IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Black Panther]

Morning IT brehs :blackpblessed:

Sohh...I'm currently at a career crossroads and I'm not sure which path to take.

I'm currently a Junior Network Analyst, and at my job I need to get at least one IT cert to be promoted to Network Analyst I (or II depending on the cert).

I don't currently hold any active certs.

I've been given the role of Office 365 admin/subject matter expert, and it's been pretty easy so far. I wasn't around for the initial migration to Office 365; I was brought into the team as the migration was 75% complete, so I don't have much knowledge on migrating from Office 2007/2010/2013 to Office 365.

My goal is to eventually become Exchange admin for the company. Here's my dilemma:

I want to get a Microsoft cert to support me being promoted to Net Analyst. Should I get

-The MCSA - Office 365 cert, since I'm already working with Office 365 and is the prerequisite to getting the MCSE - Exchange cert, or

-The MCSA - Server 2016 cert, since it's less specific and covers more areas? (If I want to become Exchange admin I'd still have to get the MCSA - Office 365 cert )

Any advice? any other certs I should consider along this path that would be more relevant?

 

[el_oh_el]

Good luck breh Do not sleep on NAT, Eigrp, route redistribution, OSPF



You making that jump? Which 1 did you get into? and what made you decide to join 1?

Failed the exam. $300 down the drain 740/1000
Btw there's wayyyy more than that on the test....wayyyy fukkin more. More than the books will go thru. You basically have to study the exam topics one by one

 

[JayStarwind]

Have any of you brehs been unqualified for a job and got it? I have an interview, my first "real" one, tomorrow for an QA Analyst position or possible contract. I passed the 901 for A+, going back for the 902 at the end of next month, but have yet to finish school and I have no experience in IT.

 

[GollyImGully]

Failed the exam. $300 down the drain 740/1000
Btw there's wayyyy more than that on the test....wayyyy fukkin more. More than the books will go thru. You basically have to study the exam topics one by one

Damn breh...get back too studying dont worry about the 300 you lost now..Its nothing in the long run

Yeah I know its wayy more than that. If you use the book alone you will fail Im assuming you only used that and maybe videos?

NetworkLessons.com | Networking in Plain English

that site helped me a lot..its free for like 3 months but after that its 20 a month i think..it was well worth the money for me personally

You have to study every topic on this list in detail basically...Worst thing is Cisco words questions strange

ROUTE Exam Topics - The Cisco Learning Network

 

[el_oh_el]

Damn breh...get back too studying dont worry about the 300 you lost now..Its nothing in the long run

Yeah I know its wayy more than that. If you use the book alone you will fail Im assuming you only used that and maybe videos?

NetworkLessons.com | Networking in Plain English

that site helped me a lot..its free for like 3 months but after that its 20 a month i think..it was well worth the money for me personally

You have to study every topic on this list in detail basically...Worst thing is Cisco words questions strange

ROUTE Exam Topics - The Cisco Learning Network

I just purchased that site services a few days ago..it's $7 for the first week then 30/mo.
And yes, initially I only used the book and INE videos but then past week read up on what people said wasn't in the exam..and found a while new world of boring whitepaprrs online that had the answers to some these "practice tests " buried in them. At this point I believe it's misleading to call the Cisco ROUTE book the "official" cert guide..official bullshyt.
I plan on use just this a an excuse to get my blog back up and running ..what I want to do is make a post detailing each one of the exam topics
Lastly you ain't never lied on the bullshyt verbiage they use for their questions. .

 

[Ice_MF_Mike]

Have any of you brehs been unqualified for a job and got it? I have an interview, my first "real" one, tomorrow for an QA Analyst position or possible contract. I passed the 901 for A+, going back for the 902 at the end of next month, but have yet to finish school and I have no experience in IT.

as long as you didnt lie, if they hire you then you are qualified. Now if you lied and told you that you can do stuff you cant then you may run into that situation. But good luck if thats the case.

 

[xXMASHERXx]

Have any of you brehs been unqualified for a job and got it? I have an interview, my first "real" one, tomorrow for an QA Analyst position or possible contract. I passed the 901 for A+, going back for the 902 at the end of next month, but have yet to finish school and I have no experience in IT.

I've felt like I might not be qualified for a job but then I reminded myself they wouldn't have hired me if they didn't think I could do the job. So why doubt myself.

 

[JayStarwind]

as long as you didnt lie, if they hire you then you are qualified. Now if you lied and told you that you can do stuff you cant then you may run into that situation. But good luck if thats the case.

Thanks bruh
I maybe exaggerated but didn't lie. I'm worried about what kind of questions they'll ask in the interview

 

[Lord Z]

Morning IT brehs :blackpblessed:

Sohh...I'm currently at a career crossroads and I'm not sure which path to take.

