Something I haven't seen discussed in this thread, which would be most appropriate for people early in their careers, is an engineering work-study program. In such programs, you typically take an extra year total, with some paid and topical jobs for 2-3 semesters and maybe the summers. The work component, if properly selected, should give you the hands-on background for certification.
You also come out of the program with a technical BS degree. Long before there was certification, work-study graduates consistently get better starting jobs, because they have demonstrated both theoretical and practical skills. Another aspect that hasn't been discussed is the whole area of other skill sets, other than perhaps server skills and general management (MBA-ish). Now, I'll challenge the assumption of some people that say they don't want to be engineers and haul boxes around for their whole careers. Engineers do lots of things that don't involve hauling boxes, such as design, product management, presales, etc. Engineer != support technician. Without false modesty, I'll say I am one of the bettter R&S people around, with operational, product development, and research experience. Yet I'm probably getting more work right now because I have a very solid, mostly self-taught medical and emergency services background, which the networking complements. Having industry-specific knowledge, whether degreed or certified, is a strong plus. I notice people here who have become tired of one career and switch to networking, but don't necessarily take advantage of their knowledge and personal skills in their old industry. Offhand, I can think of people with legal, construction, and financial backgrounds. All of these have network technology opportunities if you make efforts to know the right people. And that sort of personal networking is key. In a city of any real size, there should be professional societies such as ACM and IEEE, preferably the subgroups of ACM SIGCOMM, IEEE Computer Society, and IEEE Communications Society. There are online groups, such as IETF technology mailing lists (do lurk for a couple of months until you learn the culture). Recently, I've been developing some very useful contacts with emergency service/homeland security online lists and chats. Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=69963&t=69963 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
