1:10

Infosec and CyberWork hacks can help

1:12

you pass Cisco's CCNA certification

1:14

exam . But what if you think you're not just

1:16

ready yet to make that jump ? What would

1:18

it take for you to jump into the study of CCNA

1:21

with both feet ? Infosec CCNA

1:23

bootcamp instructor , wilfredo Lance , wants

1:26

you to know that you can be ready to start the

1:28

big learning a lot faster than you think , and

1:30

tells us why some of his most entry-level students

1:32

often do better on the test than their more

1:34

established classmates . So if the prospect

1:37

of passing the CCNA on the first try

1:39

got you fired up , well , that's the point . So

1:41

keep the excitement coming and check out today's

1:43

episode of Cyber Work Hacks . Hello

1:50

and welcome to a new episode of Cyber Work Hacks

1:52

. The purpose of this spinoff of our popular

1:55

Cyber Work podcast is to take a single

1:57

fundamental question and give you a quick

1:59

, clear and actionable solution or

2:01

a new insight into how to utilize InfoSec products

2:03

and training to achieve your work and

2:05

career goals . My guest today

2:08

, wilfredo Lanz , is an InfoSec

2:10

instructor , and one of the key focus

2:12

points for InfoSec is our Cisco branded

2:14

certifications , and in this case

2:16

we're talking about the Cisco Certified

2:18

Network Associate or CCNA

2:21

certification . So for those of you who don't know

2:23

about it . Ccna is one of the foundational

2:25

certifications aimed at providing proficiency

2:28

at basic IT networking concepts and

2:30

is a very important signpost for employers

2:32

that you can do the very real job of

2:34

networking for their organization . So

2:36

, to be cleared , ccna is a

2:38

first-level certification , but we

2:41

have to ask how much do you need to know to

2:43

get started on studying for the CCNA

2:45

? And that's the topic of today's Cyber Work

2:47

Hack . So thank you again for joining me

2:49

, wilfredo . Thank you , chris

2:52

. So , to start very generally

2:54

, wilfredo , what types of people enroll

2:56

in your CCNA boot camps ? What

2:58

are their experience levels on average

3:00

around networking concepts ?

3:04

So we get a typically mixed

3:06

group of people attending

3:09

the boot camp , some of them with some

3:11

experience working with IT networks and operating systems and equipment

3:13

, some of them with some experience working with IT networks

3:15

and operating systems and

3:18

equipment . Some of them may

3:20

already had the

3:22

certification in previous years and

3:24

are looking to renew

3:26

or get their certification recertified

3:29

and some of them may

3:31

be relatively new into

3:33

networking . So it is

3:35

typically mixed group , I

3:38

would say . But those people

3:40

that do not have enough

3:42

experience , in most cases

3:44

they have the motivation and that's a

3:46

very important factor , I would say . Being

3:49

motivated to get it

3:51

is really at the top

3:53

of the factor

3:55

for people to be successful on

3:58

the bootcamp .

4:00

So , to that end , let's talk to the

4:02

people who are at that sort of very

4:05

ground level , who have the motivation

4:07

to learn it . What are some important skills

4:09

or areas of experience that you

4:11

really should have in your toolkit before

4:13

you start studying for the CCNA ? I'm

4:15

assuming like a basic knowledge of how computers work

4:17

and so forth , right , yeah , basic

4:20

knowledge of networking

4:23

.

4:23

If you understand , for

4:26

example , IP subnetting

4:28

, right , that would be very helpful coming

4:31

into the training . If you understand

4:33

basic fundamentals of network

4:35

equipment , the difference

4:37

between a switch and a router

4:40

and an access point or

4:42

a wireless LAN controller

4:45

, how communication

4:47

happens right between

4:49

equipment , different equipment in a

4:51

network system , that basic

4:54

level , fundamental , is important

4:56

. If you have it it may be very helpful

4:59

great , uh .

5:00

So yeah , a lot of our listeners have

5:02

told us that they they visit this show

5:04

to kind of window shop their potential

5:07

future careers . I we had at least one person

5:09

who was a scholarship winner who listened

5:11

to 30 or 40 episodes of the podcast

5:14

. That all said what's it like to be this kind of job ? What's it like to be this kind of job

5:16

? What's it like to be this kind of job ? So I know that people

5:18

are are looking to get

5:20

a sense of things before they jump in . So , briefly

5:23

, can you talk about the type of work

5:25

that CCNA certified IT

5:27

network professionals do for a living ?

