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View Full Version : Talk to me about Cisco ?



xarte
December 31st, 2008, 08:58 AM
browsing a careers-related post elsewhere on the forum, I noted a comment to avoid the windows networking stuff, and a mention of CCNA certs. I flicked through some books in the store today, there was a '30 Days Till Your CCNA exam" book. It looked pretty good - it was obviously a synopsis/study plan and I'd need other learning materials, but it seemed like the sort of thing I might be able to get my head around with just a bit more background knowledge.

The IT degree graduates here leave with Cisco certs (built into their degree).

SO tell me about cisco and networking. Is it the sort of thing I might get work in locally (large country town) or would I have to move to the city?

How much does it cost to study independently? (University fees here are outrageous).

natedawg
December 31st, 2008, 09:11 AM
cisco is pretty hard to teach yourself! I recommend you take some cisco classes. But if you really can't then getting hands on experience is a must. You simply can't read a book on cisco and understand how to implement the information correctly in a real world network. If you can't take classes then at the very least you need to get your hands on some routers or quality simulation software to practice on.

jrusso2
December 31st, 2008, 09:18 AM
Its a real long shot to take one class and get a job in that area when people who have years of experience are out of work.

steeleyuk
December 31st, 2008, 09:31 AM
I've done the four CCNA modules and will get round to doing the final exam on finishing uni in June. Some of the topics you'll cover are:

Module 1 - Networking Basics, basic IP addressing, subnet masks, cabling, etc.
Module 2 - Routing Basics, RIP, IGRP, bits of OSPF and EIGRP, ACLs, Router config
Module 3 - VLANs, Router on a stick, STP, VTP
Module 4 - WANs, PPP, ISDN, DDR, ATM and some more boring stuff :)

Then for your final exam, I've been told that you have to get 85% or higher to pass. If you don't get 85%, the next time you do it you have to get 90%. If you don't get 90%, the next time you have to get 95%. Don't know what happens after that.

xarte
December 31st, 2008, 09:37 AM
Yeah I was wondering about the hands-on stuff. A lot of people seem to study while working in the field.

I wouldn't expect to 'take one class' and get a job - that'd be absurd. I'm not a complete idiot.

I might be an idiot to be contemplating a career change at the present time, admittedly.

I need to see if it's a realistic thing to do - I don't want to spend three years and thirty thousand dollars on an IT degree and THEN be unemployed. A combo of uni courses and maybe some low-paid 'work experience' type jobs might be a possibility.

I don't need a gazillion dollar career - a part-time job to help pay the bills would be dandy.

My current work is very self-motivated, time consuming and mentally draining. It's sucked all my creativity and I really need a change.

xarte
December 31st, 2008, 09:43 AM
I've done the four CCNA modules and will get round to doing the final exam on finishing uni in June. Some of the topics you'll cover are:

Module 1 - Networking Basics, basic IP addressing, subnet masks, cabling, etc.
Module 2 - Routing Basics, RIP, IGRP, bits of OSPF and EIGRP, ACLs, Router config
Module 3 - VLANs, Router on a stick, STP, VTP
Module 4 - WANs, PPP, ISDN, DDR, ATM and some more boring stuff :)

Then for your final exam, I've been told that you have to get 85% or higher to pass. If you don't get 85%, the next time you do it you have to get 90%. If you don't get 90%, the next time you have to get 95%. Don't know what happens after that.

This was the sort of stuff covered very superficially in the study/swot guide I was looking at. It seemed very interesting and relevent even to a lot of general computer use. - like IP adresses and such.


I wonder if I could get a local company to actually let me tag along at their workplace and see what they actually do in a day. They'd probably think it was cool if I was an 18 year old chickybabe, not so cool for a 40ish mother-of-two......