Paging IT Oppos

"Tripper" (tripe46) 11/30/2018 at 12:54 • Filed to: None

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Do any of you have any Cisco certs? If so do you know of any companies/schools/organizations that do in person “bootcamp” style courses. I asked my employer if they would pay for me to get CCNA certified, and they agreed. However I won’t do an online course (that style of learning does not work for me.) I need to be in a classroom or one on one.

I could do what I’ve done with all of my other certs. T ake practice tests until the material has been beaten into my brain, then go and take the exam. However, since my employer will pay for training I’d like to use that opportunity and actually learn it. Instead of passing a test and then figuring it out when I need to in the real world .

I found a company that will come onsite and do it in a week, but they want $12k I’m guessing my company will spring for about half of that.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Tripper 11/30/2018 at 13:51

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Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief > Tripper 11/30/2018 at 15:57

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I have nearly every certification offered by Cisco, Juniper, F5, Foundry/Brocade, and dozens of others, all relating to either networking or security, so I have some feedback, especially since you’re starting with the second hardest cert first: The CCNA. The CCIE is much harder but they’re both hard for the same reason: the massive amount of material you need to know. You need to know a ton of stuff to get your CCNA. Basic switching, broadcast domains, subnetting, access control, routing, firewall filters, spanning tree — the list goes on and on.

Compare this with, say, a routing exam for a middle cert like a CCNP. You’ll need to know 5-6 narrow subjects pretty well so it’s easy to study.

I got my CCNA after a two or three day in person group class taught in a hotel meeting room and a bunch of reading and practice tests . Getting that training in person is pretty key when you start out knowing little or nothing about what you’re doing. Later when you’re getting advanced certs the online training works just fine. The virtual labs are always well thought out but sometimes trying to watch the instructor and read the materials and do a lab you run out of screen real estate so having an extra laptop or iPad or two helps. But that’s later.

There are a ton of companies that offer training and while most is online I’m pretty sure if you hunt around long enough for a CCNA boot camp you’ll find something that works. Even if it’s just two days you’ll be able to apply what you’re reading much more easily after some hands- on time. Cheap lab stuff is always available on eBay as well.

Let me know when you’ve got 10 years under your belt and I’ll hire you myself.

Oh and Cisco's tests are designed to not give you any hints by the way the questions are asked which means they're hardly readable and incredibly vague. Be prepared to be frustrated with the test more than the material but you'll get through it. 

Tripper > Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief 12/03/2018 at 09:21

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Thanks for the advice! I’ve been in IT for just about 10 years, but I’d only consider the last 5 really valuable . My first 4 years were with a slowly dying payroll company operating off a P390 CICS cobal mainframe! When I talk shop with other IT peeps, particularly those older than I they’re like “How does someone as young as you even know about Cobol let alone have real experience with it.”

My next year was with a decent company, but they had two IT people who sat in a dark room playing World of Warcraft all day. They were operating a small school off of cheap home routers daisy chained together, basic Comcast connection, really old hardware, the works. So I was doing damage control for the first few months upgrading services and hardware to enterprise level. Then I helped them migrate their student/financial database from Access to a real ERP. Just as that was wrapping up I got a better offer closer to home and took it.

I’ve been here just over 5 years while the company has doubled in size and am hoping to get the “ director” title in a year or less. I honestly don’t want to leave, but I want to keep getting merit badges so that I stay relevant in the industry.

One drawback to my career is that I have only worked for small companies (200 employees or less) and I’ve only ever had one or two people underneath me. I made it to round 4 of interviews with a big company where I didn’t get the job and that is what it came down to.