Certifications

I recently earned my CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) certification. It’s been 15 years since I took an exam. 15 long years. Mind you, I have learned a lot in those years, just never went so far as to get tested on it. Getting back into a study routine was difficult. I can tell you this, for me, it was like starting back working out after you have slacked off 6-10 months of gym time. Despite the fact I’ve been working with Cisco equipment for 15-20 years, I have learned a lot. A lot of things I overly relied on google for. The tests have changed quite a bit. As an IT person for 20+ years, I love the “here is the equipment, make it work” interactive questions. Or the “here is the problem user call, figure out why it doesn’t work” interactive questions. In the 2-6000 user environments I have worked in, system engineers have had service tickets along with projects, so I recognized those trouble tickets. I also recognize the start from scratch question from dealing with projects as a project lead. One thing I didn’t like was I saw several questions that the “Cisco Press” study materials said were outside the scope of the exam and not included in the book, yet they were in the exam. Just my opinion, if it’s not within scope, it shouldn’t be question. Overall it was a good experience. I’m now pursuing upgrading my MCSE (Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert, which was Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer when I first earned it) to server 2016. I will earn my CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) after that. I have thought about earning Security+ and Linux+ as well, especially since all these exams will help with the continuing education parts of keeping your certification current. However, I don’t like the absorbent cost of keeping CompTia certifications current (my A+ and Network+ are grandfathered in). In my opinion, if you pay any company $165 to $4-500 for a test that qualifies for continuing education validation, the certification should be validated. Charging more because it wasn’t your test is just greedy. It shows a real lack of value placed on our time to charge that kind of fee to renew your certification just because you tested with another company. I can understand an administration fee ($30-50) to verify you completed said certification, but $150-300 to keep your certification from expiring is highway robbery in my opinion. I like the overall setup of the exams, minus the not in scope issues. I like getting back into learning, and I look forward to upping all my credentials. My biggest challenge now will be balancing work and certifications, playing music (time for another band) and scouts (my son joined a sea scout ship in addition to his troop and I’m an ASM for our troop and on 2 different committees). Hey, life is fun, even if it’s busy!