What do you plan to do with your CCNP?

MQuinn6

For those pursuing the certification, what do you plan to do with your CCNP?
For those who already have the CCNP, what are you doing with it?

Just curious.

Netstudent

I plan to use it as a tool for career advancement. Open up some doors, get some solid experience, and aquire more knowledge.

mikearama

Netstudent wrote:

I plan to use it as a tool for career advancement. Open up some doors, get some solid experience, and aquire more knowledge.

Amen to that.

And as an aside, up my value to the company... read: MAKE MORE BLING BLING!

MQuinn6

Thanks for the responses, Netstudent & mikearama.

More specifically, what career path are you/do you plan to be on?

shednik

Netstudent wrote:

I plan to use it as a tool for career advancement. Open up some doors, get some solid experience, and aquire more knowledge.

mikearama wrote:

Amen to that.

And as an aside, up my value to the company... read: MAKE MORE BLING BLING!

Yes great answers! it's all about bettering yourself...i feel you really have to like anything cisco to really study it in this depth..

Netstudent

My ideal job environment with NP would be working in the Networking or Engineering dept. for a large enterprise. I wouldn't mind taking the NOC or Data Center path either. I just want a career path where I can work around some very skilled folks, work with some high end techonology, and work for a company that has their **** together.

Heres my experience with working for small to medium sized company IT departments: I find that more often than not, you get pidgeon holed in daily crap responsibilities, get little chance for professional development, and overall get the short end of the stick because the frugal executives don't want to spend money on IT. Then you are responsible when something fouls up even though you tried to make your case.

So my end goal is to get the professional credentials, to work for a highly professional networking deptartment.

mikearama

MQuinn6 wrote:

Thanks for the responses, Netstudent & mikearama.

More specifically, what career path are you/do you plan to be on?

If management falls in my lap, I'll take it... but my ambitions lie in the direction of CCVP/SP, while snagging my DP and NP enroute. Who knows, by the time I've snagged the plethora of cisco certs that mike and dt have, I may be inclined to attempt the CCIE, but that's for future consideration.

I picture myself as a voice and security specialist, contracting out at $40-$50/hr (or better )

Mike

Steve10393

Get my first networking job.... hopefully

mgeorge

CCNP is a CCIE stepping stone...

oooohhh yeahhh!!! beat that! (laughs)

mikej412

mgeorge27 wrote:

CCNP is a CCIE stepping stone...

oooohhh yeahhh!!! beat that! (laughs)

I'll +1 the stepping stone....

And raise you:
if I give the guy/gal at the Starbucks drive thru window my CCNP Cisco Career Certifications Wallet Card (and the Starbucks giftcard I got on my birthday a couple years back) they give me a Free Cup of Coffee!

networker050184

I am getting the CCNP to complement my experience to help advance my career.

I regret not starting my Cisco certifications a long time ago. When I first started out with Cisco the CCNA seemed like an unrealistic goal (boy was I wrong, the CCNA was a cake walk!). I decided not to bother with certifications. Then one day a person I knew that wasn't nearly as knowledgable as me nearly passed the CCNA. I was like what the? I thought this exam was supposed to be hard core!

So long story short, I'm trying to get the certs to match what I have done so I will be a millionare Also I plan to get enough to use them as wall paper!!!!

mgeorge

mikej412 wrote:

mgeorge27 wrote:

CCNP is a CCIE stepping stone...

oooohhh yeahhh!!! beat that! (laughs)

I'll +1 the stepping stone....

And raise you:
if I give the guy/gal at the Starbucks drive thru window my CCNP Cisco Career Certifications Wallet Card (and the Starbucks giftcard I got on my birthday a couple years back) they give me a Free Cup of Coffee!

LOL Great one mike!!! Well I made my offical annoucnement so I guess I'm on the band wagon with you folks

JohnDouglas

My main reason for doing these qualifications is so that I don't end up deskilled and stuck in a job in my 40s and 50s like so many people I see these days. Get the certs (and keep on getting them) and I reckon it'll be much easier to stay employed in jobs you like for life.

Other reasons are of course I find the stuff interesting and also I want to know what I'm on about and what other people are on about! I mean, the stuff isn't actually that complex - but if you can hold forth on traffic marking for a while people will treat you like a god

Steve10393

This thread seems as good a place as any to ask for advice on what type of job I should go looking for, or what my plans should be.

I'm ex-navy, have like equivalent to half a degree in engineering/IT/etc(plan on continuing work on degree after I am done with CCNP and have a job). I took a CCNA class at a tech school, and all 4 of my CCNP courses at Global Knowledge.

