if so i have a question. im in the cisco academy and want to know when is a good time to take the ccent test. Im halfway through the course. Is it wise to wait till im finished with the switch class?

chefmike

CCENT Certification

Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT™) validates the ability to install, operate and troubleshoot a small enterprise branch network, including basic network security. With a CCENT, network professional demonstrates the skills required for entry-level network support positions - the starting point for many successful careers in networking. The curriculum covers networking fundamentals, WAN technologies, basic security and wireless concepts, routing and switching fundamentals, and configuring simple networks. CCENT is the first step toward achieving CCNA, which covers medium size enterprise branch networks with more complex connections.

So, I would say finish the 'switch class' you mention. I'm not familiar with the CCENT track, but I recently took the CCNA exam. I didn't pass. I understand the material, but the time pressure on the test was what did me in. I'll be taking it again soon.

CCENT is the entry point for the Cisco cash cow.

If it were me, I'd just study up and take the CCNA.

You can take the CCNA in 2 parts.

The ICND1 is what CCENT is now.

How "into" networking are you? There are forums and study guides that will help you, but ultimatley...it's a certification that's good for only 3 years. I've known great people that never had one that I'd trust and met some great test takers that I wouldn't let log in enable mode on anything I work on!

If you're able to pass the self-tests with about a 90-95% you're ready to take the test.

If you fail, don't sweat it. I failed the 1st time I took it. Just study more. Subnetting and Access Lists you'd best have under your belt. You won't pass the test without them.

Good luck!

PS: FWIW...No real corporation is going to give you total reign on their networks. Small fish...sure. The bigger fish have layer upon layer of access. NOBODY gets all the keys. Network security 101.

what about keys to the executive bathroom?

Ah...perks?

Well, if Mr. Warbucks likes surfing on a 10MBPS surfboard...He can keep his bathroom. Now, if say we get gourmet coffee...wide screen tvs...he gets whatever and whenever he likes!

Did I say that out loud? You have to carve out your own "empire".

thanks for the info fellas. yeah im in to it. Its the only schooling that ive enjoyed. Also the only time im proud to say that i have a 4.0 in the networking degree. the thing that gets me the most is that, the real world, i study it but yet i would love to see it at a business. Like are people mainly running ospf or is-is or do they use rip2 or eigrp or hell just rip?

thanks all

chef

The layer I work at its almost MPLS exclusively. Let the carrier do the routing out in the "cloud". Makes sense. It gets rid of the dedicated circuit/frame relay circuit charges.

Networking degree?

For real?

Let me share with you something that has served me well in this field.

Embrace new technology. If you stick to one brand, one manufacturer, one model you will pigeon hole yourself. Stay current with what's on the horizon.

This line of work is one thing I'm really good at. I've seen the soaring heights and now the market is squeezing it to erase all of the monetary gains that were made in the late 90's-early 00's. They want your certifications more than your degrees. Plan on spending out of pocket to keep yourself current. Even the "large fish" will tell you they have educational funding, only to make you jump through some eye of a needle to get it or have it "discontinued this quarter" or "manager discretion".

I hope you're not believing all the "hype" about the pay. It's shrinking out here. Fast. They want and value an employee that can run projects/migrations and can do a project manager AND an engineers job without giving up the pay. If you can't get by on 4-5 hours of sleep for weeks at a time, then somebody isn't telling you the brutal truth. The on-call intrusion is another big electronic anchor onto your personal life...oh wait, you thought maybe you could keep that? Um, er...I don't know how to break it to you but if you have a wife or steady girlfriend you will get paged and have to work with a NOC for about 6 hours in the middle of the night. Usually its something that they should be able to do, but they don't have the A-Team there at night and 9 times out of 10 you can think faster better and know your "network" more intimately. Kids? Yeah, you're going to miss school plays, graduations, birthday parties and other large chunks of their life doing this line of work. Get ready for it, it will happen. 40 hour work weeks? More like 65-75! Your best bet is to make sure when they talk compensation is to get a salaried position WITH overtime. At least you get paid something more than the common cube stooge. Oh yeah, they'll look down at you like you're the janitor going to spread sawdust on some vomit pile. Don't let that bother you one bit! I've seen their paychecks. If they saw yours...they wouldn't give you that smarmy attitude. Now that's a reality check.

I've been in this line of work for over 20 years now. I can recall working on Ungermann/Bass bridges and token ring topologies. I've been called many titles...all of which I usually have to explain at dinner parties with my wife's friends. I've seen companies that pushed the envelope like ODS burn-out in the cosmos before companies like Cisco even had a OSI model.

Like I said, the certifications...its a money making cash cow for them. Where do you want me to start? Novell 4.16 CNA...MCSE, CCNA and a host of others along the way that I can't recall right now but makes for a really great manilla folder in my office.

I don't mean to discourage you in your endeavor but a dash of cold reality isn't a bad thing...especially if you've never been told any of the above stuff.

