I'm currently going back to school for networking and systems administration. I have several friends in the area that work for the local telecommunications company that said getting Cisco certified is probably the most sought after skill. They all managed to sneak in before the bubble and established careers before it busted and are all trained but yet not certified in Cisco systems.

With that said, anyone have any guidance on the best way to go about getting certified?
Thanks for the help.

Some classes will follow the certification track so you'll be ready to pass the exam at the end of the class

There are also programs you can sign up for that train you to take the exam


No real magic bullet. At the end of the day you hands to know the material to pass. A little research and you'll find a multitude of ways to get trained

CBT Nuggets   Google their videos,  there are plenty available for free if you look around.

Dude, there are TONS of resources to get your CCNA/CCNP. Youtube being an easy one to start with.





Google is extremely helpful as well





ETA: CCNE? wf.. fixed



 

You're absolutely right. I just wanted to verify that is my best option. A lot of what I see on YouTube is "buy my ccna test prep book" ect... I'll dig more tonight whenever I get out of the field.

INE CCNA Course.. It's from 2012 but should get you started.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGez1WzTOss&list=PL8VmWvrkBbBjz670NCuk4jJEdPiG72dEa

 

Thanks for the link. Greatly appreciated.

if you are going back to school paying tuition anyway, take a look at wgu and go into the it networking program.
you will get the certs by passing the classes.

Since you're in Texas you might be familiar with Tyler Junior College. They have systems administration, WAN, etc. But I will definitely look into wgu.

so I did that route too.
took junior college classes to get my AA.
It does cut out the BS classes for WGU.
but depending on how quick you can blow through that stuff, it might be cheaper at wgu.

it is a learn at your own pace school. you can take the test to complete the course as soon as you think you are ready instead of sitting through 6 months of classes.
I completed a few in as little as a week and only a few as long as 3 months.

The tech classes were the better staffed, or at least had the most helpful teachers. the non-tech stuff like leadership and writing were the most difficult to get answers about are you doing it right. But that doesn't mean they weren't easy. I just psyiced myself out on them trying to make sure I got it.

but it is pass or fail, no letter grades.

Tech classes you have to pass the cert tests so you have more than the degree to show.

you sign up for a semester and pay just under 4k. 6 months to finish 12 credits worth of classes. Some are worth 2 some are worth 4.
If you finish early, you can sign up for another and it doesn't cost you any more.
one guy finished 100 credits worth in 1 semester.
Something like a min of 116 taken there to graduate with a BS.
I transfered my AA there and then took that 116 to get a BS in general IT. but they have some very specific plans from network to security.

If you decide to apply email me and I will send a referal. Doesn't do anything for me, but it gets you the application fee waived.

That's awesome! Thanks man. Only concern is that I don't really have time for the minimum 12 hours. I'm doing 6 right now and I'm having to schedule every second of every day to accommodate these two classes.

I am in my last class for my Bachelors of Cybersecurity (Capstone course). I will warn you that many certs require employer sponsorship to the degree of five years in some cases. I am active duty, so I am using my degree for movement withing the Air Force. I'm sure you've seen the payscale.com salaries for some of these roles.

Actually I haven't seen the payscale salaries.

I too was concerned about the course load.

But a few things.
again self paced. all on line except the actual tests in most cases.
I was able to study on my own a few hours a day and still clear it faster than if I went to a b&m school.

I also didn't listen to the advisors.
I figured out the classes I could cake walk through and the ones I knew I would need some time on.

For instance I have worked with computers for a very long time. But I needed to know how they wanted to see it. So I knew I could skim the text and take the practice tests once I understood what they wanted to know, and pass those classes in a week.

But programming I knew would kick my butt, because I don't do that everyday. And I don't memorize syntax because any good complier would tell you when you hosed it.
So I knew I would need a few months to learn that.

Instead of stacking all my easy classes first, I did 3 easy ones to equal close to my 12 hours. Then I took 1 really hard one.
If I finished early, I would stack up the next hard one I had on my list.
I always managed to finish 2 extra, but if you already have the 12 and don't finish the extra you started, no big deal, you just got some extra study time.

Also I wanted the degree, not the certs. They let you take the higher level course and give you credit for the lower level when you pass, so you don't have to take it.
you get credit for it, (not towards your 12 hours) for your degree, but you don't get the cert.

like taking a 201 course and getting credit for the 101.

you will have to ask for it. but like there is a base level security and network course. I took the security plus and network plus and didn't have to take those 2 lower level courses.