5:30

That is possibly one of the most

5:32

important advantages of

5:34

the CCNA certification , because

5:37

these are transferable

5:39

skills . These are

5:41

the skills that you get right and

5:44

would apply to any organization . And

5:47

some people may say well , this is Cisco

5:50

training . True , but Cisco

5:52

is a leading organization

5:55

in the IT networking around

5:57

the world . So if you learn

6:00

the networking implementation

6:03

of Cisco equipment , this

6:05

is easily transferable

6:07

to other vendors' equipment . You

6:09

may go to work for a company that

6:11

is not using Cisco , maybe using

6:13

Juniper or Palo Alto

6:16

or Checkpoint equipment . It is

6:18

easier to transition if

6:20

you already have experience

6:22

and know the Cisco

6:25

internet work , operating system

6:27

and equipment . And also

6:29

because the CCNA gives

6:31

you a good understanding

6:34

of how networks operate

6:36

and network principles , even

6:39

if you go to work in a different

6:41

setting . Let's say that you are going to work

6:44

in a cloud environment . Okay

6:46

, Then you will be doing

6:48

in a cloud environment

6:50

. You still apply the same principles

6:53

. You may need to configure a virtual

6:55

cloud-based router

6:57

or a cloud gateway

6:59

or a cloud firewall

7:01

, and everything you learn

7:03

during the CCNA is

7:06

applicable to the cloud

7:08

environment . So , again , one

7:11

of the major advantages here

7:13

is that those are transferable

7:15

skills . You may work as

7:17

a network technician in a

7:19

private data center or on

7:21

an IT department and

7:23

then go to work for a completely

7:26

different company in a completely

7:28

different environment , and if they

7:30

are doing networking , then you

7:32

will adapt to that

7:34

work quickly .

7:37

I imagine it's something like working with different operating

7:39

systems on computers , like if you are

7:41

very skilled in Linux or very skilled

7:43

in Windows and then have to work in something else , like

7:46

it's just a matter of understanding the sort

7:48

of subtle variations . Right , absolutely

7:51

.

7:51

That's correct .

7:52

Yeah , yeah , yeah , so , yeah . So you

7:54

know , and , as you said , cisco

7:56

is just such a

7:58

massive leader in this

8:00

space that you're never going to . You

8:03

know , it's not like you're never going to work for the

8:05

Cisco system . If you're working in networking , you're

8:07

going to be using the direct thing at

8:09

least sometime . I imagine , absolutely

8:12

yeah . So we at

8:14

Cyborg Hacks and by we I

8:16

mean me are very passionate about lowering the barrier

8:18

to entry for new students

8:21

. Wilfredo , so can you talk to listeners who

8:23

are interested in studying the CCNA

8:26

but might fear that they don't have

8:28

enough experience yet ? Are there some very

8:30

basic things that they can do in

8:33

their own time , even if they're not already doing this kind of

8:35

work in their job , to make sure that they're

8:37

up to speed and ready to go on day

8:39

one of cracking the CCNA study guide ?

8:42

Yeah , absolutely . I mean , first of all

8:44

, when you enroll for the

8:46

CCNA with InfoSec

8:48

, they give you access to

8:50

the InfoSec resources , right ? Yes

8:52

, Before you start the bootcamp

8:54

. So you will have access to the

8:56

InfoSec web portal where

8:59

they have some coursework

9:02

review . You have access

9:04

to practice questions . So the sooner

9:07

you enroll and the sooner you get access

9:09

to that , the better off you're going to be by

9:12

the time the bootcamp starts

9:14

. Because here is the thing , right

9:16

, people , they

9:19

feel some motivation to go

9:21

into the bootcamp to get the certification

9:24

, and there may be some uncertainty about if to

9:26

get the certification . And there may be some uncertainty about if

9:28

I get the certification , what is going

9:30

to happen , what type of job I'm going

9:32

to have and I got to tell you this

9:36

IT is

9:38

probably the most , one of the

9:40

most safe

9:42

approach to have a job

9:44

out there . Right , absolutely , so

9:47

it's booming . It's very

9:50

hard I would say very difficult

9:52

to be unemployed if

9:54

you get these skills that we teach

9:56

here , right , I mean , you need to hide

9:59

from people and they will find you .

10:00

Hey , we need you to work , Please come back

10:03

, come back Absolutely .

10:04

So look , and it's a fascinating

10:07

thing , right ? If you like it

10:09

, you feel motivated , you can

10:11

make a good living enjoying

10:14

the work of IT and the

10:16

bootcamp is kind of you know , opens

10:18

that door right For you to get started

10:20

, even if you are not into IT

10:23

. But you feel the motivation , not

10:26

because it pays well , because

10:28

it does , but because you want

10:30

to work in that field . You

10:33

feel the motivation , you want to do it . Then

10:36

, if you do it without motivation

10:38

, then you are going to be rewarded very

10:41

well , rewarded because the IT

10:43

field again is booming . Because the IT field again is

10:45

booming and even some companies may

10:48

lay off people . That may happen

10:50

. You quickly find a job

10:52

because again , it's one of the

10:54

most booming

10:58

areas in the economy

11:00

, the whole IT-related jobs

11:03

.

