The Cisco training is intended for individuals who wish to work with routers and switches. Routers hook up computer networks over the internet or dedicated lines. We’d recommend that you should start with the CCNA. It’s not advisable to launch directly into your CCNP for it’s full of complexities – and you need to work up to it to have a go at this.
Getting this certification means you’ll probably end up working for large commercial ventures who have many locations, but need their computer networks to talk to each other. Alternatively, you may find yourself employed by an internet service provider. Both types of jobs command good salaries.
Achieving CCNA is where you need to be aiming – don’t be pushed into attempting your CCNP for now. After gaining experience in the working environment, you’ll know if it’s relevant for you to have this next level up. If it is, you’ll have significantly improved your chances of success – because you’ll know so much more by then.
Make sure that all your certifications are current and also valid commercially – don’t bother with programs that only give in-house certificates.
Unless the accreditation comes from a company like Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco, then chances are it will be commercially useless – because no-one will recognise it.
Considering the amount of options that are available, does it really shock us that a large majority of trainees get stuck choosing the job they will enjoy.
What is our likelihood of grasping the many facets of a particular career when we’ve never done it? Maybe we have never met anyone who performs the role either.
To attack this, we need to discuss a number of core topics:
* Personality plays an important role – what gets you ‘up and running’, and what are the activities that really turn you off.
* Why you’re looking at getting involved with computing – maybe you’d like to achieve a life-long goal like being your own boss for example.
* Is salary further up on your priority-scale than other factors.
* Many students don’t properly consider the level of commitment involved to attain their desired level.
* You have to understand what differentiates each individual training area.
To bypass the barrage of jargon, and reveal the most viable option for your success, have an informal chat with an industry-experienced advisor; someone who understands the commercial reality and of course each qualification.
If your advisor doesn’t ask many questions – it’s likely they’re just trying to sell you something. If they push a particular product before learning about your history and current experience level, then you know it’s true.
If you have a strong background, or maybe some live experience (some certifications gained previously perhaps?) then obviously your starting level will be quite dissimilar from a student that is completely new to the industry.
Working through a basic PC skills module first will sometimes be the most effective way to start into your computer program, depending on your current skill level.
A sneaky way that training providers make more money is by adding exam fees upfront to the cost of a course and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams. This sounds impressive, but is it really:
Thankfully, today we are a bit more aware of hype – and generally we realise that of course we are actually being charged for it – it’s not because they’re so generous they want to give something away!
The honest truth is that if students pay for each progressive exam, one at a time, the chances are they’re going to pass every time – as they are conscious of what they’ve paid and their application will be greater.
Sit the exam as locally as possible and don’t pay up-front, but seek out the best deal for you when you’re ready.
A lot of so-called credible training companies make huge profits because they’re getting in the money for exams at the start of the course and cashing in if they’re not all taken.
In addition to this, ‘Exam Guarantees’ often aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. The majority of organisations won’t pay for you to re-take until you’ve completely satisfied them that you’re ready this time.
The cost of exams was about 112 pounds in the last 12 months through Prometric or VUE centres around the United Kingdom. So don’t be talked into shelling out hundreds or thousands of pounds more to get ‘an Exam Guarantee’, when any student knows that the best guarantee is consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software.
Copyright 2009 Scott Edwards. Pop to Adult Retraining Courses or Click HERE.