Irelands future IT sector

ralph-saggi

Hello one and all,

This is a topic which has been asked many times in one way or another and may not be a straight forward answer but is something that is playing heavily on my mind lately.

Im a recent IT graduate from college. It really has only dawned on my that I'm not very good or qualified in any area in particular. Anyhow, i am ready to buckle down for a few months and start studying and getting some more certs. so get myself in the door of a company.

My main concern really, is where to start? I am interested in doing the CCNA and progressing from there. My close friend is just after getting his CCIE. For him his career is flying. I am however worried that there are too many ccna's now that are really flooding the market.

My question, which i think should spark an interesting debate, is where in IT in Ireland is a good area to develop ones self particularly now and for in the future. Obviously it is important to have a niche etc. but it also requires having the real life work experience behind you also.

I'm very raw to the IT industry now but was considering doing the CCNA exam, and looking for work in this area. Then possibly move to VMware certs as i feel this is an area which will only continue to expand (green IT etc.).

Would be very curious on the thoughts of the experienced professionals and not so experienced people that lurk around here alot.
Come on guys speak your mind!

Cheers

Ginger

Well for starters the difference between a CCIE and a CCNA is well astronomical. CCIEs are indeed a very rare breed and it takes a lot of time and effort and cash to get there. Just ask _Creed_ and Tigerplug

But a CCNA is no chump change either. One of the things that I find is that network and infrastructure people need to be certified because the certification programs have worked so well. Well the advertising part of that! You want to know that your 24/7/365 operation stays like that.

Having a CCNA might get you in the door because it at least shows you can go off and get it on your own. Its always better to have your cert backed up by real world experience as this shows it is not all book knowledge

If you look at CCA (Citrix) and VCP from VMware they are going to be more and more in demand as companies head towards server consolidation and also Hyper-V and App-V from Microsoft.

Mr Floyd

From my own experience I ended up in localization for a few years and didnt really see the bigger picture, was more interested in just gettin the work done and partying at the weekend. Now that I'm around the 30 mark and finaly seeing the big picture I'm sorry i didnt learn to program earlier, just look at the job sections anywhere, seems to be a lot of money to be made.

msg11

Really depends how one comes about the CCNA..

Threw themselves (online training, brain dumping etc..)

Or

Threw the academy (cisco netacad, hands on labs in class etc..)

What would you rather ?

Only thing about any Cisco course is yes it is good, but its only Cisco related.

mickman

the ccna is not only cisco related. it includes loads of industry standard stuff i.e. OSI, subnetting, routing etc.

to be honest the cisco certs are THE networking certs, regardless of what equipment you use

NullZer0

Juniper is catching up pretty fast - don't forget that ;-)

Maybe not in the enterprise sector but they are trying to make the break!

mickman

juniper are many many miles behind

vinylbomb

CCNA is a decent exam (providing you actually bother to learn the stuff and dont Testking the arse out of it).
Gives you a great overview how machines actually talk to each other at the most basic level.

It really depends what you want to do career-wise. Its pointless doing the CCNA if you want to write Actionscript. You need to sit down and identify what stuff you actually liked in college (or life) - for example do you always tinker with your PC and network at home, or had you an interest in coding, or maybe did you enjoy databases?

Once you know where you stand currently in relation to your aptitudes then you can aim through certification and applying for specific jobs to get to where you want to go.

One thing I will say though, don't just chase money - by that I mean (as mentioned above) that for example coding or databases can net you a lot of wedge (after 5-8 years experience) but theres little point going into work hating what you do. Better to be doing something you like, that way you will excel and achieve more simply because of your enthusiasm for the job.

donaghs

I agree. It really depends what area of IT you want to work in. Cisco certs are a lot of work, and almost pointless if you don't end up working in networking, or with cisco kit. There's plenty of useful info there for sure, and it looks great on a CV, but if you don't work with it, you'll end up forgetting a lot of it over time.

If your just looking to get your foot in the door anywhere, a Microsoft server and workstation certs might be a more pratical and easier place to start (unless you are interested in Unix/linux or programming). Do the jobs specs or recruiters you're dealing with look for certification?

You can take some small consolation from the fact that over time, your degree will the most impressive and longest lasting certification you'll have.