I recently took a CCNA security course for work since we have a training budget of about $5k per IT guy every year...

I recently took a CCNA security course for work since we have a training budget of about $5k per IT guy every year, and I found it very enjoyable. What are some other important certifications that deal with security in IT, perhaps for Windows/Linux servers and the like? Is there anything else I should look into that might not have an exam attached to it? I'm sort of planning for next year since tentatively I've got marked CCNP Routing as what I'll work on next, but I haven't really decided what I'll do yet.

My enterprise is fairly small, so there's nothing that I can think of offhand that would be that big of a benefit for work, so it's really just a matter of picking up potentially useful skills in the future. What do you find interesting personally, Sup Forums?

If you are a networking professional your immediate goal should be CCNP R+S. Otherwise, maybe CCDA? RHCSA?

If you're a dev maybe skip certifications altogether and pay for a tutor or an oreilly subscription or a coding bootcamp in the niche area of your interest, or a convention..

Nah, not a coder, at least not professionally. I mainly deal in routing & switching, virtualization, and servers with a little databasing on the side. I would consider coding as a side job, but I doubt I'd be able to get our organization manager to approve something that far from my duties.

So far I am thinking CCNP R+S though, since it's the most applicable thing to my current profession, I was more curious on branching out to other fields as well, however. I recently did security because I figured it sort of goes hand in hand with networking.

This thread is very relevant to my interests. I'm a CIS major and plan to get a few certs during winter break like CompTIA A+ and Network+. I was planning to maybe get my CCNA next summer. Anyway, how long did it take for you to get the cert and do you think it's worth the money if you paid out of pocket?

Hi pajeets

What does this thread have to do with Java?

If you're planning to do networking, I'd recommend skipping A+ and Network+. Go straight for CCENT and then CCNA. CompTIA is a shit company and their certs are only relevant for entry-level, like stuff you'd get anyway with just your degree.

Yea I just figured it would look better on a resume to show I have general tech knowledge as well as networking knowledge. I was planning to intern or get an entry level job during college otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.

CCNA Routing and Switching took a week long class, it was about 10-12 hours each day, but I enjoyed the professor I had for it. That said, I came in with a few years doing routing and switching in the field, and I knew of a lot of the topics, but not really the ins or outs of them. I've heard CCENT is the way to go for people without field experience.

I did A+ back in 2006, it's pretty entry level, but I guess it's ok. I just read a book and took a practice exam before dropping about $100 on the exam itself.

This

they've made the N+ exam much harder in the latest revision. i think they're trying to push N+ as something more than an entry level cert for pajeets and spics.

>falling for the we-have-a-training-budget con
Idiot! You've just been given a 5k pa pay cut that also saves your employer 3.5k pa on their payroll and earns them another 1.5k in reduced taxes

He's referring to the fact OP is employed, something that entitled whites fail to obtain.

This thread interests me greatly.

CCNP R+S can get you most places you might want to go, if you're looking to move to a large company with a big paycheck. CBT Nuggets helps if you don't have it already.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I figured I'd ask here. I'm an outsider who has always been pretty skilled with computers but wants to actually see what I can do to delve into this as a career. The main thing is that I also like to smoke weed. Do IT jobs often drug test or am I probably fine so long as I don't do stupid shit like come to work high (which I won't do because I'm not a dumbfuck)? Also, what certifications should I look into if I have nothing? Is A+ still the thing to go after first?

depends on the company. Many will do a drug test at least during the hiring as a part of corporate standards. They may or may not continue to test you after that.

CCNA + CCNP can get you many places, if you're simply looking for a six figure job in networking.

Thank you very much, NineBall! Peace be with ye!

What if youre working in the boonies, like canada

Stop being a degenerate. Nobody wants to hire a fucking pothead.

Well most of our jobs can be done remotely, so I would assume it wouldn't matter that much. Not sure what issues may face Canadians specifically.

I just want to live on a solar powered ranch away from the nuclear ground zeroes aka major cities.

I'm not saying you need to change your plans, but...

Consider a sailboat.

Many people liveaboard, and solar on them is more and more common. You can dock at marinas in big and small coastal towns (which often have wifi for those docked, and some have cable internet hookups as well), but you can anchor pretty much anywhere it's shallow enough (preferably at least a little protected from wind and wave for comfort) and can always leave an area if you believe that place is taking a turn for the worse.

If you stick close enough to shore to use cell towers you have that for internet, otherwise there's satellite. Satellite can very greatly in cost and availability, but going from Argentina to Canada, the east coast of NA, SA, Caribbean and all in the Bahamas should be easily covered, and you could, if needed or wanted, cross the ocean to Europe, northern Africa and the Mediterranean, which should all also be easily covered. Also the Japanese/Korean areas and Australian/NZ areas should be easily covered as well. There's also satellite that cover the entire globe but those can be very very expensive.