Was recently talking with a buddy of mine who moved out to Colorado how it was so easy for him to find a job, and he basically said because he has a shit ton of certifications from Cisco. He mainly does networking so I'm sure his company is very specific to that technology. I'm currently just hanging out around home and bartending throughout the week so I have plenty of time to pursue certifications if I chose to do so. I've never really used my degree, but want to get into the IT field wherever I end up, specifically with a focus in network and security administration type of thing. My question I guess would be, which certifications are the best for this field? I know the biggest is obv Microsoft but I feel that might be a little diluted in the job market. A few of them seem very easy to get though (MCTS in particular) to the point where you can buy full on study guides on line and pass each exam. Total cost for 2 certifications looks like it's be right around $2k or so, which isn't bad if it happens to get me a job.

Any advice appreciated.

 

Originally Posted by wantagolf

For Networking i would say.

CCNP
CCIE

For Security

CISSP

For Microsoft

MCITP

I have no idea what any of that means...pathetic I know

Why would you take such a huge life risk in IT? You really think this computer fad is going to last forever?

 

Originally Posted by Z-Fresh

Why would you take such a huge life risk in IT? You really think this computer fad is going to last forever?

In this day and age, no job last forever. Average times a person changes careers in their life time is around 5 times. So there is nothing wrong with gaining IT experience.

I have never used an Oracle application in my life. Ever. Odd?

 

Originally Posted by IbizaCF3

Was recently talking with a buddy of mine who moved out to Colorado how it was so easy for him to find a job, and he basically said because he has a shit ton of certifications from Cisco. He mainly does networking so I'm sure his company is very specific to that technology. I'm currently just hanging out around home and bartending throughout the week so I have plenty of time to pursue certifications if I chose to do so. I've never really used my degree, but want to get into the IT field wherever I end up, specifically with a focus in network and security administration type of thing. My question I guess would be, which certifications are the best for this field? I know the biggest is obv Microsoft but I feel that might be a little diluted in the job market. A few of them seem very easy to get though (MCTS in particular) to the point where you can buy full on study guides on line and pass each exam. Total cost for 2 certifications looks like it's be right around $2k or so, which isn't bad if it happens to get me a job.

Any advice appreciated.

I don't think certs hold as much weight as they used to, at least the one's from Microsoft. If you have a bunch of certs but no experience, then you will have a tough time finding a job. Get a job first, then worry about the certifications.

 

Originally Posted by DonkDon

I'm an IT recruiter and certs help but bluefin is correct. Getting a job will be difficult without experience. You may have to go the helpdesk/desktop support route to start. Maybe there is more demand in your area.

Ive heard that comptia certs are pretty worthless to pursue, what are your thoughts about those?

Typically people do want you to wear multiple hats. There are always specific opportunities regarding Cisco but they are typically for more senior guys. Certs are never a bad idea but I rarely see them being something that stops someone from getting a job. With a lack of experience I would recommend getting a few certs. Location wise, where are you going to start your search?

VMWare

http://www.vmware.com/

Certs are good, but as has been said, MS certs are a dime a dozen. I'm not saying it won't help get a job, but an MS cert alone is not good enough. If you're looking into networking and security, Cisco and the CISSP are the industry standards, and they are pretty tough tests. The CCNA is kind of easy, but you have to have real world experience working with routers and switches or you won't pass the test. I am currently working on my VMWare cert, which is a beast of a test. IMO, the best way to break into the industry is to get experience, any kind of experience you can get. Degrees and certs are good, but nothing beats experience. You have to start on the bottom rung and work your way up. Look for a help desk or tech job and then start your climb. Once you have your foot in the door, you might decide that you want to specialize in something else. Make friends with the network or sys admin at the company and pick his brain. That's the way to go. I live in Colorado and there are definitely a lot of tech jobs around town, that's for sure.

Check out Charlotte, St. Louis, and Ft. Lauderdale. We have offices there. I personally love Charlotte.

 

Originally Posted by IbizaCF3

I did a Monster search for keywords "Help Desk", within 20 miles of Cleveland, posted within the last 2 weeks. A whopping 14 results with only one of them being for a true help desk position (With a minimum of 3 years in a help desk environment required.) All the rest were for some pretty serious, specified roles. Am I just in a really shitty area?

Small sample size, but I read Twysted's response and got curious

Try getting in touch with local tech recruiting agencies like the one Donk works for. I used one for the first few years of my career. Starting to study for cert tests isn't going to hurt while you're looking. It might even help set yourself apart from other applicants when you do find a good one. Are you technical at all? CompTIA certs are a decent place to start for entry level if you have zero experience.

I remember when VM Ware first came onto the scene. We used it a lot to run Windows on our Linux boxes in our apartment (unfortunately, there were some things that simply required Windows back then, although we did most of our coursework coding in Linux).

At the time, it was buggy and slow, but still cool to play around with. I had one system that was dual boot Windows 2k/Linux and another straight Linux with VM Ware to run a Win2k virtual machine. Fun times.

Any of you guys using Fio for your servers? Im a big fan of their potential. Fb and apple are their two biggest customers.

 

Originally Posted by tdoc6

Probably not a big deal but watch using a VM on anything that requires scheduling or time such as time clocks or PBX systems.

Why? vCenter server is configured to use my existing NTP server. I haven't noticed any issues with time on any of my VMs yet.