CISCO CERTIFICATION AND MICROSOFT CERTIFICATION, CAN SOMONE GIVE ME SOME INFO THANKS?

2 Comments

1. abdrspoc says:

   August 20, 2009 at 11:03 am

   Congrats on your plans. Certification is definitely worth considering, based on what you’re saying. The cert exams themselves don’t really do anything for you in and of themselves — when a prospective employer brings you in, you’re going to actually need to know how to do the job.
   However, employers are funny things: no matter how well you know you can do the job, they want to see pieces of paper or proof of experience before they’ll believe you. This means that having certs can get you into the door so that you have a chance to prove yourself…whereas not having the appropriate certs for a particular job can get the door shut in your face. Unpleasant fact of the job market, I’m afraid.
   As for what the certifications consist of, there are different ones that represent different areas of knowledge, and each one requires different sets of exams. I saw a site recently that laid out what you need to do for each certification (not just Microsoft and Cisco, but various others as well). The URL is http://careersaver.com/CertificationTracks.asp
   That will keep you on track for whichever direction you choose to go. Actually, the same site also has a list of average salaries based on certification, tracked from 2006 to 2007: http://careersaver.com/SalaryByCertification.asp
   You might find that useful for determining trends and figuring out where you might want to focus your efforts.
   As for prices, where to take the exams, etc., your best bet is to go to the respective companys’ sites. MS exams, for instance, are $125 each, and you can find out more about them at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/default.mspx
   I don’t recall how much the Cisco exams cost, but their info site is http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/learning_career_certifications_and_learning_paths_home.html
   Now, considering the cost (and the fact that passing the exams is not the end-all, be-all; you’re going to need time to develop real experience, too), I highly recommend getting some help to pass the exams…we all know that tests can have tricky questions that trip you up, even if you know the material. I know that the site I mentioned earlier — http://www.careersaver.com — is one such company that helps you pass your exams; there are others as well.
   All that being said, I wish you the best of luck.
   P.S. After posting this, I noticed that the site I was mentioning also has an article about 2008’s “hottest” certifications. You can read it at http://careersaver.com/TopCerts.asp
   Sorry for my absent-mindedness in not noticing it before.
2. h_dulin says:

   August 20, 2009 at 11:08 am

   Cisco CCENT is the newest baseline cert and if you are pursuing a security career a CCNA or the newer CCSA would be your best certifications.
   You also may want to consider the CompTIA Security+ which is a vendor-neutral network security certification that consists of one exam. It also counts as an elective towards your MCSE/MCSA Security.
   http://certification.comptia.org/security/default.aspx
   It really depends on what you plan on doing for a career and your future job role as to what certifications you would need. You may not need both Microsoft and Cisco certifications as you may not be working with both technologies.
   Here is a good resource for study materials: http://www.quickcert.com