My main reason for asking is that I have no real job experience in the networking field. It's limited to the lab work at the class/schools I did, and a small home lab of 2500, 2600, and 3500xl routers/switches. A close friend of mine is the person who turned me onto the track of the cisco certs, whom works at cisco as a sales engineer here in the Raleigh/Durham area. His advice from the beginning was to finish the CCNP before applying for a job because CCNA would not land me anything that I would be happy with, coming in with no real job experience.

Now, I've spent almost an entire year doing these 2 certifications, and will be finished with CCNP before Christmas, but I'm still unsure of what my real ....idk... value is? If my friend grills me on questions about topics I can generally answer and describe anything he asks(in regards to an interview), and in most cases since the information is fresh for me I know more than he does.

I also want to complete a CCDP quickly while the info is still fresh, probably in the new year, and then start slowly on either a CCVP or the written CCIE.

So... idk... what am I worth, if I know the CCNP information very well, but have no real job experience outside of being a weapons control technician on a submarine for 5 years? And what job should I be looking for? I don't have the experience to be grouped with the experienced CCNP or equivalent people, but I definitely don't feel that I should be doing a CCNA's job either.

networker050184

I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but with out experience it is going to be very hard to find even the lowest level network job. I know you may feel you have the knowledge to do the job, and you might, but a real enviroment is not the same as a lab. I wouldn't want someone with out experience touching my network. I don't even let the guys with experience on my network without me there. You say you feel like you should not do jobs of the CCNA level, but you haven't done those jobs yet. IT is like the military, you have to work your way up through the trenches to get to the good jobs. You wouldn't let a new recruit run your ship would you? You should read this post http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28759 You are in about the same boat as this guy.

Steve10393

So what are you saying, a call center job like a CCNA would have or something similar? You say in that other thread that people refuse to listen, that experience is required. But in my experience, it's not refusing to listen, but conflicting opinions. Friends in the workplace and Instructors in tech schools tell me one thing, and then another person like yourself says a completely different thing. All I am looking for is what is reality somewhere in the middle.

networker050184

You don't have to do a call center, but you are not going to be an engineer without experience. Experience is a lot more important than certification. If you put together a good resume and good interviewing skills you could pick up a low level network position somewhere. If you read the link I posted there is some good advice. You may have to move sideways into networking from helpdesk or some other entry level position. With out experience you only qualify for positions that do not require experience. If the job wants 3 - 5 years experience (which most pure networking positions do) you will have a hard time beating out experienced people for the position. Weather you have a CCNP or CCNA or whatever Cisco certification, without experience you will have to start at the bottom.

JohnDouglas

networker050184 wrote:

You don't have to do a call center, but you are not going to be an engineer without experience. Experience is a lot more important than certification. If you put together a good resume and good interviewing skills you could pick up a low level network position somewhere. If you read the link I posted there is some good advice. You may have to move sideways into networking from helpdesk or some other entry level position. With out experience you only qualify for positions that do not require experience. If the job wants 3 - 5 years experience (which most pure networking positions do) you will have a hard time beating out experienced people for the position. Weather you have a CCNP or CCNA or whatever Cisco certification, without experience you will have to start at the bottom.

But would you reckon with his real world working skills and his certs the rise up the career ladder should be pretty quick - or at least quicker? I'd have thought a good way to go would be contracting. Jump from contract to contract for a while and before long people will have forgotten you've only been into it for 18 months?

networker050184

His military service and all will be a plus and could help him move up faster than others I would think. Contracting would be good to gain experience, but it would still be hard to get contract work with no experience.

mikej412

Steve10393 wrote:

A close friend of mine is the person who turned me onto the track of the cisco certs, whom works at cisco as a sales engineer here in the Raleigh/Durham area. His advice from the beginning was to finish the CCNP before applying for a job because CCNA would not land me anything that I would be happy with, coming in with no real job experience.

Hopefully your friend can help work you into a pre-sales support job, or recommend you for a job in Cisco (or a Business Partner).

Make sure you describe your navy job on the resume -- and play up anything impressive sounding, especially anything remotely computer/networking related. You could be qualified for a NOC job right now.

Contracting is a possibility. For an agency, the best person for the job isn't the one who will do it the fastest, and the best. It's usually the person who can do the most reasonable job for the longest time to maximize the agency's billing without the Customer thinking they got ripped off. If the agency thinks they can squeeze in an inexperienced CCNP with personality who will work for 1/2 the price of an experienced CCNP who would finish the job in 1/2 the time, they'd probably give you a call.

Steve10393

I do/have done most of what your describe resume wise Mike, and my navy job did involve managing the ships pc lan, but it's still very weak compared to commercial networks. So, from what you guys have said, to get a job with a cisco partner or something like that in pre-sales would be the lucky and high-end possibility and the worse case scenario would be a help desk or NOC job?

