<div>Well I think if you are interested in networking the CCNA does provide a fairly good basic understanding of it without being too Cisco focused. I'd certainly recommend it and I think that it can help you get junior positions. As far as where to get it I'm not too much help as I studied for and took the test in one day and then got my CCNP in the next couple of weeks to meet a deadline for my company. But I had been working in networking around 10 years at that point. </div>
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<div>There really isn't a whole lot to the CCNA, you could just go out and get a book and perhaps buy an old used router to play with and be good to go. </div>
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<div>I'd say that the MCSE and CCNA are very important to getting conversations started for positions and while most experienced folk know they don't always mean much they do show some effort on learning and progressing. And especially in junior positions they are what can help you get started in that area, I've hired a few junior techs based on the fact that they had some general computer experience and said they got their CCNA to try to break into networking. For me the fact that they had some computer aptitude and showed that they were eager to learn was the most important fact in the hiring.</div>
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<div>--j (CISSP, CCNP, JNCIA, RSACE, ACE, Etc...)<br><br> </div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 7/21/08, <b class="gmail_sendername">Andrew Zbikowski</b> <<a href="mailto:andyzib@gmail.com">andyzib@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">MCSE without experience or a degree is rather worthless. Having MCSE<br>on your resume is good for getting you past HR, but you need to have<br>
something backing it up.<br><br>The CompTIA (A+, Network+, etc) certs are about the same. They qualify<br>you for entry level IT work but not much else.<br><br>Around our office ITIL is the big push.<br><br>There is also some value in CISA and CISSP. Any PFY<br>
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastard_Operator_From_Hell">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastard_Operator_From_Hell</a>) can get a<br>Windows server up and running, but you do have to have some knowledge<br>of what your doing in order to get things secure and keep them that<br>
way. If you are looking for work from financial, health care, or any<br>company who has to deal with federal regulations around data<br>privacy/security such certs are going to be helpful for getting your<br>foot in the door.<br>
<br>PMP while valuable is something to peruse once you have experience<br>with other things. There is nothing worse than a Project Manager who<br>is clueless about the technology involved in the project they are<br>managing.<br>
<br>--<br>Andrew S. Zbikowski | <a href="http://andy.zibnet.us">http://andy.zibnet.us</a><br>IT Outhouse Blog Thing | <a href="http://www.itouthouse.com">http://www.itouthouse.com</a><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>
TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota<br><a href="mailto:tclug-list@mn-linux.org">tclug-list@mn-linux.org</a><br><a href="http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list">http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br>