alt.certification.cisco - What's Your Opinion on This Course?

Author

What's Your Opinion on This Course?

jason

2003-02-27, 12:24 am

I'm looking for the best training/education option to help me get my foot in
the door of a position in the IT field. I realize that jobs are pretty
tight and it isn't easy these days, but I'm not too concerned with making
tons of money. I would just like to have the opportunity to begin a career
that I think I will enjoy.

I have an undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice, MCP in NT 4.0
Workstation, about a year experience with basic web development, and 2 years
as a General Manager for a wireless cable television corporation. My dad is
a retired FBI agent and the field of computer forensics sounds like it might
be interesting further down the road. I hear that might be a hot specialty.

The cost of the training/education will be covered by vocational
rehabilitation, and I would like to make the most of the opportunity. I
don't really want to spend 3 or more years on going back to college to get a
degree in computer science. A master's degree in Management of Information
Systems (http://price.ou.edu/ms_mis/mis_curriculum.asp) might not be out of
the question, but I don't want to waste the time and effort that it would
take to get that if it isn't going to help me more than the course listed
below. I'm not absolutly certian voc rehab will pay for a master's degree.
The course below is 3 hours a day for a year and considered to be
"accelerated" as opposed to the regular courses they offer. They only take
between 8 and 10 students per year long course and the next one I can take
doesn't start until October. It sounds like a fairly decent amount of
instruction and hands on practice. If it goes too slowly there isn't
anything that keeps me from taking on additional certifications on my own
during that time.

http://www.mntechnology.com/enrollm...=cn+710&cat%5Fi
d=40&Term=Short& Sid=B5T77DFFS3KP8KJ1V4HA6WJTFR
TJ27C2

Does this sound like certification overkill without job experience to match?
The thing is I'm not sure if voc rehab will continue to send me to
training/school after I get hired on somewhere. I'd like to get the most
out of the opportunity to have my training provided to me, but at the same
time I don't want to take longer than I really need to in order to get a
position that will provide valuable experience.

I appreciate your opinions and suggestions. I'm really just making my
initial survey of what options are out there for me.

jason

2003-02-27, 1:24 am

> don't really want to spend 3 or more years on going back to college to get
a
> degree in computer science. A master's degree in Management of
Information
> Systems (http://price.ou.edu/ms_mis/mis_curriculum.asp) might not be out
of
> the question, but I don't want to waste the time and effort that it would
> take to get that if it isn't going to help me more than the course listed
> below. I'm not absolutly certian voc rehab will pay for a master's
degree.

and I'm not too confident that I could even get in that
program.............. there just aren't a lot of options for
educaton/training that I have come across so far.

Binary Traveler

2003-02-27, 7:24 am

I've reviewed that training site, and honestly I think it's a waste of time.
Not to mention
time consuming. If you are looking to get into the neworking field and you
want to focus
on Cisco equipment, then I would suggest the Cisco Networking Academy. I
think
it's an excellent program. I've reviewed the academy ciriculumn before for
both the CCNA
and the CCNP and found it to be extremely high quality work. And from what
I understand
they have a nice router lab setup also. But once again, this is if you want
to focus on Cisco
equipment. Which I personally, would suggest (always go with the best!).
I'm sure you can
find an Academy somewhere close to you. Check out the main academy site.
http://cisco.netacad.net/public/index.html

Whatever you decide to do, I suggest focusing your efforts on a career path
that
really interests your. I see places that offer programs to get people
Microsoft and
Cisco certifications in X time! And I ask WHY? If I wanted to be a systems
engineer
I would have the Microsoft certifcation path. Alot of places just try to
hand out courses
for every certification on the market that they havea teacher for, which is
horrible. Which
is horrible, some people start thinking they need certifications in all
these different areas of IT, which
isn't jsut incorrect, but also a horrible idea to even try. And so people
do it.. but then they end up
knowing a little of this and a little of that, but they aren't an expert in
anything. Personally, I would
never hire someone with such a vast variety of certifications. I like to
see solid, focus'd certifcations.
All alot of certifcations in alot of different areas tells me is, you have
no clue what you want to do. And
if you don't know what you want to do, how long can I plan on you working
for me before you decide
this isn't what you want to do?

Blah blah blah, enough rambling from me. Pick a path of interest and stick
to it.

BinaryT

"jason" <123@45.net> wrote in message
news:v5ragqk1c66787@corp.supernews.com...
> I'm looking for the best training/education option to help me get my foot
in
> the door of a position in the IT field. I realize that jobs are pretty
> tight and it isn't easy these days, but I'm not too concerned with making
> tons of money. I would just like to have the opportunity to begin a
career
> that I think I will enjoy.
>
> I have an undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice, MCP in NT 4.0
> Workstation, about a year experience with basic web development, and 2
years
> as a General Manager for a wireless cable television corporation. My dad
is
> a retired FBI agent and the field of computer forensics sounds like it
might
> be interesting further down the road. I hear that might be a hot
specialty.
>
> The cost of the training/education will be covered by vocational
> rehabilitation, and I would like to make the most of the opportunity. I
> don't really want to spend 3 or more years on going back to college to get
a
> degree in computer science. A master's degree in Management of
Information
> Systems (http://price.ou.edu/ms_mis/mis_curriculum.asp) might not be out
of
> the question, but I don't want to waste the time and effort that it would
> take to get that if it isn't going to help me more than the course listed
> below. I'm not absolutly certian voc rehab will pay for a master's
degree.
> The course below is 3 hours a day for a year and considered to be
> "accelerated" as opposed to the regular courses they offer. They only
take
> between 8 and 10 students per year long course and the next one I can take
> doesn't start until October. It sounds like a fairly decent amount of
> instruction and hands on practice. If it goes too slowly there isn't
> anything that keeps me from taking on additional certifications on my own
> during that time.
>
>
http://www.mntechnology.com/enrollm...=cn+710&cat%5Fi
> d=40&Term=Short& Sid=B5T77DFFS3KP8KJ1V4HA6WJTFR
TJ27C2
>
> Does this sound like certification overkill without job experience to
match?
> The thing is I'm not sure if voc rehab will continue to send me to
> training/school after I get hired on somewhere. I'd like to get the most
> out of the opportunity to have my training provided to me, but at the same
> time I don't want to take longer than I really need to in order to get a
> position that will provide valuable experience.
>
> I appreciate your opinions and suggestions. I'm really just making my
> initial survey of what options are out there for me.
>
>
>
>

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