Mapping Your Networking Certification Career Path
Your guide to planning a meaningful certification strategy for entering and moving up in the IT industry.
by Robert L Bogue
7/11/2001 -- It seems like you can't turn your head these days without seeing some mention of a certification. But are these titles really your golden ticket to a new, high paying job in the IT industry? If you're listening to the hype, you've probably heard that all a person has to do is go to some certification boot camp for the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and pass the exams to start earning $60 to 80K per year. Although I suppose there's someone, somewhere out there for whom this has worked, in most cases, it takes experience, dedication and a lot of hard work to get a job with that kind of pay. However, by taking careful, meaningful certification steps -- in stride with getting the prerequisite experience -- you can definitely enhance your position in the market, and eventually make it easier to find those elusive $80+K positions.
Types of IT Careers
While there are dozens of careers within IT, we're going to focus our discussion on the networking (sometimes called integration) area because this is one career path that can be closely mapped out with particular certifications. There are also certifications for programmers, database administrators and others; however, certification titles for these careers aren't quite as clear cut when it comes to short- and long-term strategy. Most programmers learn their trade from college, or long hours at a computer, and are generally judged on the programs that they've previously written or helped write. And database administration seems to be a career that people get into after having a programming career, or a networking career, and they decide they want some variety.
Getting Started
A good starting point for a networking career is getting the Computer Technology Industry Association's A+ certification. A+ is a title that certifies your hardware and basic operating system knowledge. It is designed for candidates who have six months experience with computers. The exam itself has been around for years and, as a result, several good A+ certification training programs, including self-study books, are available.
Why start with A+? A+ can open doors for two fairly standard entry-level IT positions -- hardware repair and help desk. And with only two exams, it's also a much more manageable certification to receive than, say, the seven-exam MCSE. Most importantly, it's a reasonable title for someone new to the industry to hold.
Even though I recommend getting A+ certified prior to applying for a helpdesk or repair position, it is possible to get entry-level positions such as these without any certifications, particularly if you have a college degree (even in an unrelated field). However, A+ certification will often move your resume to the top of the stack, and give you access to the entry-level positions that are only available to those A+ certified. CompUSA, for instance, is an A+ Authorized Service Center, which requires that at least 50 percent of the technicians employed at each location be A+ certified.
Preparing for the Next Level, Vendor-Neutral Style
Now that you've got your first position in the IT industry, it's time to sit back and wait for the money to come rolling in, right? We wish. Now you'll have to manage a full-time job while studying for your next set of exams.
The entry-level position that an A+ certification can help you land will probably earn you under $30K per year. Moving to the next level in your career -- and salary -- is a matter of learning as much as you can about networks and servers. These two technologies are what will pave your way to the higher ranks of IT.
CompTIA offers a Network+ exam that tests your knowledge on fundamental networking facts such as the OSI protocol model, which is the generally accepted study aid for understanding how network protocols work together. This exam is a good foundation in a wide variety of networking technologies. Network+ is also nice because passing the exam counts towards some vendor-specific certifications, the most notable of which is Novell's Certified NetWare Engineer (CNE) program. The Network+ certification requires passing only a single multiple-choice exam.
CompTIA has also recently released a Server+ exam that tests facts about server hardware and peripherals. It also has a planning focus, ensuring knowledge about how to setup environments and systems for servers. Although the exam is new, there's a lot of indication that vendor-specific certifications such as Compaq's ASE program may begin to rely on Server+ as their foundation, or prerequisite for their certification. Server+, like Network+, requires only that you pass one exam.
Network+ and Server+ are good stepping-stones, and may be enough to get you a position as an assistant network administrator or even network administrator for a small- to mid-sized company. You might want to try to find a position at a smaller company because those organizations will allow you to build up your skills and you'll have more opportunity to demonstrate your abilities.
Once you've landed that first network administrator position, you still have a long way to go. From here, you're going to need a vendor-specific certification.
Novell, Microsoft, Cisco or Linux?
Your decision between major market players is one that's best left to when you've completed the other steps and have decided what interests you most.
In one corner is Cisco, with its variety of certifications ranging from the accessible Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) to its lofty Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE). These certifications focus on networking hardware and design. A Cisco title will show you have strong interest and knowledge in wide area networking issues, making you valuable to organizations that have networks spanning more than just a building. The positive to this path is that it can put you in a smaller, more elite group, but unfortunately it's sometimes harder to find a place to fit with these skills because smaller organizations don't need them.
In another corner we find the always feisty Novell with its Certified Networking Engineer (CNE) program, a.k.a. the granddaddy of IT network certifications. While Novell's market share may be diminishing (or not, depending on whose numbers you believe) there is no doubt that there is a lot of NetWare installed in the world, and it won't be disappearing anytime soon. Despite the slowing of new NetWare installations, there are plenty of installations that will be losing their current CNEs to newer and "more exciting" positions and technologies. A Novell CNE certification is a good idea if the organization you want to work for has Novell and doesn't have plans to change, or just to broaden your networking knowledge.
In the third corner is the undisputed champion of certifications, Microsoft's MCSE program. Although the MCSE has taken its share of heat as the market tries to adapt to an environment where MCSE boot camps attempt to crank out MCSEs in as little as one week, the MCSE is still valuable if you have the hands-on experience to back up the title. With the Microsoft path, you're likely to find plenty of positions available; however, there are a lot of people who already have MCSEs, thus more competition. Plus, you're going to have to deal with Microsoft's sometimes quirky decisions about what must be done to maintain the certification.
In the last corner, you've got the option of obtaining one of the many Linux certifications currently vying for position in the market: Red Hat's RHCE, Sair-GNU's LCA and LCE, Linux Professional Institute's LPI, and CompTIA's forthcoming Linux+. While there's a lot of interest in these certifications, Linux admin jobs can be hard to come by, so these titles may be best left to those who really love Linux. If you'll be working with Unix in general, you might want to go for one of the Unix-focused certifications offered by Sun (Solaris), IBM or others.
Where To Now?
Even with one or more of the certifications above, you may still be years off from making the kind of salary that attracts everyone to the IT industry in the first place. That's because knowledge and experience come first in this industry. You can get there, though, and the titles behind your name will help. In the meantime, you'll be working in an industry you love, knowing that you've laid the right foundation for your long-term future with every certification dollar well spent.
Robert L. Bogue is an MCSE (NT 4.0 & Win2K), MCSA, etc. He runs Thor Projects, a systems consulting company in Carmel, IN. Robert is also the lead author of Que Certification's MCSA Training Guide (70-218): Managing a Windows 2000 Network (ISBN 0-7897-2766-8, Available June 2002). If you want to learn more about Robert's other books go to http://www.thorprojects.com/author.
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