CCNA after graduation

force

I'm currently going through the CBTNuggets Videos for my CCENT cert and will be doing the CCNA videos afterwards. I'm currently an intern at Time Warner Cable and a rising senior in college. I'm trying to plan out what I'm going to be doing upon graduation and part of that is what can I do to make the most money straight out of college. I've heard from several people that I'll be lucky to make 45k/year and I feel like I want to do whatever I can to get my starting salary toward 55-60k/year. So getting back to the CCNA, how much will having it help, and what else should I do? Some additional info: I'm an IT major, business minor, have my Microsoft 270 + 271 certs, I've done 3 other internships at well known companies, and live in the greater D.C. area.

Xenz

You may want to have this thread moved to the IT job forum for better feedback, but my experience:

I'll be getting my AAS at the end of December. I have the CompTIA A+/Network+ and Cisco CCNA certifications. I have quite a few years of desktop support experience and a little bit of other non IT related stuff in my job history. I could probably pull down the 70-270 (XP) test along with the 70-620 (Vista configuring) and the Windows 7 exam.

Northern Indiana I was shooting for 25-28k starting. I met with a recruiter who was interested in putting me in their database for technicians in the area (based out of Indianapolis and the woman came up here to interview me). When she asked what I wanted for compensation I asked for 25-28k, she told me starting for what I have around here is 30-35k. With the current economic situation, I find 1 help desk job every 5 months. The rest of the jobs I find want CCNP/CCIE or MCSE.

What are you doing with the internship at Time Warner? What are you interested in? I would honestly expect to start at the bottom and work up to a higher position. At this point your degree and the experience you have will land you jobs. Certifications are for people like me that don't have the professional experience and a clown college degree to prove some competency in the field.

I'm not sure about cost of living where you are, but 40-45k is not that bad to start. 6 months - 1 year of work experience and continuing certifications and you could probably move up to the 50-55k bracket. Experience is what will land you jobs and move you up in the pay brackets. The side effect is that the experience will give you the knowledge needed to pass the higher exams.