I'm currently a Junior Network Analyst, and at my job I need to get at least one IT cert to be promoted to Network Analyst I (or II depending on the cert).

I don't currently hold any active certs.

I've been given the role of Office 365 admin/subject matter expert, and it's been pretty easy so far. I wasn't around for the initial migration to Office 365; I was brought into the team as the migration was 75% complete, so I don't have much knowledge on migrating from Office 2007/2010/2013 to Office 365.

My goal is to eventually become Exchange admin for the company. Here's my dilemma:

I want to get a Microsoft cert to support me being promoted to Net Analyst. Should I get

-The MCSA - Office 365 cert, since I'm already working with Office 365 and is the prerequisite to getting the MCSE - Exchange cert, or

-The MCSA - Server 2016 cert, since it's less specific and covers more areas? (If I want to become Exchange admin I'd still have to get the MCSA - Office 365 cert )

Any advice? any other certs I should consider along this path that would be more relevant?

As somebody who has both the MCSA 365 and the MCSE Exchange 2016, go for it.

At the end of the day, you can only win from this. The MCSA would validate what you did already and the MCSE would get you with the Big boys

Get those 2 first and depending where your career brings you, you can add on.

 

[Black Panther]

I owe you a rep for using this smiley alone. :bpbanderas:

But great advice.

 

[Ice_MF_Mike]

Thanks bruh
I maybe exaggerated but didn't lie. I'm worried about what kind of questions they'll ask in the interview

If you can get an interview you can get the job. And in most places if you can show them you can learn and figure out stuff even without prior exposure your good. Also if you fit in with the team that is sometimes even more important. I can teach someone how to do the technical stuff. Its difficult to teach someone how to get along with people.

 

[Hahahaha]

Time for my next ITIL Intermediate class. Deciding between Service Strategy and Design. Anyone else in Management or going down the ITIL track?

 

[You_Ugly_on_Skype]

Going for CCNP route test Monday. I'm confident..but also nervous about the BS Cisco might send my way. Anyone else here take the test recently?

300-101 v2? I did but not recently. I did it in October 2016 and that stuff was a load of incoherent half assed question that didn't make sense at times but I got through it and still was able to score a 934. It seems like a lot of the questions and scenarios/labs are designed to throw you off. What I learned is if there's a question that doesn't make sense or there is no way to determine the answer because some information is left out, go with the most simple obvious answer. I have the TSHOOT next at the end of September. Hopefully I'll get the CCNP R&S then move to the CCNP Sec... Four exams for the Security though

 

[el_oh_el]

300-101 v2? I did but not recently. I did it in October 2016 and that stuff was a load of incoherent half assed question that didn't make sense at times but I got through it and still was able to score a 934. It seems like a lot of the questions and scenarios/labs are designed to throw you off. What I learned is if there's a question that doesn't make sense or there is no way to determine the answer because some information is left out, go with the most simple obvious answer. I have the TSHOOT next at the end of September. Hopefully I'll get the CCNP R&S then move to the CCNP Sec... Four exams for the Security though

Imma have to go thru the exam topics and take it again. Thats the method ill take from here on out, cause yes, they love their incoherent questions. Their "official" cert guide is garbage bin status for the purposes of passing the test

 

[TheGreatMTB]

Have any of you brehs been unqualified for a job and got it? I have an interview, my first "real" one, tomorrow for an QA Analyst position or possible contract. I passed the 901 for A+, going back for the 902 at the end of next month, but have yet to finish school and I have no experience in IT.

Besides the OGs that have been in the game for decades, hardly anyone is REALLY ever qualified for the jobs they accept. If you are completely qualified for the job, you're probably underselling yourself in the market. So many jobs have super specific requirements (about experience, certs, etc.) and are slow to even call people in for interviews. They don't even want to take a risks on individuals if they don't see them meeting the requirements.

If they called you in for an interview they see some potential in you, have confidence in yourself. Meaning you might not know it, but you'll have the dedication to learn it. My first IT security job involved a lot of studying outside of work, but the results and recognition I received at work made it worth it. If you don't know something in the interview don't try to bluff it, but advocate that you're willing to take the appropriate steps to learn it. Emphasis how much you intend to learn in school and discuss future certs you "plan" to take in the future.

I put "plan" in parenthesis because you can just make up a logical chain of certs even if you're not 100% committed to them. Something like (yada yada...I'm going in for 902 next month...yada yada...taking network+ a month later...yada plannded for Q1 2018...yada yada)

*I recently graduated from college so all my internship interviews are still fresh*