Uhmm, sounds like being a chef. Although with a bit less heat(Temp). Im changing careers. The places that I have applied to have said "need to get your certs". With that response I feel as they want to know if I know it. When they look at my resume and see 16 yrs of working in the kitchen... get my point.

"Do more with less" its even in the kitchen. I know that you have to keep learning at any job that you do. This IT/Networking degree is a foot in the door, to have something on my resume that is computer related. Im sure If you looked at my resume you would say the same "WTH" and "Oh man, I love that place".

Thanks

chef

Don't get me wrong, Chef.

Certs are a good thing, BUT corporate America believes that if you have them that they can squeeze you for all its worth, when in fact it's not in the scope of your work.

No corporate entity that I know is going to give one person all of the keys to their network. Small fry shops, start ups and home stuff...sure. I'll stick with the CCNA...Every time I've ever had to subnet something I've used what's called a subnet calculator. The cert mandates that you know how to get there without it. Ok. Sounds fair, right? Can you explain why I would have to subnet something without the aid of a calculator/pc on a network? Isn't there power? If there's not I cannot make the change anyway. Not only that, but it's not an admin's job to take on the function of an engineer's job. Oh, they WANT you too. They'll point to your cert and say that you're qualified. The same goes for some command you know in your head but you enter it wrong and it kicks it back in your face. You know what you want to do, but you're not entering correctly. You can use the "?" key and it'll spit out every command with every syntax. Yet for the test, it's not available. I wish I had the OSI Model, Subnet Chart and Access Lists tattooed up and down my arms. I've actually thought about it too!

You get the certs. You do the required work. They expect you to do everything a CCNA entails, but they just won't give you engineer's pay! I've climbed the ladder. Been the tech. Been the admin. Been the engineer. Been the analyst. I walked down the ladder. Every time you go up your skillset is frozen wherever you left it. A year or 2 is an eternity. Use it or lose it. The higher you climb the more they only want a babysitter. That's not me personally. In a nutshell, this is a very hard place to start over in. My team let 5 people go this year. Cut our pay, froze 401K's and eliminated bonuses and raises. We get told that we should "be lucky we still have a job" on a daily basis. It's kind of hard to work when everytime you blink they're taking some perk or entitlement you've earned or worked hard for when the bottom line says we made tens of billions of dollars in profit!

Then there's entire departments of really good technicians, engineers and support staff that are homegrown. They don't have a college degree. They have basic certs like A+. Yet, they have a work ethic stronger than those that do. They work with it day in and day out. They breathe this stuff. They eat it. Corporate America tells them that they HAVE to take the certs despite the fact that they've been working on the stuff and in some cases are on the bleeding edge of technology. For what? Some Sigma Six crap? Get real. This industry chews 'em up and spits 'em out. They eat the young and discard the old. I bet they didn't tell you this?

I respect you dont get me wrong. Hell i would even love to know the stuff you have forgotten. I think we have gone through or going through the same thing. Its sad that the GM comes up to me and says "do we need those two line cooks" and I say "no we probably can find better". Yet to find out that they are not planning to higher anyone else and I have to cover those two positions myself. The real kick in the face is the $1200 dollar raise I got at the beginning of the year. With the old saying "I wish there were more to give". Yet in the back of my mind I know that they just saved $46k with those two we got rid of. Here comes the double slap, the GM gets a $25k cash bonus and the F&B recieved a $10k one. I was the leader of the kitchen, took orders, developed menus, costed items, inventory and soothed guests as well as a babysitter.

You speak of homegrown workers..thats what I strive for. I did not miss a day of work for 7 yrs. Also hours, if I did 60 hrs in a week that was a vacation. You dont even want to know when the last vacation from work I've had. Babysitter...same feeling here. The kids coming out of school thought they knew it all, and yet they couldnt find a way to fix the Bernaise sauce on the fly (without starting from scratch). Not to mention breaking down a chicken for x sakes. One said to me "they come like this?"..felt like kicking him in the teeth.

To me this (ccna,ccnp,ccie) is a challenge and I love challenges as well as it intrigues my mind. I do not get this in the kitchen anymore. I just can't see myself as a 60yr chef in the kitchen. Pay wise im not looking to make 100k a year, If I wanted that I would've been a CFA or something to that nature.

I know that school is a joke, but with 16yrs in a carrer field that most people have no clue about. I just have to have something that gets my foot in the door. A way to show to a company..(etc) that im serious about it, its not a fad and I will not do a "No show" one day to go back to the kitchen.

thanks for your time and your input of the whole picture

chef

ps...no noone ever tells you about the whole picture. just enough info to get you wanting to do it.(school wise)

Chef, if I could...I'd hire people like you. People that want to learn. People that are motivated. In my professional work history they make the better team mates. Stick with it and I hope you lnd on your feet.