Developing strong technical skills and core network fundamentals are very important to your CCNA career.  You need to review all the best CCNA books, however, if you want to improve your skills as a qualified CCNA networks engineer, here are 3 areas I suggest you focus on to become effective in your role in the quickest time possible:

1. Troubleshooting Skills

Troubleshooting skills are the bread and butter of any network engineer.  As you progress you might be doing less and less troubleshooting and more deployment, but as a relative beginner it is the single most important skill you should develop as a good CCNA networks engineer.

This is even more evident evident from the newer Cisco exams, which have been structured to have more focus on debugging and fixing problems.  Most of the entry-level jobs are support positions, where you will be identifying and fixing network issues reported by users about 80% of the time.  It is thus important to become good at troubleshooting as soon as possible, so as to be effective.

2. Management of Expectations

Very often problems that arise cannot be easily solved quickly.  Some problems which are more vague in nature like the network being slow or intermittent disconnections can be hard to track down and fix.  More complex and mysterious issues might take from several days to several weeks to fix.  It is important to manage the users’ expectations properly and keep them updated with an estimate of when the problem can be solved.  If not, you might end up with a situation where they will call you every 10 minutes for an update.  This is a very important part of your CCNA career so don’t overlook it.

3. Planning One Step Ahead

The computer network industry is constantly in a state of flux and it is important to be abreast of the latest developments.  In the ideal situation, you should start training for tomorrow’s trends and technologies, however, this can be expensive and not all companies and corporations are willing to spend their training budget in this manner.  At the very least you should keep yourself up to date with the current market direction to ensure that you do well in your CCNA career.  For example, it’s likely that areas like cloud computing and media convergence will become increasingly important over the next few years and these are heavily dependent on network technology.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Francis (SavvyNetCert.Com)

P.S. If you’re still preparing for your CCNA exam, using CCNA video training packages are a great way to study.  Do check out our comparison between the 2 best CCNA Video Training packages now.  Click here to find out more!

Technorati Tags: ccna career, ccna careers, ccna job, ccna network engineer

Becoming a good CCNA network engineer and getting that first elusive CCNA job is definitely not an easy task, especially in this competitive job market.  Here are 2 tips to help you succeed in your CCNA career journey.

1. Get the CCNA

Despite Cisco’s introduction of the CCENT certification (which you will get after passing the ICND1 exam), the CCNA is still widely regarded as the must have basic network certification by the industry as a whole.  Thus, it is essential that you start working towards the CCNA certification as soon as possible.  It has been shown in many surveys (including the TCPmag Salary Survey) that certified networking professionals are paid more.  In this difficult market, being certified means that you have a better stab at that networking job.  I previously made 2 introductory posts on the CCNA which you should review for more details on the CCNA journey – this usually starts by reading and studying the latest CCNA books.  You might also want to take a look at CCNA video training which is an excellent way to get started.

2. Getting That First Networking CCNA Job

Once you have your CCNA, you can start looking for a suitable networking position.  However, even if you haven’t gotten the certification yet, some employers might still be willing to employ you based on other factors.  For example, if you are a CCENT certified and have relevant experience in other related fields such as servers, operating systems or general IT support, you might be considered favorably.  Other networking certifications such as the CompTia Network+ certification (which is vendor independent) might also carry some weight.

One thing you might want to note is that the people who write the job specifications on career websites, job boards or newspapers might not be the same people who are hiring.  Because of this, don’t always take the job requirements as set in stone and give it a shot anyway.  It is common that the person that is eventually hired might not fulfill all the requirements as employers usually put too wide a range of certifications required in the ad.

An impressive and professionally written resume also helps with getting that CCNA job.  You can do this yourself by reading some books or get a professional resume writer like those at ResumeWriters.Com (Tip: Use coupon code “newjob” at checkout for a 10% discount) for help.  Using a professional to get your resume done can improve your chances of getting an interview significantly.

Let me know if you enjoyed this post!  I can be contacted on twitter (@savvynetcert) or using the feedback form above.

Cheers,
Francis

P.S. If you are using a professional resume writer to get your resume done (recommended), don’t forget to claim your 10% discount at ResumeWriters.Com by using the coupon code “newjob” at checkout.

Technorati Tags: ccna career, ccna careers, ccna job, ccna network engineer

CCNA Voice Certification – What Is It?

The CCNA Voice certification is a relatively new Cisco certification in the market, and was introduced together with the rest of the new CCNA specializations (CCNA Security and CCNA Wireless).  Previously, to be Cisco certified in Cisco voice technologies, you would take the CCNA to CCVP to CCIE (Voice) path.  With the introduction of the CCNA Voice certification, you have to take the CCNA Voice exam before moving on to the professional level certification (CCVP).  Passing the CCNA (Routing and Switching) exam is a pre-requisite for taking the CCNA (Voice) exam.

Why Specialize In Cisco Voice Technologies

Pursuing a Cisco Voice technology certification (or any other VoIP, IP-PBX certification) is one of the specializations you should consider.  Many large companies and corporations are moving to IP-PBX technology for several reasons.  IP-PBX and VoIP technology is considered superior to traditional PBX systems because they are cheaper, easier to maintain, has better cost controls in place and offer many other enhanced features (usually in the same package).  It also provides increased infrastructure resiliency.  From a market perspective, this market is set to grow strongly over the coming few years as companies look to reduce costs and also have better cost-control.  All this means that it is definitely a good market niche within the networking world to go into.

In terms of market share, Cisco is currently one of the major 3 players in the IP-PBX market (the other 2 being Avaya and Nortel).  Nortel filed for Chapter 11 bankrupty protection earlier this year so it will be interesting to see how that pans out.  I believe that Cisco will leverage its position as the dominant player in the enterprise IP networking area to increase its market share for Cisco voice technologies.

