IT networking

Dhayananda, unless one or both of your parents is a High Tech executive, no single avenue of approach exists which will afford an aspiring student a point-to-point path from bare-bones beginner to industry professional. Even in that event, few (TCP/IP v4 and v6) network engineers I have had the pleasure of meeting focused solely on the OSI model as undergraduates (in 4-year collegiate institutions). Rather, as others have indicated above, it is highly beneficial to start with a blank slate - and fill in the gaps as one progresses in his/her academic quest for excellence. If routing, switching, network security and subnet masks entice you, I would highly encourage you to speak to local (Bangalore, India) technology companies about internship opportunities, educational resources/opportunities and "gift aid." When I was a college student, specific majors in MIS/IT/TCP fields did not exist, per se; rather, inclined students were encouraged to declare majors in difficult curricula such as: Electrical Engineering, Organic Chemistry, Mathematics and/or Physics to "toe the water" (i.e. - see if they were able to carry heavy academic loads and still thrive, socially, in the world outside. In 2014, many paths to your stated goal exist - each limited only by your creativity and persistence. Reading technical publications is a tedious, arduous task; instead, I recommend that you learn by doing. Many Linux Operating Systems are available for free download - and are well suited to usher you down the path to fluency in networking: the more you know about Unix, Linux and Mac OS X (a BSD derivative), the more easily and quickly you will grasp the intricacies of "how networking works." Baby steps lead to giant strides forward. I wish you the best of luck and encourage you never to quit or be dissuaded ion your academic pursuits. Knowledge is power - and the key to your future health, happiness and financial security. GO FOR BROKE!

I'm not sure you'll ever learn EVERYTHING in networking, but getting CCNA is a good start. If you can afford to take a job as a Help Desk associate in a Network Operations Center, you definitely should try to get in to one. Also, make sure your training doesn't stop with CCNA. Practice as much as possible. Make it your hobby, not just your career. The more you configure networking equipment, the more you will understand. Continue reading about the technologies, and use what you have read to challenge yourself in your spare time with lab equipment. Good luck!

CCNA is a good start, you can start applying for the jobs in the domain.Also, you can apply for elitmus and if you land up with a agood score you may get a job with cisco or any networking company itself. Cisco hires students from elitmus on contract basis for a year.That will give exposure to you and you will learn a lot of things.

all the best

It's a really good start with CCNA Certification but remember you will need more than that. Also if you could earn Network+ and Security + is a better position and outstanding
knowledge in Networking field. Just keep studying and practicing until you know as much as you want, it's nothing that you can't do.

Hi Dhayananda, CCNA is a great start for your IT career!! I would suggest to keep studying, you can try to achieve CCNP it will be very helpful to understand concepts. You can always study from blogs or from videos; you will find a lot of material on internet. I will also suggest you to practice in lab or equipment. Certifications are a great start but practice will get you to fully understand the technology.

Great work accomplishing your CCNA. The next step would be to complete your CCNP and look for an opportunity with a technology firm that does IT Consulting. This way you get to see a lot of different networks, install and troubleshoot them, and provide recommendations through researching what your clients want. While no one will ever no everything, because technology changes every day and it's a very wide field in networking, it will give you the foundation to know a good deal, and build on that year over year.

Cisco certifications will give you a good foundation for networking. If you are able get your CCIE it is well worth it. Practice, get as much lab time as possible that will help you become proficient in networking. Consider security as it is in demand and is needed wherever you ultimately go to work.