The Cisco training is intended for individuals who wish to work with routers and switches. Routers hook up computer networks over the internet or dedicated lines. We’d recommend that you should start with the CCNA. It’s not advisable to launch directly into your CCNP for it’s full of complexities – and you need to work up to it to have a go at this.
Routers are linked to networks, therefore it is necessary to have an understanding of the operation of networks, or you’ll struggle with the program and not be able to understand the work. Seek out a program that teaches the basics (for example CompTIA) before you start the CCNA.
Achieving CCNA is where you need to be aiming – don’t be pushed into attempting your CCNP for now. After gaining experience in the working environment, you’ll know if it’s relevant for you to have this next level up. If it is, you’ll have significantly improved your chances of success – because you’ll know so much more by then.
A study programme really needs to work up to a widely recognised certification at the end – not some little ‘in-house’ diploma – fit only for filing away and forgetting.
Unless the accreditation comes from a company like Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco, then chances are it will be commercially useless – because no-one will recognise it.
Commencing with the understanding that we need to find the market that sounds most inviting first, before we’re able to weigh up what development program meets that requirement, how can we choose the correct route?
What is our likelihood of grasping the many facets of a particular career when we’ve never done it? Maybe we have never met anyone who performs the role either.
To attack this, we need to discuss a number of core topics:
* Your personality type as well as your interests – what kind of work-related things please or frustrate you.
* Do you want to obtain training due to a precise raison d’etre – i.e. are you looking at working from home (self-employment?)?
* What scale of importance is the salary – is it of prime importance, or do you place job satisfaction higher up on the priority-scale?
* There are many ways to train in IT – it’s wise to achieve a basic understanding of what makes them different.
* You have to understand what differentiates each individual training area.
In actuality, you’ll find the only real way to research these matters tends to be through a good talk with an experienced advisor that has years of experience in the IT industry (and specifically it’s commercial needs.)
If your advisor doesn’t ask many questions – it’s likely they’re just trying to sell you something. If they push a particular product before learning about your history and current experience level, then you know it’s true.
Occasionally, the training start-point for a trainee with a little experience is often massively different to the student with none.
Working through a basic PC skills module first will sometimes be the most effective way to start into your computer program, depending on your current skill level.
Consider the points below very carefully if you’ve been persuaded that that over-used sales technique about an ‘Exam Guarantee’ sounds great value:
You’re paying for it somehow. One thing’s for sure – it isn’t free – it’s simply been shoe-horned into the price as a whole.
If it’s important to you to get a first time pass, you must fund each exam as you take it, prioritise it appropriately and apply yourself as required.
Isn’t it in your interests to hold on to your money and pay for the exam at the appropriate time, not to pay any mark-up to a training course provider, and to take it closer to home – rather than possibly hours away from your area?
Why borrow the money or pay in advance (plus interest of course) on examinations when you don’t need to? Big margins are made by companies getting paid upfront for exams – and hoping either that you won’t take them, or it will be a long time before you do.
It’s worth noting that exam re-takes via training course providers with an ‘Exam Guarantee’ are tightly controlled. You’ll be required to sit pre-tests to make sure they think you’re going to pass.
The cost of exams was about 112 pounds in the last 12 months through Prometric or VUE centres around the United Kingdom. So don’t be talked into shelling out hundreds or thousands of pounds more to get ‘an Exam Guarantee’, when any student knows that the best guarantee is consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software.
Written by Scott Edwards. Try NewCareerOptions.co.uk or Adult Retraining Courses.
