IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[kbtwofour]

Oh I hear that thanks, also if the certs arent as important, is school the alternative?

how do you get in the game if certs arent the priority assuming I have a language picked to focus on?

Hold up, breh. Don't be listening to these IT guys when it comes to CS.

Take me advice and learn the logic first because you will need it in your career and will need it for the rest of your schooling.

Programming and debugging is not hard at all. It just takes time to do. Most people who major in CS don't want to do programming their whole life. Programming is not hard to learn if you're smart and are a quick learner.

Just learning programming on your own will not hold any weight in the industry unless you have a proven track record and have actually created some great software.

My advice would be to check to see if a community college around your area has a logic and design class for CS majors. This class will transfer to universities and the class will most likely be a 99% pre-req for any other class like C++, Java, etc. Most students who think they want to major in CS take this class because its an beginners class, but most don't pass or drop out before the midterm. Why would you want to do programming when a company can easily get someone like an intern or student to do it for free?

Certificates don't mean shyt... it's all about what have you done and what degrees you have. Right now I am interning for a company that Google bought, and nobody in that mother fukker has less than a bachelor's degree in CS. Most people in upper level management have masters or Ph.d's in CS.

 

[kbtwofour]

what class was it? and is it pointless to try to get to programming if there is no degree related to IT attached to it? In terms of applying to jobs how does a newcomer have a shot if its a self taught process even if there is proof that you could do quality work?

thats where im having cold feet right now, im trying to get my foot in the door, but also have a good shot at getting employment if I work my ass off on my end.

It was for programming, design, and logic class.

IT and CS are two completely different fields. They will easily over look you for someone who has a CS degree if you don't have a CS degree with no proven track record of creating something great.

 

[Silkk]

Anybody here work for a router company like a Cisco/Netgear/Belkin? Whats their starting pay like? Id also imagine that you would need a network cert for most of those jobs too right.

I do router troubleshooting at work even though we not supposed to, and i find it pretty easy

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Anybody here work for a router company like a Cisco/Netgear/Belkin? Whats their starting pay like? Id also imagine that you would need a network cert for most of those jobs too right.

I do router troubleshooting at work even though we not supposed to, and i find it pretty easy

Never worked for any of those companies but I worked for AT&T which is a huge Cisco shop. Depending on what you do it can range from $20/hr up to probably well over $200+/hr. Troubleshooting routers is a very generic phrase. Are you trouble shooting hardware? Configuration? Performance? Architecture? Security? Fiber runs?

It can run from as basic as making sure all of the line cards and route processors on a router are functional to troubleshooting OC768 peering issues in their backbone, or mitigating a global DDOS attack against a key infrastructure client (IE trying to take someone like Colonial Pipeline down).

Regardless of what you do, learn TCP/IP very well. Be familiar with network architecture, how routers, switches, load balancers, firewalls, vpns, and proxies work. Understand the various features that all of those devices have, understand the pros and cons of the various hardware platforms (why would you pick an ISR over a nexus 7k), and make sure you understand the impact of a change down stream (what will happen to your frame relay network if you migrate from EIGRP to OSPF. How would the architecture need to change to ensure the IGP performs well with the knew routing protocol).

But like I always say, don't listen to me. I'm just another lost nikka :nonikkas:

 

[Silkk]

Never worked for any of those companies but I worked for AT&T which is a huge Cisco shop. Depending on what you do it can range from $20/hr up to probably well over $200+/hr. Troubleshooting routers is a very generic phrase. Are you trouble shooting hardware? Configuration? Performance? Architecture? Security? Fiber runs?

It can run from as basic as making sure all of the line cards and route processors on a router are functional to troubleshooting OC768 peering issues in their backbone, or mitigating a global DDOS attack against a key infrastructure client (IE trying to take someone like Colonial Pipeline down).

Regardless of what you do, learn TCP/IP very well. Be familiar with network architecture, how routers, switches, load balancers, firewalls, vpns, and proxies work. Understand the various features that all of those devices have, understand the pros and cons of the various hardware platforms (why would you pick an ISR over a nexus 7k), and make sure you understand the impact of a change down stream (what will happen to your frame relay network if you migrate from EIGRP to OSPF. How would the architecture need to change to ensure the IGP performs well with the knew routing protocol).

I guess im talking about a tier 1/2. I know they not gonna hire nobody for those positions they not familiar with

 

[↓R↑LYB]

I guess im talking about a tier 1/2. I know they not gonna hire nobody for those positions they not familiar with

Depends what you're doing as a consultant. Tier 1/2, you'll probably be doing help desk, troubleshooting over the phone.

Either way, still gotta TCP/IP and the various HW platforms really well

 

[Silkk]

Depends what you're doing as a consultant. Tier 1/2, you'll probably be doing help desk, troubleshooting over the phone.

Either way, still gotta TCP/IP and the various HW platforms really well

Yea, im doing tier 1 now for a cable company but its like real simple stuff. Mastered this, need that next challenge which im guessing would be tier 2

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Yea, im doing tier 1 now for a cable company but its like real simple stuff. Mastered this, need that next challenge which im guessing would be tier 2

You brought up Cisco so I'm thinking you were doing enterprise router troubleshooting.

There's a wide knowledge gap between troubleshooting someone's home router and troubleshooting an enterprise router/switch/access point.

Start off with your CCENT/CCNA (or JNCIA if they're a Juniper shop) and try to use the job you got now as launch pad to get to tier 2/3 or even ideally working in their NOC.

Check their internal job board and see what junior level positions they have available and start teaching yourself the appropriate skill set. Also start networking with some of the cats there. Get friendly with em, ask em for advice, soak up whatever they can teach you, suck em off if you have to (no homo). It'll be a lot easier to get hired internally if you know someone in that department who can vouch for you.

 

[Silkk]

You brought up Cisco so I'm thinking you were doing enterprise router troubleshooting.

There's a wide knowledge gap between troubleshooting someone's home router and troubleshooting an enterprise router/switch/access point.

Start off with your CCENT/CCNA (or JNCIA if they're a Juniper shop) and try to use the job you got now as launch pad to get to tier 2/3 or even ideally working in their NOC.

Check their internal job board and see what junior level positions they have available and start teaching yourself the appropriate skill set. Also start networking with some of the cats there. Get friendly with em, ask em for advice, soak up whatever they can teach you, suck em off if you have to (no homo). It'll be a lot easier to get hired internally if you know someone in that department who can vouch for you.

at the last part

Spoiler

 

[↓R↑LYB]

at the last part

Spoiler

Just invest in some listerine and you'll be fine :nonikkas:

Spoiler

 

[Jim Jones]

I just got my security + finna take this CCNA in May. How hard is 70-680 and 70-642 ??

 

[se1f_made]

I just got my security + finna take this CCNA in May. How hard is 70-680 and 70-642 ??

Planning on taking the 70-640 next week, it covers alot of material. Better find a brain dump otherwise

 

[Shameonyou]

which book is the best to order to study for the most recent Comptia A+ cert test?

 

[krexzen]

which book is the best to order to study for the most recent Comptia A+ cert test?

look 16 posts back. I'm not mad at you breh, but this gets asked once every 30 posts.

 

[the bossman]

bbbububbbutt there's too many pages