If I do end up with an entry level, which seems more likely, what do you assume the pay/salary range might be? How long do you think I would have to remain in that type of job before I could branch out more and get an network engineering job that would use the CCNP? If taking an entry level job, would the CCNP help with my pay/salary?

I have been a computer geek of sorts since I was like 13 or 14, running a BBS system(that should bring back cringes, the bbs software was remote access iirc) and building my own pc's since back then, and I'm in my late 20s now, single, nothing but time on my hands. Thing is, when/if I'm in the right environment for it, and surrounded by the equipment I can pick a lot up very quickly. My main concern is getting in the right environment where I am not going to be slowed down, if that makes sense. Just because it may take most people a year to get comfortable with some sort of tech or system doesn't mean anything. Most people are lazy as far as learning new things while they work a full time job, etc... And I realize not all companies encourage/care if someone wants to move up quickly, not to mention for some it might even be a problem if you do.

Know it's a lot of questions, I appreciate any advice you guys can give. Oh, and this is RTP, raleigh/durham area, that I expect to be job hunting in.

networker050184

Its hard to tell you what type of salary you will be getting. A lot of variables. How long you stay in an entry level position is really up to you for the most part. If you show the desire and are good at what you do you will move up quickly just like in anything else. I don't think the CCNP will really help much salary wise for entry level positions. You most likely won't be using most of the skills, so why would an employer pay more for it? It will show that you have drive and set you apart from others, but it isn't a ticket to a job.

I'd suggest playing the LAN manager role on the ship up as much as possible on the resume. I'm not saying lie about what you did, but wording something different can make it sound a lot better. See you have experience and didn't even realize it! That will actually help you a lot more than you probably realize. Military experience and IT experience are a good combo to go into a job hunt with.

empc4000xl

Steve10393 wrote:

I do/have done most of what your describe resume wise Mike, and my navy job did involve managing the ships pc lan, but it's still very weak compared to commercial networks. So, from what you guys have said, to get a job with a cisco partner or something like that in pre-sales would be the lucky and high-end possibility and the worse case scenario would be a help desk or NOC job?

If I do end up with an entry level, which seems more likely, what do you assume the pay/salary range might be? How long do you think I would have to remain in that type of job before I could branch out more and get an network engineering job that would use the CCNP? If taking an entry level job, would the CCNP help with my pay/salary?

I have been a computer geek of sorts since I was like 13 or 14, running a BBS system(that should bring back cringes, the bbs software was remote access iirc) and building my own pc's since back then, and I'm in my late 20s now, single, nothing but time on my hands. Thing is, when/if I'm in the right environment for it, and surrounded by the equipment I can pick a lot up very quickly. My main concern is getting in the right environment where I am not going to be slowed down, if that makes sense. Just because it may take most people a year to get comfortable with some sort of tech or system doesn't mean anything. Most people are lazy as far as learning new things while they work a full time job, etc... And I realize not all companies encourage/care if someone wants to move up quickly, not to mention for some it might even be a problem if you do.

Know it's a lot of questions, I appreciate any advice you guys can give. Oh, and this is RTP, raleigh/durham area, that I expect to be job hunting in.

If you are worried about breaking into the field you always have DC if you have your clearance. I have a lot of my friends who were former intel guys break into the the IT field with no real traning besides smashing buttons on there intel consoles. I don't think you will have to do much grunt work if you have the clearnance and take that path. Now on the other side of the coin if you don't have some sort of clearance and do choose to work on the completely civilian side, don't underestamate your military experience. I have worked in IT for about 7 years doing basic helpdesk stuff, but only in the last year have I actually been working with routers and switches(still only basic stuff, the civilians do the heavy T/S). But what i'm getting at is that I don't have half the qualifcations that some have here, and I get more job offers than I know what to do with. When I've even told some people over the phone I don't have what they are asking for they tell me I"m worth the investment to train, due to my basic knolowdge and stellar performance in the military, so they don't have to worry about me using drugs, commitment to the job, and most importantly showing up to work on time. So please don't underestamate yourself because you have not been in the field as long as others, being miltary you can milk a lot it you work it right.

larkspur

shoot with the CCNP and my good looks, I might get lucky!!!!

mikej412

Steve10393 wrote:

I do/have done most of what your describe resume wise Mike, and my navy job did involve managing the ships pc lan, but it's still very weak compared to commercial networks.

How big was the ships LAN? How many users? Did you connect to any WANs? That could count for at least CCNA Level Experience.

So going for the CCNP means you're ready to step up. You may lose out the guys who have been doing this for years and have the skills, but you should be able (and prepared) to crush the guys with 4 years of "Networking Experience" who job was calling in vendors to do the real work.

