Certifications..

S

SSpiro

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
259
I've been disconnected from the eduction/certification world.

What certifications for networking still hold weight, or are they all worthless now?

CompTIA, Microsoft, and the like. It's been about 10 years since I've tested for any. Curious if there are new ones I should grab and brush up on.

Also, any wireless certs out there? I know in my market there is some decent demand for wireless guys..
 
You said after the fact that you're talking networking not sysadmin work, so yeah Cisco still seems to be the defacto. Certs are just there to help validate your experience.

Jay_oasis said:
MS 70-640, 70-642, 70-646
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Server 2008/AD exams, in one form or another.
 
Taking MS certs unless you are a Windows (or related) admin may not be helpful. I'm preparing for CCNA and then VCP probably, unless they want me to keep going to CCNP.
 
Cisco is the obvious.

You might take a look at CISSP and Solarwinds Certified Professional additionally. I've had a couple folks mention that they're useful.

You'll still want experience to back it up though. CCNA/CCENT are good for getting your foot in the door if you don't have a job in networking yet.

Cisco has some wireless certs as well. Best get a crackin!
 
shiznit said:
Taking MS certs unless you are a Windows (or related) admin may not be helpful. I'm preparing for CCNA and then VCP probably, unless they want me to keep going to CCNP.
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Without them people look at your CV and wonder why you don't have the basic low level certs though.
 
Jay_oasis said:
Without them people look at your CV and wonder why you don't have the basic low level certs though.
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Are you saying that if I apply for a Network Engineer or Admin job the hiring manager is going to wonder why I don't have a MS Server cert?
 
It all depends on the network gear the company uses. CCNA is not very helpful if you use HP networking gear, or Juniper, or Sonicwall devices. The fundamentals are great but all that networking gear has nothing in common.

Also consider HP networking stuff as well because lots of Telco use procurve and 3com stuff.
 
Wrench00 said:
It all depends on the network gear the company uses. CCNA is not very helpful if you use HP networking gear, or Juniper, or Sonicwall devices. The fundamentals are great but all that networking gear has nothing in common.

Also consider HP networking stuff as well because lots of Telco use procurve and 3com stuff.
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You trollin?
 
MS/RH certs are probably not required if you are aiming at infrastructure, but they'd show you understand not only your subject area but also the services running on your infrastructure. I know I've appreciated the techs that have had a greater understanding of the larger picture, and I know employers will often look for that kind of knowledge.

As far as which is better ( MCITP SA/EA or RHCE )...having all of those, I can say that the RHCE was easier. I actually had fun doing it. The MS certs were far harder, but they were testing some really weird edge conditions that you will likely never do in the field ( or remember because youd on't see them often ). I think I found the RHCE easy because I have a lot of experience with it. You have 4 hours for the test and I was out in less than 2, after double checking my work.
 
Wrench00 said:
It all depends on the network gear the company uses. CCNA is not very helpful if you use HP networking gear, or Juniper, or Sonicwall devices. The fundamentals are great but all that networking gear has nothing in common.

Also consider HP networking stuff as well because lots of Telco use procurve and 3com stuff.
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Yes, good points. For every 2-3 Cisco devices I specify or sell, I specify one procurve.
 
HP's CLI is nearly identical to Cisco's. You might as well get the more recognized certification(Cisco) and you'll be able to work on both brands.
 
SSpiro said:
This. Trying to head towards architecture.
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Architecture of what? And "everything" isn't a valid answer. There are a number of different disciplines for architecture. Network, data center, storage, virtualization, application stacks...a mix.
 
NetJunkie said:
Architecture of what? And "everything" isn't a valid answer. There are a number of different disciplines for architecture. Network, data center, storage, virtualization, application stacks...a mix.
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LOL, Yes. I'm well aware.

I'd like to make a steady progression.. However, start out at network architecture, and i'd like to make my way to enterprise eventually. That's my long term goal.
 
Cisco cert's tend to hold the most weight overall. CCNA, CCNP, and of course CCIE. CCIE Data Center was just announced in particular, and I'm going for that one.

VMWare's VCP5 is also a great certification to get. The VMware certs seem to have surpassed the OS vendors (Sun/Orace, MS, RedHat) in what people are looking for/impressed by for the server world.

Juniper's JNCIE has also become "black belt" status among the networking world, but still not the widespread awareness of a CCIE.

My $.02
 
Right now I am going this way

CCENT (x)
CCNA ( ) <<< May 5, 2012
CCNP ( ) <<< April 2013

I also got MCTS 70-640 and 70-642 when my work sent me to some M$ training.
 
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