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CCNA

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posted on Oct, 8 2014 @ 10:39 PM
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Hey all,

I have a few questions about getting a CCNA. first off I k ow a little bit about networking and Cisco products I have a lig background in computers. My questions are;

With a felony will I be able to actually get a job?

How can I secure a loan for classes with bad credit?



posted on Oct, 8 2014 @ 11:32 PM
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a reply to: onequestion


With a felony will I be able to actually get a job?


That depends. A selecting official might screen you out 'just because' ... And, honestly, that's rather likely.

Bigger thing ... You're probably not getting a job without a CCNP.

And, yes, I screen candidates for such positions where I work. I've seen (and hired) some folks with problems in their past. Don't let that stop you from trying.



posted on Oct, 8 2014 @ 11:39 PM
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a reply to: Snarl

What's the Best way to pursue a CCNP then and what are we looking at, 2 years?



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 12:03 AM
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a reply to: onequestion

Well, it sounds like you're already on the right track. Lock down your CCNA ... and move immediately towards the CCNP skill level.

I'm no network engineer, but I watch. The CCNP examination is tough. I've seen the best hands-on guys fail on repeated attempts (and that's expensive). We can't pay them enough to keep them on staff once they've met our employment requirements (sounds stupid, doesn't it?).

Good luck with this endeavor, brother. Not trying will net you the same results as having a door slammed in your face. It's usually the guy who wants it the most and tries the hardest that gets the farthest ahead in life. Don't let your past hold you back.



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 12:03 AM
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a reply to: onequestion

I have three friends with felonies on their records. Two share a business they opened up and it's thriving (PC business, to boot) and the third is gainfully employed in a place he loves.

If a place would automatically rule out potentially-talented people who have paid their debt to society, they probably aren't great people to work for. Think of your felony as a way to weed out the lame-duck companies that have no vision.



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 12:11 AM
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a reply to: Cuervo

There's a lot of lame duck companies, but I like your atitude lol.



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 12:12 AM
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a reply to: Snarl

I agree.

Is the path to a CCNP studying on my own rather then college programs and do people with a CCNP really mKe that much money? Man I'd love to see what a CCIE is worth



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 12:28 AM
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originally posted by: onequestion
a reply to: Snarl

I agree.

Is the path to a CCNP studying on my own rather then college programs and do people with a CCNP really mKe that much money? Man I'd love to see what a CCIE is worth


Our CCNP positions pay $180K. CCIEs a little more than double that. I have one CCIE on-staff, but I don't (thankfully) have to pay him. His check comes from way up the food chain. CCIEs typically have technical skill sets and knowledge comparable to the musical talents of rock stars. Another guy we purchase services from clears close to a mil/yr.

As soon as you open the study material for CCNA, you'll see what I'm talking about in regards to developed skill set. If you run a respectable network for a year, you should be ready to pursue the CCNP cert. when we interview for vacancies, candidates will represent their work history and certification number. If they're close to CCNP, we typically give them 6 months to test out. After that ... they're subject to indiscrimate dismissal ... and they get every dirty job nobody else wants to do. It's good pay, but it's not all cream and sugar.



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 12:42 AM
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a reply to: Snarl

So if I get a CCNA then would my path to be to seek an internship or work experience? I don't care about money so much as I'm making at least a live able wage.



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 12:44 AM
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Can you recommend a route to take, would taking one of the week long ccna classes be worth it for 2500$. How else?



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 01:57 AM
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From what I understand it's possible to attend a boot camp and gain enough knowledge to get past the CCNA. It's hard to get your hands on equipment for experience and may be harder still to develop skills without guidance. Every network environment can be different ... some of them widely so.

We have three independent networks: wireless, independently cabled, and commercial. The first two have a dedicated CCNP assigned. The CCIE ensures those maintain compatibilities and integration with the motherships. We employ two CCNAs who run certain services (monitoring, security, etc) on our independent networks and outsource voice service requirements to that freelance CCIE who makes serious bank. This isn't an overly complex environment, but it's unique in its requirements. It serves to describe what you might want to shoot for if you're planning to break into the field.

If you're looking for a recommendation, I'd tell you to do anything you can to get into the IT field as a general employee ... and try to specialize yourself from there. Any decent company will help you achieve your goals as they develop personnel requirements. You might have to wait for opportunity, but you'll be developing useful skills that are always of general use.

