Cisco training is intended for individuals who wish to work with routers and network switches. Routers are what connect networks of computers over the internet or dedicated lines. It’s advisable that your first course should be CCNA. It’s not advisable to launch directly into the CCNP as it is very advanced – and you really need experience before you take this on.
As routers are connected to networks, it’s essential to know how networks operate, or you will have difficulties with the training and not be able to understand the work. Find a training programme that teaches the basics (CompTIA is ideal) prior to starting your CCNA.
The CCNA qualification is perfectly sufficient to start with; at this stage avoid being tempted to do the CCNP. With experience, you can decide whether CCNP is something you want to do. If you decide to become more qualified, you’ll have the experience you need to tackle the CCNP – which is quite a hard qualification to acquire – and shouldn’t be looked upon as otherwise.
Kick out a salesperson who offers any particular course without a decent chat to better understand your current abilities and level of experience. Make sure they can draw from a generous product range so they’re actually equipped to give you a program that suits you..
With a strong background, or sometimes a little real-world experience (some industry qualifications maybe?) then it’s more than likely your starting point will be different from a student that is completely new to the industry.
Consider starting with user-skills and software training first. This can set the scene for your on-going studies and make the learning curve a a little easier.
A service offered by some training providers is job placement assistance. This is designed to help you find your first job in the industry. Because of the growing need for more IT skills in this country even when times are hard, there isn’t a great need to place too much emphasis on this feature however. It really won’t be that difficult to find employment once you’re well trained and qualified.
Whatever you do, don’t leave it until you have passed your final exams before getting your CV updated. As soon as you start studying, list what you’re working on and place it on jobsites!
Quite often, you’ll secure your initial position whilst you’re still studying (sometimes when you’ve only just got going). If your course details aren’t on your CV – or it’s not getting in front of interviewers, then you’re not even going to be known about!
The most efficient companies to help you find a job are generally independent and specialised local recruitment services. Because they only get paid when they place you, they’re perhaps more focused on results.
Fundamentally, if you put the same amount of effort into getting a position as into training, you won’t have any problems. Some people curiously spend hundreds of hours on their training course and then just stop once they’ve passed their exams and appear to be under the impression that jobs will come to them.
Now, why is it better to gain qualifications from the commercial sector rather than familiar academic qualifications taught at tech’ colleges and universities?
The IT sector is of the opinion that for mastery of skill sets for commercial use, proper accreditation from such organisations as CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA is far more effective and specialised – saving time and money.
Many degrees, as a example, become confusing because of a great deal of loosely associated study – and much too wide a syllabus. Students are then prevented from understanding the specific essentials in enough depth.
It’s rather like the advert: ‘It does what it says on the tin’. The company just needs to know what they’re looking for, and then advertise for someone with the specific certification. Then they’re assured that a potential employee can do exactly what’s required.
It’s quite a normal occurrence for students not to check on something of absolutely vital importance – the way the company actually breaks down and delivers the courseware, and into how many parts.
Delivery by courier of each element one piece at a time, according to your own speed is the usual method of releasing your program. Of course, this sounds sensible, but you should take these factors into account:
Sometimes the steps or stages prescribed by the provider doesn’t suit you. You may find it a stretch to finalise all the elements within the time limits imposed?
In an ideal situation, you want everything at the start – giving you them all to come back to in the future – at any time you choose. This also allows you to vary the order in which you move through the program if you find another route more intuitive.
(C) Jason Kendall. Look at LearningLolly.com for clear career tips on Cisco Courses and Cisco CCNA Course.