11:09

Now , wilfredo , networking , I know , is a very tactile process . Obviously it's not like

11:11

cybersecurity where you might be just working in a , you know , in

11:13

a monitor or so forth , but you really learn the process

11:16

of networking and troubleshooting a network by

11:18

building a network and troubleshooting

11:20

it . So , wilfredo , do you have any tips for listeners to

11:22

get this type of hands-on experience

11:24

themselves ? I know when we started talking

11:26

, you know a decade ago , like you were really

11:29

encouraged to build your own

11:31

home switching routing lab

11:33

and do it for yourself . Do

11:35

people use sort of a virtualized

11:37

equivalent now , or do you still think that

11:39

there's a lot of benefit to having a home

11:41

lab set up to sort of like , do this stuff

11:43

for yourself ?

11:46

I would say the simulators , like

11:48

a packet tracer , gns3 and

11:50

other simulators on the market , can

11:52

be very beneficial , very

11:55

useful for people

11:57

trying to get an understanding of

11:59

how networks operates and the operating

12:01

system . It's all software based

12:04

because , I mean , I know

12:06

that was the mindset a few years

12:08

ago that you needed to have physical

12:10

access to the equipment , you

12:12

needed to run the cables and connect

12:15

. But think about this If

12:17

you are working which a lot of companies

12:19

do these days on

12:21

the cloud you don't have access

12:23

to the physical equipment . You have no

12:25

cables . It's all software-based

12:28

, so the

12:30

use of the simulators

12:32

and cloud-based network

12:37

equipment and services is

12:39

sufficient to get to

12:41

the certification and to

12:44

do the job that you need to do

12:46

for a lot of organizations

12:48

.

12:49

Okay , great . So as we wrap up today , Wilfredo

12:52

, do you have any last words of encouragement

12:54

for the potential IT and networking pros

12:56

of tomorrow ?

12:58

Well , I got to tell you it's the best

13:00

field to be on

13:02

right now . So

13:06

IT seems not to slow

13:08

down , right ? So , if anything , there

13:10

are more and more opportunities associated

13:14

with IT . If you have

13:16

the motivation , get

13:18

your certification , find a job

13:20

and you will see that it will

13:22

never stop . I mean , the challenge

13:25

in IT is that things do

13:27

change quite frequently . You need

13:29

to keep up right with the

13:31

changes . But if you enjoy

13:33

that right , if you enjoy learning

13:35

and you know adapting

13:37

to changes , then you

13:39

will be very well rewarded

13:42

in IT . You know , it's

13:44

just amazing the

13:46

opportunities that are across

13:48

the field . And this is I live in California

13:51

, right , we're not talking , this is in

13:53

any part of the country . Wherever you

13:55

go , there will always be

13:57

an opportunity associated

13:59

with IT jobs and careers .

14:00

Fabulous Well , wilfredo Lanz thank

14:03

you so much for helping us create a new generation of CCNA an opportunity associated

14:05

with IT jobs and careers Fabulous . Well , alfredo Lanz . Thank you so much for helping

14:07

us create a new generation of CCNA certified pros . Thank

14:09

you .

14:10

Chris .

14:11

And thank you all for watching this episode

14:13

. If you enjoyed this video and felt it helped

14:15

you , I hope you'll share it with colleagues and

14:17

on forums and on your personal social media accounts

14:20

and also check out . I have three other

14:22

episodes with Alfredo on CCNA . I

14:24

think you're going to like all of them and definitely

14:26

subscribe to our podcast feed and our YouTube

14:28

page . Go to YouTube

14:30

or to go to your podcast

14:32

catcher and type in cyber work and infosec

14:35

into any of them and it'll come up pretty

14:37

quick . There's plenty more to come and

14:39

if you have any topics you'd like us to cover

14:41

, you can always drop them in the comments below

14:43

and we might well take you up on the deal . So

14:46

until next time , happy learning . Hey

14:49

, if you're worried about choosing the right cybersecurity

14:51

career , click here to see the 12 most in-demand

14:53

cybersecurity roles . I asked experts

14:55

working in the field how to get hired and how to do

14:57

the work of these security roles so you

14:59

can choose your study with confidence . I'll

15:02

see you there .