My son followed this exact guidance and has carved out a nitch for himself in a solid company. He tracked into systems administration and hardware specialization after discovering that was more in line with his long-term interests. YMMV



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 02:54 AM
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Theres plenty of books and you can even get emulation software out there that will allow you to build your own virtual network and from what i've heard the main thing is that you have to do it the cisco way as there may be two right answers on the test but only one of them will be right

you quite often can get the real physical gear needed on ebay as a package from others who've just passed the exam and its not too expensive

But a CCNA on its own won't really give much help on getting a foot in the door, a bit of basic IT experience will stand you more than just a piece of paper as the exams teach you the correct way in a perfect world but as we know the world aint perfect and its the little things they don't teach you will catch you out



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 10:50 AM
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a reply to: Snarl

Would taking a few network admin classes be the right way to start in IT?



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 01:38 PM
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I have to disagree with rushing to your CCNP. At least not early on in your career. While the CCNP is a definite door entrance, and honestly a major part of what you'll need to secure higher end network engineer positions: the CCNA is still considered the great leveler, and is still considered "tough enough" to whittle down competition if you have one and others don't. You don't need a CCNP to get a Junior Network Engineer spot. You can easily get a Net Admin spot with a CCNA.

However let's be realistic with your goals: having some knowledge of networking and Cisco products =/= passing your CCNA.

I'm not saying this to be a jerk, by the way, I just want to help you find the likeliest avenue into a successful IT career.

When you say you have a light IT background: what do you mean? Have you built office LANs or worked on WANs before? Or was it mostly desktop work, maybe some email administration?

Does your Cisco knowledge mean you know the difference between their product lines, or can you dive into iOS, ASYNCOS and NX-OS and start issuing commands and building configurations?

If you can't at least navigate competently through iOS, which is the bulk of their products, and can't confidently modify or update an existing configuration - you might want to scale back and look at entry IT positions like a Help Desk.

A Help Desk would get your feet wet with a company, and probably be easier to get into with a felony on your record. I could be wrong, but when I managed an IT Call Center I didn't worry too much about prior felonies for that, and if it came up in the interview I would let them know that if they did well and proved themselves at this level, it be easier to continue to move up.

Now if you are already capable at networking with Cisco devices: then really it's just a matter of getting ready for the CCNA.

Opinions vary, but I still say that if you had to pick ONE thing to know backwards and forwards going into the test - know your subnetting. It's involved in almost every question, and the less time you spend doing subnetting "math" the more time you'll have for your simulation questions.

An easy way to do this if you don't do it well in your head (like me) is to just memorize how to write out the subnet chart quickly. Learn to write it backwards and forwards and then, when you sit down, just write it out on the scratch paper and use that as your reference.

Don't worry too much about seeing questions related to really specific/niche issues like Jumbo frames or spanning-tree. Focus more on your subnetting, troubleshooting issues, and building configurations. The test will have the same hook/tab commands that the real machines do, to a certain degree, so you can still type in a partial command and tab it out.

Knowing how to rapidly move through a questions that ask how you should divide a network up for a listed number of users (subnetting) or how to rapidly troubleshoot a network failure when they present a network diagram filled with machines, switches, and IPs, will pay off far more than remembering the exact command to create a new VLAN. Not that that is hard, and if you do remember commands easily more power to you. My point is that it'll be more helpful for you in the test to know the processes rather than the exact command, because the simulator will still let you hook commands when you are unsure.


Have you considered other areas of IT? Networking can often be ephemeral or abstract. If you prefer working with more tangible things maybe consider Systems Administration? Working on servers or storage arrays, or databases too. Systems Administration can branch into a lot of neat avenues, and is usually easier to get into than networking if you have experience in desktop support and windows administration.

CCNPs get paid very well depending on what they do and where they work. CCIE's pull some real cheddar, but they are also network rockstars. The guys architecting huge deployments and helping rewrite networking
But don't sell yourself short either: put some time into working with a company, even at a lower level first and earn your way into a Net Admin spot. You can still make yourself a solid 60k a year. Same as a Sys Admin, depending on the level of infrastructure you support.


edit: For what it's worth: I started my IT career at 23, no formal training or college. I just worked well with computers and technology and decided to take it as an easy career path. By 28 I was an enterprise systems AND network administrator (overworked for sure) for a Uni with multiple sites, a statewide WAN and multiple campus LANs, VoIP, datacenter management, storage arrays, near 400 servers, somewhere around 350 cisco network devices, from l2 and l3 switches to ASAs and Nexus 10gig switches with a couple of Ironport's to round it out.

As I near my 32nd birthday I recently took a Federal position (I know, I'm evil now) but it offered great hours and flexibility, and stability of hours that you often lose as you go further into higher end IT. I work a straight 8 Monday through Friday now, where as before I could end up with changenets or emergencies causing me to work 80-90 hours in a single week.
edit on 9-10-2014 by UnmitigatedDisaster because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 03:22 PM
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a reply to: onequestion

It depends on what the felony was for.

