If you are reading this post, this indicates that you are well aware of the importance and need for the CCNA certification right now in the IT industry. Maybe you have already gained the CCNA certification or you are planning to get it.
Well, in both cases, to know the further steps after achieving the CCNA certification is really important. Hence, we would be overviewing the process post CCNA certified title.
Short information of CCNA Certifications
The Cisco Certified Network Associates, CCNA certification is offered by the big name in the IT industry, the CISCO.
Cisco is known for its high-quality products related to network & security, from its hardware to software for a better experience by the users.
The CCNA certification was launched with the purpose to validate the skills of job seekers who can manage, install, deploy, maintain and troubleshoot Cisco products easily at the associate level.
However, there are higher levels of certifications for the same, which we will be discussing later, the CCNA certification could be said as the fundamentals for networking and security.
The title of CCNA certified can be achieved after qualifying the standardized exams, conducted by Pearson Vue. The title would remain with the person for 3 years, which can be later upgraded or recertified for the same. The examination will test the candidate on several objectives including the sense of WAN, LAN, Analytics, routers, switches, data centres and many more.
There is no prerequisite to register for the exam, but having core knowledge of the examination objectives is important. However, as mentioned earlier, this certification is for fresher and as well as for those who are already working in this area. Therefore, having an experience of 1 or more year would be even more appreciated.
Domains in CCNA Certifications
Cisco is known for its constant updates and innovations, they never set back on introducing new features in their existing technologies along with completely fresh ideas as well.
The same happened with CCNA certifications. There is a major change in the pattern of CCNA certification in the domains of it. Before the Update in CCNA certifications, there were 8 different domains of CCNA which were:-
- CCNA Routing & Switching
- CCNA Collaboration
- CCNA Data Center
- CCNA Industrial
- CCNA wireless
- CCNA Service Provider
- CCNA Security
- CCNA Cloud
At Present, all these domains are being collaborated in one as the New CCNA. This means that now the candidate has to appear in the one examination where he/she will be tested on an overview of all the above-mentioned domains.
Here the candidate will gain the knowledge of all the different fields at the fundamental level which will help him or her to choose wisely for the speciality in the particular field. And this is the major reason why CCNA certification is considered the fundamental to networking and security.
Jobs profiles after CCNA certification
There is no if and but that anyone would invest a lot of hard work and money for this certification has mainly aimed to get a good, reputed and highly paid job.
Surely, CCNA certification can help for the same. For a fresher, it can provide a great exposure to start from whereas, for someone who is already working, it can provide a great opportunity of promotions and hike in salary.
Following list contains some of the job designations which can be acquired by a CCNA certified personnel easily:-
- System Engineer
- Network Administrator
- Technical Support Engineer
- Senior Network Engineer
- Network Security Specialist
- Information Technology Manager
- Network Security Associate
These are some of the job profiles which can be the “next” step after obtaining the CCNA certification.
Hands-on training experience of CCNA
When you are done with getting a CCNA certification, there is one path that you can go with, gaining hands-on experience first. That is to say, instead of waiting or looking for another certification title for the addition in the list, you can either join some institute or a basic profile job to start your career with. Once you have gained hands-on experience, your value in the IT industry would be increased even more.
The concept behind gaining hands-on CCNA training is very simple, once you have completed the test and even qualified for it, you need to implement this theoretical knowledge to a real-world project for the solidification of the skills and knowledge you have gained during the test preparation.
Since CCNA compiles some complex topics such as Network fundamentals, IP connectivity, IP services and more, it is tough to be smooth on dealing and troubleshooting them without hands-on experience. Hence, big companies ask for the experience letter even after having the CCNA certification.
Additional Certification for extra support
Although CCNA certifications are said to be enough to get a reputed job. But, things are changing at a high pace. As a result, now companies require multitasking employees according to the demand for technologies.
Therefore, getting support from other certifications would be a great idea for better placements and salary insights.
After CCNA, one can choose the other certifications which are relevant to their current field, some of them are:-
- Microsoft Azure certifications
- AWS certifications
- Microsoft MCSA
- MCSE
- CompTIA
- Network +
- Security +
- Server +
These are some certifications which can work as additional support for a better career start or establishment.
Higher-level certification after CCNA
CCNA is the fundamental stage, but technology is all about moving on with time. Therefore, after CCNA, one can look for higher levels of certifications offered by Cisco.
After CCNA, there are professional level and expert level stages.
The Professional level is the CCNP, which is Cisco Certified Network Professional. This is the first stage where the domains get distinguished to achieve the speciality. The candidates have to choose from the 6 domains of CCNP according to their interest or desired field.
After CCNA, candidates can choose from the following professional level certification:-
- CCNP Cloud
- CCNP security
- CCNP collaboration
- CCNP Wireless
- CCNP service providers
- CCNP enterprise
- CCNP data center
On other hand, the expert-level stage is the CCIE, which stands for Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert. This level also has distinguished domains but with expertise objectives. After this certification, one can achieve higher positions in the career of their field.
After CCNA, candidates can choose from the following expert-level certification:-
- CCIE Collaboration
- CCIE service provider
- CCIE security
- CCIE wireless
- CCIE enterprise infrastructure
The above are some of the ways which a CCNA certified personnel can follow. Depending on whether he or she wants to go for further studies or for hands-on experiences.
