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Should Software Engineers Seek CCNA's?

Posted by Cliff on from the good-fallback-or-knowledge-dilution dept.

kernel2 asks: "I'm in the software engineering profession and some of my friends are about to enroll on a CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Administrator) course and are egging me on to join as well. I'm trying to decide whether I should do the course or not. On the one hand it might help me understand networking (especially in bigger corps) better and that is something I love (networking). It might also help me diversify and improve my chances of landing a job in these strained and difficult times (and that's primarily why my friends are doing it). But wouldn't it look odd on my CV? I mean why would someone highly interested in software (with a Software Engineering degree) do CCNA?"

2 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Diversification is a Good Thing (tm) by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1, Interesting

    > Take a look at Larry Wall's background for an idea of what a diverse background can produce.

    Yeah, a mish-mash of syntax like that in Perl. *bleh!* :)

  2. Re:Probably a good idea by FirstManOnMoon · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The CCNA course will teach you some general networking topics, but much of it is Cisco specific (down to knowing specific commands for different router/switch platforms.)

    If you want the additional acronym on your resume, it is a good course to take. But if your looking for generic networking/protocol knowledge, you would be better off taking a course like Mastering TCP/IP or Understanding Networking Fundamentals. Those courses will focus more on the protocols and functions of various types of network equipment and less on Cisco specific commands and equipment.

    Hope this helps!