If the felony has anything to do with theft , etc, most IT jobs will pass right over you even if you have a CCNP.

If its drug related ,strangely , your chances will be much better.


As for getting a loan for CCNA classes with bad credit , your choices will be few and far between. Normal student loans typically wont cover certification training by itself unless its part of a degree program , which would be a huge waste of time and effort, so your left with conventional loans which are hard to come by with bad credit. Your best bet is to find a place you can make payments directly to the school or training provider.

The choice of training will depend on your current skillset -
if your fairly decent with networking ( you know your OSI model , and basic subnetting ) a bootcamp is a possibility.

If you lack that knowledge but have real focus and drive , you could consider self study , but I would suggest a good Network + course as a primer ( and helps on the resume) .

If you tend to be a little lazy (be honest with yourself!) , consider actual classroom training - it takes a lot longer and tends to be more expensive but having a teacher crack the whip will keep you on point.

Wait on the CCNP - you'll need the pay from your job as a CCNA to help mitigate the cost of classes and exams - they are expensive and if your lucky , you may get an employer to assist you with the cost (rare but it does happen....)

My experience - 15 years Customer Support Manager ( Customer Service and Technical Support ) for a IT training Company. No experience when I started , certified out the wazoo now (Done thru my employer). Helped many a tech set up their careers in the field.

I hope this helps and best of luck in the field!


and no , I wont say who I work for - I am here to help not shill for a corporation!



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 03:31 PM
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a reply to: UnmitigatedDisaster
I worked with network admin in the navy. I've taken programming classss in highschool and college and spent some time learning python before I decided I wanted to do something else.

I know the Cisco product line and have a very minimal amount of subnet masking experience from the military and generally over viewing the course material from reading books.



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 04:58 PM
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I currently have 3 active CCNA's (Voice, Video and Wireless) on my way to my CCIE Collaboration.
Lots of really good info above so i will add my thoughts...

1. Pass the CCENT and then figure out the route you want to go for from there..Routing and Switching, Voice/Collab, 802.11 , Security, other...

2. When you take the CCENT it's more than just Cisco knowledge. You should have a firm understanding of the OSI model, subnetting, some cable standards. From there as you branch off into your CCNA specialty they all have similar unique requirements.

3. Figure out which specialty interests you the most.

4. The CCNP exam isn't one exam..For example getting your CCNP Voice is actually 5 exams but once you have your CCNA you can go balls out and go for you CCIE (written and lab)

5. There are multiple companies that offer home labs for the cost of a few hundred. You could buy the switches and routers separately but going the home lab kit usually gives you everything you need plus some direction.. netcertlabs is one company that does netcertlabs.com... but there are others that may give you a better experience.

Like I opened with, lots of good words from people on this thread..feel free to ask anything you might want to know and best of luck!



posted on Oct, 9 2014 @ 05:27 PM
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a reply to: onequestion

Okay awesome, so you have a good grounding to get going; versus having to start from scratch.

I'd do like opethPA said then: focus on passing your CCENT - preparing for that will fill you in on the backbones of what you will be working with and what makes it work now. That is probably the best advice you could get right there.

A home lab is definitely invaluable - though the plus side of getting your own equipment is that it is usually cheap - and you can always repurpose it later hehe.

Focus on that subnetting. I'm not kidding, it's one of those things you'll use every day, and while there are easy calculators out there it's nice to do it in your head - and more so again for the tests. Knowing your OSI model will help you a lot in troubleshooting, because we've all had that *facepalm - layer 1* issue before haha.

As far as taking a network admin class or similar - if you can find a local college that offers something like the Cisco Academy course it might be a good idea. It be easier paced than a bootcamp, and they start off with the more principal stuff, like the OSI model, the logic behind IP routing and classing, network troubleshooting including using packet capture software like Wireshark. Might be a good way to get a really solid basis for not too much money. Plus you'd have access to lab equipment that way.



posted on Oct, 11 2014 @ 10:57 AM
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I need to stress what UnmitigatedDisaster said.. If you plan on getting your CCNA that means you will have to get your CCENT as that is a prerequisite and I had some number between 3-7 subnetting questions alone on that..

Make sure you really know subnetting and you really know the OSI model for that exam..

Here is a link to the Cisco site that gives you the various ways you can go... Cisco Cert Link



posted on Oct, 11 2014 @ 11:28 AM
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Thanks for the advice everyone taking all into consideration as I plan my next move.







 
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