If you think Cisco training might be for you, and you've no practical experience with routers or network switches, we'd recommend taking the Cisco CCNA qualification. This teaches you the necessary skills to set up and maintain routers. The internet is made up of hundreds of thousands of routers, and large companies with many locations also rely on them to connect their computer networks.
Routers are linked to networks, therefore it is necessary to understand how networks function, or you'll struggle with the qualification and not be able to understand the work. Seek out a program that teaches the basics (CompTIA is a good one) before you start the CCNA.
If routers are a new thing for you, then the CCNA course is all you'll be able to cope with - at this stage avoid being tempted to do the CCNP. Once you've worked for a few years, you will know if it's appropriate for you to go to the level of CCNP.
Sometimes, people don't understand what information technology is all about. It's electrifying, revolutionary, and means you're a part of the huge progress of technology that will affect us all over the next generation. We're only just starting to see just how technology will define our world. The internet will profoundly transform the way we view and interact with the world around us over the coming decades.
And don't forget that on average, the income of a person in the IT sector throughout this country is much better than in the rest of the economy, so you'll more than likely earn much more once qualified in IT, than you would in most typical jobs. It would appear there is no end in sight for IT industry growth across Britain. The market continues to develop enormously, and as we have a skills gap that means we only typically have three IT workers for every four jobs it's highly unlikely that there'll be any kind of easing off for quite some time to come.
We'd hazard a guess that you're a practical sort of person - the 'hands-on' type. Typically, the painful task of reading endless manuals can be just about bared when essential, but you'd hate it. Consider interactive, multimedia study if book-based learning really isn't your style. Research into the way we learn shows that memory is aided when we involve as many senses as possible, and we take action to use what we've learned.
Study programs now come via DVD-ROM discs, where everything is taught on your PC. Through video streaming, you can sit back and watch the teachers showing you precisely how something is done, followed by your chance to practice - in an interactive lab. Make sure to obtain a study material demo' from your training provider. You should ask for expert-led demonstrations, slideshows and virtual practice lab's for your new skills.
Avoid training that is purely online. You want physical CD/DVD ROM course materials where available, so that you have access at all times - it's not wise to be held hostage to your internet connection always being 'up' and available.
Validated exam preparation and simulation materials are vital - and really must be obtained from your training supplier. Ensure that the exams you practice are not only asking questions in the right areas, but also asking them in the same way that the proper exam will pose them. This really messes up people if they're met with completely different formats and phraseologies. 'Mock' or practice exams are enormously valuable as a tool for logging knowledge into your brain - so much so, that at the proper exam, you don't get uptight.
We're regularly asked to explain why traditional academic studies are less in demand than the more commercial certificates? The IT sector now acknowledges that to cover the necessary commercial skill-sets, certified accreditation from such organisations as Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA most often has much more specialised relevance - saving time and money. They do this by focusing on the actual skills required (alongside an appropriate level of associated knowledge,) rather than spending months and years on the background non-specific minutiae that degrees in computing often do (to fill up a syllabus or course).
It's a bit like the TV advert: 'It does what it says on the label'. Companies need only to know what they need doing, and then match up the appropriate exam numbers as a requirement. They'll know then that all applicants can do what they need.
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