Solved: What career path to take after CCNA??

bhupeshkumar207 · ‎06-14-2012

Hi All

I completed my ccna 2 years ago.I am working as 2nd line IT support but have no experience to any of the cisco products.Because all of the switches are allready configured and company dont let you touch the stuff unless you have experience.Because i need to renew the certification at the end of the year i am thinking shall i go for ccna security or not?

I have tried applying for all the cisco jobs but no luck so far??Please help........

Felix Arrieta · ‎06-25-2012

hello Bhupesh,

there are tools to practice cisco IOS ( GNS, packet tracert ..) but I believe my best suggestion to you is to start doing something, see... few years ago I was the same as you, I had an IT position where I was feeling really stuck on the sand...

so one day ( after 2 years of the same crap) I finally stop whining and start studying for real, while I was still working I was affected by the economic crisis and you know the rest... when I started looking for a new job.. I got a job at another company, similar IT level (I needed the money but I always kept on studying ) .,. then few months later I apply on Cisco and here I am still studying.. it never ends!!

I started learning about a technology that had nothing to do with CCNA or CCNP is called WAAS which I really like...then I recently move to wireless support, I am finally thinking that wireless is my right career path to follow for me, plus I like money!! don't you?

so don't worry which patch to follow but start doing things right before another year passes by and your frustration grows further.

good luck!

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Felix Arrieta · ‎06-25-2012

hello Bhupesh,

there are tools to practice cisco IOS ( GNS, packet tracert ..) but I believe my best suggestion to you is to start doing something, see... few years ago I was the same as you, I had an IT position where I was feeling really stuck on the sand...

so one day ( after 2 years of the same crap) I finally stop whining and start studying for real, while I was still working I was affected by the economic crisis and you know the rest... when I started looking for a new job.. I got a job at another company, similar IT level (I needed the money but I always kept on studying ) .,. then few months later I apply on Cisco and here I am still studying.. it never ends!!

I started learning about a technology that had nothing to do with CCNA or CCNP is called WAAS which I really like...then I recently move to wireless support, I am finally thinking that wireless is my right career path to follow for me, plus I like money!! don't you?

so don't worry which patch to follow but start doing things right before another year passes by and your frustration grows further.

good luck!

bhupeshkumar207 · ‎06-27-2012

Thanks a lot for your reply.You are right i will start studying for CCNA Security and hopefully will get a opportunity later.

Leo Laohoo · ‎06-27-2012

I completed my ccna 2 years ago.I am working as 2nd line IT support but have no experience to any of the cisco products.Because all of the switches are allready configured and company dont let you touch the stuff unless you have experience.Because i need to renew the certification at the end of the year i am thinking shall i go for ccna security or not?

You are in a proverbial spin-cycle: Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Companies won't hire you because you are not CCNA, for example. Now that you are CCNA they won't hire you because you don't have any experience. You can't have any experience because no one will hire you.

Unfortunately, in our line of work, we always require someone who has "certification" because we won't spend endless time explaining the concept of IP subnetting, for example. However, this does not stop anyone who claims to be CCNA/CCNP and designs a rack-full of HP servers and a 3750E as top-of-rack switch and hoping the PoE can power up the servers. Or someone who claims to be CCNA but doesn't know how to erase a config of a router.

Short story is this: Unless you can gain a foothold to the IT industry, studying for more certification is a waste of your time. I mean, CCNA Security is nice-to-have but unless you have three years of experience under your belt, it doesn't really mean much.