Cisco CCNA Online Home PC Courses – Updated
Should you be aspiring to become Cisco accredited, but you’ve not yet worked with switches and routers, initially you should go for the CCNA training. This educates you in the knowledge you need to understand routers. The world wide web is built up of many routers, and large commercial ventures with several different sites also use them to connect their computer networks.
Routers connect to networks, so seek out training that features the basics on networks (maybe the CompTIA Network+, possibly with A+ as well) before getting going with CCNA. You’ll need this background understanding on networks before you commence any Cisco training or you could find yourself a little lost. In the commercial environment, you’ll benefit from having a good knowledge of networks in addition to the CCNA.
If you haven’t yet had any experience of routers, then qualifying up to the CCNA level is the right level to aim for – at this stage avoid being tempted to do the CCNP. Once you’ve worked for a few years, you can decide if it’s appropriate for you to go to the level of CCNP.
A lot of trainers only give basic 9am till 6pm support (maybe a little earlier or later on certain days); most won’t answer after 8-9pm at the latest and frequently never at the weekends.
some companies only provide email support (slow), and telephone support is usually to a call-centre which will just take down the issue and email it over to their technical team – who’ll call back sometime over the next 1-3 days, at a suitable time to them. This is all next to useless if you’re stuck with a particular problem and only have a specific time you can study.
As long as you look hard, you will find the very best companies which give students online support around the clock – including evenings, nights and weekends.
If you opt for less than 24×7 support, you’ll regret it. You might not want to use the service during late nights, but you’re bound to use weekends, early mornings or even late evenings at some point.
We’d hazard a guess that you probably enjoy fairly practical work – the ‘hands-on’ personality type. If you’re anything like us, the trial of reading reference books and manuals can be just about bared when essential, but you’d hate it. So look for on-screen interactive learning packages if you’d really rather not use books.
Learning psychology studies show that we remember much more when all our senses are involved, and we put into practice what we’ve been studying.
Locate a program where you’re provided with an array of DVD-ROM’s – you’ll begin by watching videos of instructors demonstrating the skills, and then have the opportunity to fine-tune your skills in fully interactive practice sessions.
It’s very important to see the type of training provided by any company that you may want to train through. You’ll want to see that they include video demo’s and interactive elements such as practice lab’s.
You’ll find that many companies will only provide purely on-line training; sometimes you can get away with this – but, consider how you’ll deal with it when you don’t have access to the internet or you only get very a very slow connection sometimes. It is usually safer to have DVD or CD discs which don’t suffer from these broadband issues.
Be alert that all accreditations you’re studying for are recognised by industry and are current. Training companies own certificates are not normally useful in gaining employment.
Only properly recognised examinations from companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco and CompTIA will have any meaning to employers.
Commercially accredited qualifications are now, most definitely, taking over from the traditional academic paths into IT – why then is this the case?
Vendor-based training (as it’s known in the industry) is far more effective and specialised. The IT sector has realised that a specialist skill-set is vital to meet the requirements of an increasingly more technical commercial environment. Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA are the big boys in this field.
They do this through concentrating on the skills that are really needed (alongside a relevant amount of background knowledge,) instead of trawling through all the background detail and ‘fluff’ that degree courses often do (to fill up a syllabus or course).
Put yourself in the employer’s position – and you wanted someone who could provide a specific set of skills. Which is the most straightforward: Pore through loads of academic qualifications from various applicants, asking for course details and which vocational skills they’ve mastered, or choose particular accreditations that exactly fulfil your criteria, and draw up from that who you want to speak to. Your interviews are then about personal suitability – rather than on the depth of their technical knowledge.
Copyright 2010 S. Edwards. Browse around Comptia Certification or www.APlusCertification4IT.co.uk.
September 4, 2010 | Posted by Jason Kendall
Categories:
Tags:
Recent Comments