My name is Ahmed Nuhu, a resident of New York, USA. I have been in the IT industry as a technician for about 10 years. I started as a computer technician. later I went to college for an associate degree in Computer Information Systems. After graduation from college, the job I got was a Point of Sales technician and was doing field repair works for a company. I knew that was not my goal. My goal is to become a network administrator or a network engineer. I studied for Cisco CCNA and CCNP, and now I have a job as a Data Center technician and I like it very much because on a daily bases I rack and stack Routers, switches, Firewalls, Servers and run the copper and fiber cables and I understand the topologies. The only down side is that we the layer one technicians don’t get to configure anything in the Data Center. My dream is to move up to become a network engineer or at least an administrator. My certifications have expired and that is why I have chosen to join Rene Molenaar to help me achieve my dreams. I like his style of teaching and he makes it very simple to understand the topics.
One major help I need is should I concentrate on just Cisco certifications or add other certifications like Microsoft to get a higher level as a network engineer?
Its hard to combine the two. Please advice… and thank you for listening to my long introduction.
Hello Ahmed,
First of all, welcome! I hope you are doing OK in NY?
As a “layer one” technician, you do get to see/touch everything. For many students it’s the other way around. They learn technology with emulators or simulators but once they have their certification and look for a job, they haven’t touched any physical devices yet.
Here’s what I think about certifications:
- There are a LOT of people with CCNA (R&S / Enterprise)
- There are also a lot of people with CCNP (R&S / Enterprise)
- There are fewer people with CCNP (R&S / Enterprise) and another CCNP certification.
- There are fewer people with CCNP (R&S / Enterprise) and other specializations like Cloud (AWS), Linux, or Network automation.
Finding your dream job is easier when you have multiple skills and certifications. Someone with CCNP + Linux + Cloud + Network automation skills might have an easier time finding work then someone who has CCIE R&S but doesn’t know a single thing about anything else.
Just make sure the things you learn match. Having some basic Windows Server skills is useful, but knowing Active Directory, Exchange, and SharePoint isn’t.
Linux is useful, also because once you know the basics and the CLI, it doesn’t change much. What you learn today, is still useful 10 years from now. Even as a network engineer, every now and then you run into related products where Linux skills help.
Cloud can also be useful, if it’s networking related. For example, learning how to run a CSR1000v or ASAv on a cloud platform like AWS. Or understanding how AWS VPCs work, NAT, routing, etc.
I hope this is somehow helpful 
Rene
Hello Rene,
Thank you so much for your valuable advice and leadership. We the up and coming students need someone like you to look up to for advice and guidance. I will take your advice seriously and i honestly believe I will achieve my goals. Once again thank you.
Best regards,
Ahmed Nuhu.