Computer Certification: Become A Utility Player

In baseball, a "utility player" is one who plays more than one position. These players are usually backups, but they have a job in the major leagues because of their value to the team; since they can play more than one position, they have that much more value to their employer.

Too often in IT, workers become either LAN or WAN engineers, knowing little if anything about the other side. Many LAN administrators I worked with knew little about routing and switching, while many WAN engineers I knew not only didn't know much about the LAN side of their network, but they didn't want to know anything about the servers!

In today's IT world, it's a bad idea to specialize in only one thing and not know how to do anything else. Not only does it limit your future career prospects, but it limits your current prospects as well. Employers don't want to hire someone and have them get up to speed on the job - they want someone who can walk right in and do the job. The more you know, the better your chance of getting a better job - or quickly being able to get another job if you were laid off tomorrow.

A term often heard on Wall Street is "diversification", meaning that investors should not invest heavily or totally in only one stock; if that stock plummets, they're in big trouble. Your career is the most important stock you will ever own, and you're 100% in charge of it. Diversify. If you're working primarily with servers, learn some routing and switching. If you know the routing protocols your company uses on its WAN, learn something about that protocol. (If you don't know the protocol, ask!)

While you’re adding these skills, get certified while you’re at it! Adding a CCNA, MCSE, or other computer certification looks great on your resume while signaling to employers that you’re constantly adding to your skills.

Adding more skills and knowledge to your IT skill set is always a good idea. Don't limit yourself to the technologies you work with every day. Make an investment in yourself and become a well-rounded network engineer. This will help you keep the job you have - and open doors in the future that might otherwise have remained closed.

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Labs: Developing Troubleshooting Skills

CCNA / CCNP candidates are going to be drilled by Cisco when it comes to troubleshooting questions. You're going to have to be able to analyze configurations to see what the problem is (and if there is a problem in the first place), determine the meaning of different debug outputs, and show the ability not just to configure a router or switch, but troubleshoot one.

That's just as it should be, because CCNAs and CCNPs will find themselves doing a lot of troubleshooting in their careers. Troubleshooting isn't something that can just be learned from a book; you've got to have some experience working with routers and switches. The only real way to learn how to troubleshoot is to develop that ability while working on live equipment.

Of course, your company or client is going to take a very dim view of you developing this skill on their live network. So what can you do?

Assemble a Cisco home lab. When you start working with real Cisco equipment, you're doing yourself a lot of favors. First, you're going to be amazed at how well you retain information that will become second nature to you before exam day. But more importantly, both for the exam room and your career, you're developing invaluable troubleshooting skills.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying knowing the theory of how routers and switches work is unimportant. Quite the opposite - if you don't know networking theory, you're not going to become a CCNA or CCNP. But the ability to apply that knowledge is vital - and the only way you can get that is to work on real Cisco routers and switches. As for these "router simulators" on the market today, ask yourself this simple question: "When I walk into a server room, how many router simulators do I see?"

I often tell students that they'll do their best learning when they screw something up. I've had many a student tell me later that I was right - when they misconfigured frame relay, ISDN, or another CCNA / CCNP technology and then had to fix it themselves, it not only gave them the opportunity to apply their knowledge, but it gave them the confidence to know they could do it.

And you can't put a price on confidence - in the exam room or in the network center!