Its the people with absolutely no experience who still go for the advanced certifications that will have major problems finding a job.

Something like a business partner where you get to do lots of things would be a "Dream Job" since you might get more experience in 6 months than other people get in their entire career.

remerolle

After I finish up my CCNP, I am looking to tackle a CCIE course taught here at my college. I just want to learn more about networking. I am not worried about a job since I will be starting in a IT training program in July while working for a large global financial corporation. The cert will not get me a better job right now or give me a raise just yet, but it will prepare me to understand the theory and some of the practices of Cisco networking. With a few more years of networking experience who knows where I will go to next. I am only 21 with already 5 years of IT experience in various functions from Server 2003 to T1 line installation between banks.

Steve10393

As far as clearance, I got out in 2003. From what I have been told by a few people who I bumped into in various networking classes in the last year who work with DoD, the term on clearances has been shortened in the last 4-5 years(9/11, homeland security, etc.). So I'm pretty sure I don't have anything that is still current, even though before deployment in... summer 2001, I think, I did have a SCI(TS) clearance done(fire control having to receive mission targets and work with radio and the officers).

The ships LAN I worked on was setup to support about 50 pc's maximum, prolly had about 20 ethernet drops throughout the ship, all the wiring to the drops was fiber iirc(I didn't set it up). I'm pretty sure that the only outside connectivity was for personal emails that went off the ship via radio. And I think it was taken off the server and put on a floppy by radio, then put into SIPRNet for transmission off the ship(No physical connection to the SIPRNet since the personal LAN was supposed to be unclassified iirc). Emails were screened after 9/11 if we were deployed, etc.
We had like one big layer 2 switch, a unix server(?), all tucked into a tiny 4x5 ft room. Most of what I did was just fixing peoples problems around the ship, once or twice making new ethernet connections. The extent of troubleshooting it underway was to reboot the server and/or email our support via SIPRNet if there was anymore severe of a problem. So..... idk, it would be slightly misleading to portray that experience as any kind of CLI experience. And I've learned loads more just in the CCNA than I ever knew back then.

Is it more important to play up that experience, which in reality was only like 25% of my job? Because in reality, the other stuff I did, weapons handling, training officer for the ships Weapons Department on torpedo/cruise missile employment, etc, is way more impressive on paper, albeit not applicable beyond showing responsibility and accountability.

networker050184

That experience is entry level experience. Helping users with problems and level one troubleshooting. Like I said don't lie about it but I would definitley put it. If you are going for a job with weapons then yes that would be more impressive, but going for an IT job I think the IT experience will be more impressive. Not that it won't help, but a whole resume about how you handled weapons isn't going to help too much with an IT job. If you have a resume highlightiung that you provided end user support for a small LAN will probably help more.

empc4000xl

If you were SCI you would remember it,lol. When they bring you into that room and XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. But yeah a clearance now is only good 2 years after you get out, so its prob not active and a lot of jobs won't mess with you if its inactive, but its not impossible to get it redone if you impress the right employer. If you were on a ship you were prob dealing with xlan switches and the old ADNS router which were crap. But don't undercount any of those experiences, even if you had to use the help desk you still learned a lot from each call, and can enter those compentcies into your resume. Networker I don't agree with the handling weapons as not being very important; dealing with million dollar missiles shows you have attention to detail, which means when you have expensive gear around you, you are willing to take care of it, and make intelligent decisions before doing something your unshure of. Like I said don't count out military experience if you word it right it can take you far. I have seen a lot of guys get into IT positions with no experince, just very motovated and a proven track record.

networker050184

I never said it wasn't important. I just said that a resume centered around handling weapons would be less impressive to an IT company than one that centered around IT. Especially if you are putting it online and to recruiters that use key word searches and I doubt "missle" is on their list of key words.

I know the importance of military experience as I too have military experience under my belt. My resume highlights these things, but not dominated by them. Military experience has impressed a lot of employers I have spoken with. They like the discipline and leadership qualities the most I belive. My military experience is in IT as well, so that helps a lot too.

Like empc4000xl stated you would know if you had TS/SCI. The fact that you were cleared even if it has since expired shows you are trustworthy and every little thing you have in your favor is a plus when trying to get that first job.

empc4000xl

like I said its all about how he words it, I can't go into the specifics on the missle systems, but you can use words like unix administrator and things like that. I use to support a system that was build on windows 2000 sever and another built on sun machines. Now its just a matter of going into the Maintance and procedure cards and finding the actually work you did with those. Like when I 1st came to this site I didn't know what AD was, but then at work one day doing some work, I had come to find out that I had been using Active Directory(the words just never rang to me) for a long time, so its a valid thing to add to my resume for my weapon system.