IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Julius Skrrvin]

@princeofhaiti getting your foot in the door is tough. It's taken me the better part of year. Make sure you have a very visually appealing resume (font, spacing etc) that highlights your experience, certifications, and technical skills. If you have literally zero experience and can't *spin* the material on your resume to emphasize any troubleshooting or computer work you did it can be pretty tough. You might have to look into geek squad type roles on the side.

And read this:

start here.

This is a good write up.

 

[FatherSimp]

start here.

Bruh thanks

 

[Torrez]

For those you have done the CCNA and CCNP tests, are they both only written tests or is their a lab portion as well? On the Cisco website it doesn't mention if there is a lab for those two tests, at least from what I see and just wanted to get an idea. I know the CCIE has a lab as they state so on their site but couldn't find anything for CCNA/CCNP exams.

 

[GoGetMyDamnBelt_]

Anyone stays in upper GA, like the surrounding areas/cities of Atlanta, and wanna do a study session(s)? I'm currently taking a Network+ class but outside of school I'm doing self study for my A+ & CCNA.

 

[Virtuous_Brotha]

Man the job seeking process is too drawn out and tedious these days.You apply for a gig then you wait what 5 days for the recruiter to holla at you they then want to schedule a phone interview which you usually have to wait several days to do. When thats done its another wait to hear feedback and if they want to meet you face to face if they do the fukin interview is not until the end of the fukin month. Then its another wait to hear if you got the job or not and they wonder why there is such long gaps on a nikkas resume

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Man the job seeking process is too drawn out and tedious these days.You apply for a gig then you wait what 5 days for the recruiter to holla at you they then want to schedule a phone interview which you usually have to wait several days to do. When thats done its another wait to hear feedback and if they want to meet you face to face if they do the fukin interview is not until the end of the fukin month. Then its another wait to hear if you got the job or not and they wonder why there is such long gaps on a nikkas resume

Consider it paying your dues. After a while the recruiters will come to you and will bend over backwards to throw 6 figure salaries at you. I haven't "applied" for a job in years and I never meet up with recruiters anymore. If they don't like it I tell em to kick rocks. I usually get 3-4 recruiters hitting me up for the same gig anyway.

 

[krexzen]

For those you have done the CCNA and CCNP tests, are they both only written tests or is their a lab portion as well? On the Cisco website it doesn't mention if there is a lab for those two tests, at least from what I see and just wanted to get an idea. I know the CCIE has a lab as they state so on their site but couldn't find anything for CCNA/CCNP exams.

The lab is only for CCIE. There's a variety of simulation questions (matching, testlets, sims, big sims) along with multiple choice for the CCNA & CCNP. Either way, you better know your ios commands very well prior to taking the exams.

 

[↓R↑LYB]

For those you have done the CCNA and CCNP tests, are they both only written tests or is their a lab portion as well? On the Cisco website it doesn't mention if there is a lab for those two tests, at least from what I see and just wanted to get an idea. I know the CCIE has a lab as they state so on their site but couldn't find anything for CCNA/CCNP exams.

Just make sure you know how to configure all of the stuff that's covered in the books (ACL's, VLANs, routing protocols, spanning tree, etc and you should be fine). GNS3 should be enough to do the CCNA and some of the CCNP. If you have questions on how to set shyt up post in here, there's a couple Cisco guys on here that can help.

Also don't forget there's a ton of video's on youtube that'll teach you how to configure shyt. It's an incredible resource that a lot of people forget to use.

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Anyone stays in upper GA, like the surrounding areas/cities of Atlanta, and wanna do a study session(s)? I'm currently taking a Network+ class but outside of school I'm doing self study for my A+ & CCNA.

Do you need help with something specific or are you just looking for study partners?

 

[Ice_MF_Mike]

Just make sure you know how to configure all of the stuff that's covered in the books (ACL's, VLANs, routing protocols, spanning tree, etc and you should be fine). GNS3 should be enough to do the CCNA and some of the CCNP. If you have questions on how to set shyt up post in here, there's a couple Cisco guys on here that can help.

Also don't forget there's a ton of video's on youtube that'll teach you how to configure shyt. It's an incredible resource that a lot of people forget to use.

Bruh, i fixed my refrigerator off youtube videos. You can find videos for damn near anything on there!

 

[acri1]

Tech support for a cell phone carrier or ISP in their call centers, Geek Squad, local university/community college

Yep, that's where I started out at age 20. Tech support for an ISP mostly just resetting passwords and telling people to reboot their modem. Made 10/hr which was good for a college kid.

Ten years later I'm a Systems Engineer.


I'd definitely say look around to see if any ATT/Verizon/Comcast/Cox/etc call centers in your area are hiring. Usually they'll take people with no experience as long as you're tech savvy and can speak well enough.

 

[GoGetMyDamnBelt_]

Do you need help with something specific or are you just looking for study partners?

Both

 

[GollyImGully]

Received an offer for a NOC position today

I'm basically going to stack bread here for the year and use the experience on the resume so I can transition into a network engineer position. I'm studying for the CCNP right now so they'll be paying for that Then i'll finesse the resume up and be gone

They liked I had the CCNA and could help them when it comes to routing/switching issues plus I'll be getting ws2k12/AD experience and python as well.

It's tough finding jr network engineer roles in NY. They'll literally don't exist or they want 3+ yrs network experience . That other place i interviewed before that I told yall about idk wtf happened the recruiter told me a 2nd interview was getting setup and the network engineer really liked me. I called her a week later and got nothing but voicemails since

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Received an offer for a NOC position today

I'm basically going to stack bread here for the year and use the experience on the resume so I can transition into a network engineer position. I'm studying for the CCNP right now so they'll be paying for that Then i'll finesse the resume up and be gone

They liked I had the CCNA and could help them when it comes to routing/switching issues plus I'll be getting ws2k12/AD experience and python as well.

It's tough finding jr network engineer roles in NY. They'll literally don't exist or they want 3+ yrs network experience . That other place i interviewed before that I told yall about idk wtf happened the recruiter told me a 2nd interview was getting setup and the network engineer really liked me. I called her a week later and got nothing but voicemails since

You're on the same path that I took breh, you finna be eating real good in a couple years

If you want a shortcut to six figures, get your CISSP. It's a pretty simple test but will put you ahead of damn near every other Cisco/AD guy you go up against even if you don't go into security.

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Both

Unfortunately I'm a little further ahead of you so a study session probably wouldn't be very beneficial but if you need help understanding some concepts or setting shyt up let me know. Are you using GNS3?