CCIE 100 Success Secrets - Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert; The Missing Training, Exam Study, Certification Preparation and CCIE Application Guide

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If you think Cisco training might be for you, but you’re new to working with switches and routers, then you’ll need a CCNA course. This will provide you with skills for setting up and maintaining routers. The world wide web is built up of many routers, and big organisations with various different locations also use them to connect their computer networks.

To take this course, you should be clear on computer networks and how they operate and function, as networks are built with routers. If not, the chances are you’ll fall behind. Better to look for a course covering the basics in networking (maybe the CompTIA Network+, possibly with A+ as well) prior to starting your CCNA. Look for a training provider that can offer this as a career package.

Having the skills and knowledge ahead of commencing your Cisco training is vital. Therefore, discuss the requirements expected of you with someone who will be able to help you.

Incorporating exam fees as an inclusive element of the package price then including an exam guarantee is a common method with many companies. But look at the facts:

In this day and age, we’re a little more ‘marketing-savvy’ – and usually we grasp that it is something we’re paying for – they’re not just being charitable and doling out freebies! Should you seriously need to pass first time, then the most successful route is to pay for each exam as you go, give it the necessary attention and give the task sufficient application.

Isn’t it in your interests to hold on to your money and pay for the exam at the time, not to pay the fees marked up by a training college, and also to sit exams more locally – rather than possibly hours away from your area? A lot of so-called credible training course providers net huge amounts of money because they’re asking for exams at the start of the course then cashing in if they’re not all taken. It’s worth noting that exam re-takes with organisations with an ‘Exam Guarantee’ are always heavily controlled. You’ll be required to sit pre-tests until you’ve demonstrated an excellent ability to pass.

Exams taken at local centres are approximately 112 pounds in the United Kingdom today. Why spend so much more on fees for ‘exam guarantees’ (usually wrapped up in the course package price) – when a quality course, support and study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is what will really guarantee success.

Qualifications from the commercial sector are now, most definitely, starting to replace the traditional routes into the IT industry – why then is this? Vendor-based training (as it’s known in the industry) is far more effective and specialised. The IT sector is aware that this level of specialised understanding is necessary to meet the requirements of an increasingly more technical marketplace. Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA are the key players in this arena. Essentially, only required knowledge is taught. It’s slightly more broad than that, but the principle objective is to focus on the exact skills required (with some necessary background) – without going into too much detail in everything else (as universities often do).

Think about if you were the employer – and you required somebody who had very specific skills. Which is the most straightforward: Wade your way through a mass of different academic qualifications from several applicants, trying to establish what they know and which vocational skills they’ve acquired, or select a specialised number of commercial certifications that perfectly fit your needs, and draw up from that who you want to speak to. Your interviews are then about personal suitability – rather than establishing whether they can do a specific task.

It would be wonderful to believe that our jobs are secure and our future is protected, but the growing reality for most sectors around England right now appears to be that security may be a thing of the past. When we come across escalating skills shortages coupled with escalating demand though, we always discover a newer brand of security in the marketplace; where, fuelled by the conditions of constant growth, businesses are struggling to hire the staff required.

The 2006 United Kingdom e-Skills analysis showed that over 26 percent of all available IT positions cannot be filled mainly due to an appallingly low number of appropriately certified professionals. This shows that for every 4 jobs in existence around computing, there are barely three qualified workers to perform that task. Acquiring full commercial Information Technology qualification is thus a fast-track to succeed in a long-term as well as pleasing line of work. It’s unlikely if a better time or market conditions could exist for acquiring training in this swiftly increasing and evolving business.

Finding your first job in the industry can feel more straightforward if you’re offered a Job Placement Assistance service. Don’t get overly impressed with this service – it’s easy for their marketing department to make it sound harder than it is. The fact of the matter is, the need for well trained IT people in this country is the reason you’ll find a job.

Advice and support about getting interviews and your CV should be offered (if it isn’t, consult one of our sites). It’s essential that you update that dusty old CV today – not after you’ve qualified! Quite frequently, you will get your first job while you’re still a student (even when you’ve just left first base). If your course details aren’t on your CV (and it isn’t in the hands of someone with jobs to offer) then you won’t even be considered! Normally you’ll get better performance from a specialist locally based employment agency than you’ll experience from any training course provider’s employment division, because they’ll know the local area and commercial needs better.

A constant frustration of some training providers is how hard people are prepared to study to get qualified, but how un-prepared they are to work on getting the role they’ve acquired skills for. Don’t falter at the last fence.

Many students come unstuck over a single courseware aspect which is often not even considered: How the training is broken down and sent out to you. Trainees may consider it sensible (with a typical time scale of 1-3 years to achieve full certification,) for a training company to release the courseware in stages, until you’ve passed all the exams. But: What would happen if you didn’t finish each and every module within the time limits imposed? And maybe you’ll find their order of completion doesn’t come as naturally as some other structure would for you.

In an ideal situation, you want ALL the study materials up-front – so you’ll have them all to come back to in the future – as and when you want. This allows a variation in the order that you attack each section if another more intuitive route presents itself.