CCNA, CCNP, <---- worth it?

[dunn]

are these certificates worth obtaining?

CCNA, CCNP, etc..
After I get CCNA, can I expect to find a decent job?? if so, what position??

 

[daveman]

excuse my ignorance. what is CCNA, CCNP?

 

[loosbrew]

CCNA = Cisco Certified Network Associate
CCNP = Cisco Certified Network Professional.

very tough exams. Especially the ccnp ones. there 4 after the CCNA to become ccnp. if youre ccna, you wil have a good grasp f common networking fundamentals, but Cisco exams are pruposely made harder than most other Networking exams.
good luck. ive been studying for my ccna for a few months on my own and am currently in school for my MCSE!

loosbrew

 

[Aves]

I'd say they're worth getting. I've already gotten my CCNA, 989/1000 😀
I'm working on my first CCNP exam. Like loosbrew said, the CCNP exams are pretty hard, at least compared to the CCNA and the other networking certs.

 

[Linh]

friend of mine got his CCNA while in college, got his CCNP less than a year after graduation, earned his CCIE a year after that. currently making ~$150K working for NASA (TX dollars).

 

[Draco]

Yeah, they are worth it. And they do get progressively harder. CCNA is pretty simple. CCNP require a lot more work and studying. A ton more material, not to mention 4 tests versus 1 for CCNA. Once your to CCNP level and you have a year or two under your belt of working with the stuff, there's no reason you should't be making 75+. And once your a CCNP and have some experience I would definitely pursue CCIE. The written test is difficult, but most can pass with enough studying. The 2 day lab is the real bitch. Most fail one, two, three or more times before passing 🙂 Can become costly at $1200 a pop, but if you work for a company that knows your going to be a CCIE they'll often put up all kinds of money to help you in your quest, because CCIE's are still very rare and Cisco employs most of them.

I'm currently working on my CCNP.

 

[CollegeGuy]

CCIE two years out of college? This must be some sort of record. Very experienced network engineers routinely fail the CCIE.

 

[Bozo Galora]

Yes, its worth it, although you picked a real bad time to jump in with the economy the way its going.
Might as well get your CCNP, then get a job for real world experience, then study for CCIE &quot;on the side&quot; by setting up a lab at home.
Ive seen it posted here there are only 5000 CCIE's in the whole country, and that would put you in rare air. Big companies use the number of CCIE's they have employed as bragging rights, also to help qualify for gov contracts. I know a guy who went to a four year University for CCIE, and now makes $300K/year.
Cisco has also recently formed alliances with Monster.com and Dice.com to help co-ordinate the employers and potential employees in Cisco related jobs.
The real exciting new element in the picture is that the Community Colleges are jumping on this certification thing for Cisco. Now we are talking $12/credit - day/night/Sat. classes - the bargain of all time as far as I am concerned. The combination of online study with teacher help for your questions is a real winner!
This is where you will study: http://cisco.netacad.net
And Cisco starts offering an online Unix course in Aug.