Associates Degree in Microsoft Networking Technology or Cisco Networking Technology?

-Which is more "in demand" as far as jobs are concerned. I need help choosing one before i start college. Thanks!You should get BOTH. Some classes in the degrees will over lap each other.



And don't work on the degree all together.



Get a smaller 12 unit - 15 unit certificate ( if your college offers them) it will only take you a semester to get the certificate, and get a job.My college calls them "network administration essentials", its 12 units ( 4 classes), these units in the certificate are also required in the degrees. The units for the certification will be the same classes you will need for the MIcrosoft and Cisco networking degrees. Then do all other computer classes. Then general education classes.





This way you can get your ahead, have a job, and experience before you are out of college!I would consider the cisco degree more general although you will probably end up with a bunch of proprietary cisco propaganda. Being more general, I would consider it preferable unless you know you want to work for a microsoft shop.



The courses may have a lot of overlap since the microsoft course has to run on someone's brand of network and the cisco course would not be very interesting if you didn't have any hosts.



I read an article today that said net admins were going to be more in demand with cloud computing and net engineers less. My opinion is the exact opposite. Go with what you'd enjoy more!



edit: Not that I think cloud computing is going to be the only game in town. Just the most recent job outlook article I've seen :)



edit2: Network admin, despite the title, focuses more on administering users of the network than the network itself. (In my experience) So the MS course path would be better or a linux path. the network portion of a net admin is more about DHCP, DNS, and such than routing tables and switch configs.
i dont know much about the microsoft cert but i will say i was enrolled in the cisco networking academy and i do know that the CCENT and CCNA certifications look great on a resume
Do you want to work on servers or network infrastructure (routers, switches, etc...).



Server = Microsoft

Infrastructure = Cisco



Either will get your foot in the door, however.