How To Learn More About IP Voice Technologies

If you are interested in learning about Cisco voice technologies, or your employer is already deploying (or in the process of deploying) a Cisco IP-PBX, the logical way to do this would be to pursue the recommended certification and training path from Cisco.  You’ll need to pass the CCNA exam first, which provides a foundation for the basic IP and ethernet technologies that an IP-PBX runs on.  After that, you will be eligible to take the CCNA (Voice) exam, and from there, even pursue the CCVP and futher higher level Cisco certifications.

Think About Specialization In IP-PBX technologies

In today’s competitive marketplace and economy, it is important for your career to have a specialized skill set.  In the technology job market (specifically the IT networking market), one of the choices would be Cisco voice technologies, which I believe is set to grow.  If you don’t specialize, you might find yourself lagging behind your peers when they move ahead of you when the economy picks up.

P.S. Follow me on twitter (@savvynetcert) and subscribe to my RSS feed for the latest updates (I update regularly).  Send me a message on twitter to let me know what you want to see on this blog!

Cheers,
Francis (@SavvyNetCert)

Technorati Tags: ccna career, ccna job, ccna network engineer, ccna networking

CCNA Career – Why You Should Care

I’ve written many posts about Cisco IOS tips and tricks, as well as Cisco IOS commands.  In this post, I’ll touch on CCNA career options for the CCNA network engineer.  One thing that every network engineer should be thinking about is what to do after you get the Classic CCNA (I believe Cisco now calls this CCNA Routing and Switching in some places).  Specialization is the name of the game here, as there is more and more market demand on specialized skill sets for CCNA network engineers (and beyond).  The full list of certifications and training available for the various Cisco certifications can be found at the IT Certification and Career Paths on the Cisco website.  It is important for you, as the new CCNA network engineer (or soon to be network engineer), to consider what to do after you obtain your CCNA certification, so as to enhance your career prospects.

Cisco Routing and Switching Certifications

The most popular path by far is to specialize in Cisco routing and switching.  Network engineers considering this path usually take the following certifications (in order): CCNA (Routing and Switching), CCNP, CCIE (Routing And Switching).  There are a few good reasons for this.

First off, the routing and switching path is the oldest certification path available for Cisco network engineers.  The original CCIE certification and exam has evolved to become what is now known today as the CCIE (R&S) certification.  In a way, it’s the easiest CCIE to get, simply because there are more study aids available for this certification.  There are very well established written and practical (lab) certification preparation material.  Outside of the study aids and certification preparation material available online, there are also various boot camps which many Cisco training partners organize in order to help candidates prepare for the exam.

If you are not intending to go up to the CCIE certification, just having the CCNP certification opens many doors.  What you learn when doing the CCNP certification is really sufficient for you work effectively as a network engineer in many companies as the core routing and switching skills are highly applicable.

Another point is that many technologies are dependent on the network, if you think about it.  Many web technologies and media running over the network are highly dependent on having a stable network (with stable routing and switching) in your network.  This guarantees that there will always be market demand for core routing and switching skills.

Start considering today what you want to do after your CCNA, your career depends on it.

P.S. I created a handy chart comparing the various CCNA books. Click on the link to compare and buy now!

Cheers,
Francis (@SavvyNetCert)

Technorati Tags: ccna career, ccna job, ccna network engineer, ccna networking

CCNA Career Tip – Why Obtain the CCNA, Not Just the CCENT Certification

There are currently 2 ways to obtain the CCNA certification and to launch your CCNA network engineer career, the 1 exam (640-802 CCNA exam) or the 2 exam method (640-822 ICND1 and 640-816 ICND2).  After passing the ICND1, you will become a certified CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician, which is considered by Cisco to be the new entry level networking certification for Cisco networking.

In reality, because the CCNA certification has been the entry-level Cisco networking certification for so long, most employers are familiar only with the CCNA certification (together with the CCNP and CCIE certifications), so it would be harder to get a job with just a CCENT certification.  Because of this, I strongly recommend getting the CCNA instead of just the CCENT.  After you have finished the CCNA certification, there are several other paths and specializations that have been introduced by Cisco, and they are summarized on the Cisco IT certification and career paths site.

How To Choose – 1 CCNA Exam or 2 ICND Exams

First off, there is no cost difference in going either route.  The ICND1 and ICND2 exams cost $125 each, while the CCNA exam costs $250.  Both ways will effectively give you the CCNA certification.

If you have prior experience with other networking certifications (e.g. Network+), and you are already somewhat familiar with the OSI model, basic routing and switch, IP addressing and subnetting, I would recommend studying for and attempting the 1 exam CCNA test just to get it over and done with.  Personally, I took the 1 exam CCNA test and passed first time.  I noticed that many of the questions required the combined knowledge of both the ICND1 and ICND2 sections of the CCNA exam syllabus, and for that reason, may be slightly more difficult.

If you are new to the IT industry, I would definitely recommend that you take the ICND1 and ICND2 papers separately to obtain your CCNA certification.  IT networking is still quite a niche career choice when you consider that there are so many programmers in the IT industry as a whole.  There are also many terms and concepts unique only to Cisco and networking.  In order to reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed, I encourage you to do the CCNA exam tests separately if you are new.

Don’t forget that there are many options for self-study material and plenty of help is always available if you are lost.  Please see my post on CCNA books for more advice on CCNA preparation material.  Above all, don’t be discouraged.  The road to CCNA is long but rewarding.

P.S. I created a handy chart comparing the various CCNA books. Click on the link to compare and buy now.

Until next time,
Francis (@savvynetcert)

Technorati Tags: ccna career, ccna job, ccna network engineer, ccna networking