CBT Nuggets (video training) - best to spread it over 3 days

iRock

Need someone to doublecheck me maths here
10 days + 5 days + 3 days = 18 days

Is this a joke?? CCNA in 18 days??

NullZer0

john47832 wrote: »

Need someone to doublecheck me maths here
10 days + 5 days + 3 days = 18 days

Is this a joke?? CCNA in 18 days??

You can cover the material in 18 days no problem.
I'm not saying do this and then do the exam.

I've approached it in this way but I haven't taken my CCNA yet (I finished the material 5 months ago and then started CCNP prep). I'm now rereading the CCNA/P material while working through the Internetwork Expert CCIE workbooks on rack rental.

Why wouldn't this be achievable?

21 year old CCIE from scratch in less than a year:
http://rickmur.com/history

Some of the best CCIE's out there completed their CCIE from scratch within 6-7 months (including some of the guys at Internetwork Expert ).

Anything is possible....

Even though I know I'll probably get the classic flame for "rushing"...



Of course, everyone is different when it comes to learning. I find that if I was to go any slower, I'd lose interest because I'd be covering topics that I know inside out over and over again.

How long did it take you to complete yours?

_CreeD_

There are a lot of factors that decide how quickly you can complete a cert, your existing level of experience and foundations from other course come into play (aswell as raw talent). It took me 2 months to do my CCNA but only 1 week to do the SNRS (My first CCSP exam) which was tougher contentwise, it was just easier since I had more experience going into it.

Mena

john47832 wrote: »

Need someone to doublecheck me maths here
10 days + 5 days + 3 days = 18 days

Is this a joke?? CCNA in 18 days??

It is very doable. I started with around 2 years experience in server management, and some networking exposure, and did CCNA and CCDA in 2 weeks. I found it, at that level at least, very easy.