Hi Lesley,

I've read with great interest the varying comments that have been put forward on this topic, and I agree, in part with the majority of them.

Here are my thoughts...

If you want to ensure that you have a solid foundation in networking general principles, then I would recommend the study path of the Cisco CCNA - they teach you a lot more than Cisco-specific elements, such as subnetting and it ensures that you have a solid base covered. The Juniper foundation level certification, does not go over any of this, they assume that this has been squared away and go straight into the protocols, the configuration and subsequent troubleshooting of.

If you are predominantly working on one vendors equipment, then I would head down their specific track, to become familiar with all of the features and gotchas they have. For example, if you are mainly on M, MX, PTX and T, then the SP track (like Dave) is for you, if it's EX and SRX, then ENT. Same with Cisco, ISR vs ASR, Nexus vs ...

As Nathan and others have said, once you are known and have the experience to back you up, then certs become nothing more than an indication that you have achieved XYZ - I work for a vendor partner, so these are mandatory. Other employers base their engineering tiers based on 'A', 'S', 'P' and E certification achievements.

Again, like Nathan I have encountered 'Expert' level engineers that could not troubleshoot themselves out of a wet paper bag, nor explain what a VLAN is or RFC1918 - a cert is only an indication of skills or experience, certainly not to be taken as proof of anything more than that.

Good luck on your certification path!
Graham

On 15 December 2016 at 09:55, Lesley Longhurst <Lesley.Longhurst@opus.co.nz> wrote:

Fair point.

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How do suggest I identify the gaps? They are ���unknown unknowns���.

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From: Bill Walker [mailto:bill@wjw.nz]
Sent: Wednesday, 14 December 2016 7:19 p.m.


To: Lesley Longhurst <Lesley.Longhurst@opus.co.nz>
Cc: Nznog <nznog@list.waikato.ac.nz>
Subject: Re: [nznog] Certifications

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I would suggest you stop looking at certifications and look at which courses cover your gaps.


Sent from my Motorola mr1


On 14/12/2016, at 5:22 PM, Lesley Longhurst <Lesley.Longhurst@opus.co.nz> wrote:

I probably should have provided a bit more context.

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I���ve been ���in the industry��� since 1985 and I know just how little a piece of paper is ACTUALLY worth in relation to real experience. I���ve recently had a change of job title, and the new one has the N word in it. And although I have been doing network stuff off and on for decades, I���m on a learning curve. I���ve picked up a lot of info on the run, but I recognise that there are some gaps in my knowledge.

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I���m looking for the most sensible path to fill those gaps, and ���I���m going for certs��� is one way to justify training expenditure.

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I work for a company of 3000+ people located in various countries, and I���m the one global ���resource��� for our networks. I need to know a lot of stuff.

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From: Chris O'Donoghue [mailto:chris@tasman.net]
Sent: Wednesday, 14 December 2016 5:05 p.m.
To: Lesley Longhurst <Lesley.Longhurst@opus.co.nz>
Cc: Nznog <nznog@list.waikato.ac.nz>
Subject: Re: [nznog] Certifications

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I think it depends on your career track.��

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If you intend being a network admin for a normal company then common certifications help. If you want to work with a network company it matters much less.

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However, overseas, if you don't have a reputation, then certification will help.��

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Chris��

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On 14/12/2016 15:32, Lesley Longhurst <Lesley.Longhurst@opus.co.nz> wrote:

Hi all,

As an all-purpose leading network bod for my company, what���s a good certification strategy? I deal with a wide range of stuff from local LANs to international backbones, and it���s high time I got myself a piece of paper to ���prove��� that I know some stuff.

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Is CCNA still a good starting point?

��

��

Lesley Longhurst

Opus International Consultants Ltd, 33 The Esplanade, Petone, Lower Hutt 5012, New Zealand

PO Box 30 845, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand

+64 4 471 7002������ +64 21 244 3718������ lesley.longhurst@opus.co.nz

www.opus.co.nz

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