WHich cisco field is highest paying from salary point of view

mirror51

I want to know that which side of cisco has the highest salary. I know things may vary from employer to employer. But in General sense which side is highest paying. I mean Network Arcitect or security or VOIP etc Above 200K Or Maybe where one can start contract work for companies etc Just like in web development one can start web site business. is there something similar in cisco field so that person becomes self employed in later stage of life rather than working for someone.

cisco_trooper

The highest paying is going to be the one you are best at. You won't be good at anything you don't enjoy, so choose wisely.

pogue

I anything would be the "ticket" to 200K a year, I would say it would be security, but all in all, I think you need to be an absolute expert in multiple fields you mentioned to consistently make 200K a year farming oneself out.

Even as a security expert, you would have to stone cold know your stuff, and would most likely have to be knowledgeable outside of Cisco as well..

Just my opinion,

Russ

NOC-Ninja

I personally know someone that makes $200/hr and he only does RS. Also, he is not a contractor. However, he has 14yrs experience as an IE and 20 yrs experience at networking.

lrb

In Australia, VoIP seems to hot field at the moment in terms of pay.

shodown

it all goes in cycles, When I 1st got into VOIP it was the hottest thing as security was kinda dying down. Now in 2011, storage seems to be the hottest involving Nexus, Netapp and VM ware if your good at Integrating them you can write your own ticket. Specializations inside each area of cisco seem to always be hot. If your in VOIP, but you know UCCE, CVP you can still command 150-175K if your really good at it, and even over 200K if you work for yourself.

mirror51

shodown wrote: »

it all goes in cycles, When I 1st got into VOIP it was the hottest thing as security was kinda dying down. Now in 2011, storage seems to be the hottest involving Nexus, Netapp and VM ware if your good at Integrating them you can write your own ticket. Specializations inside each area of cisco seem to always be hot. If your in VOIP, but you know UCCE, CVP you can still command 150-175K if your really good at it, and even over 200K if you work for yourself.

what do u mean by storage. I mean which certification path

shodown

Things revolving around Data Center technologies. There really aren't any certs that focus on Nexus technology there are already specialization's exams, but some of them require CCNA, CCNP to get. No one cert is going to get you money. Get your CCNA, CCNP then find something to focus on.

ColbyG

Don't focus on the money. We in IT/networking are already pretty lucky. This field pays very well considering the prerequisites (even if it's not 200k). Just find which technology you want to work with and jump in.

DPG

SALES for sure.

pitviper

DPG wrote: »

SALES for sure.

I'd have to agree with this - it's the first thing that came to mind as soon as I saw the "200k".

geek4god

As far as picking something you love the tough part is I have several! Now that may change as I move along my cert path.. I finish my masters in Information Assurance in April so the security track along with CISSP would seem to be the logical answer, but I am really drawn to the voice track!

Really thinking I am going to do CCNA security and Voice before going deeper in any area.. I think my dream job would be some type of design, consulting thing. So CCDA makes some sence.. Crap that is three CCNA level certs just to start.. Time to get back to the lab..

mirror51

Can person become self employed with CCDA CCDP design track. Actually my aim is to move towards that area where i can become self employed after 10-15 years time. Is it possible. What type of work it involves. Currently I am CCNP CCIP CCNA-S with no cisco experience but i am finding one

NOC-Ninja

You can be self employed with just CCNP. Certs is more of a cake in the ice. The thing that really makes you a rockstar is the experience. There's an old website that Scott Morris was charging $350/hr. I dont know about now.

Most of the guys that make a LOT of money have years and great multiple project experience. I believe anybody can pass CCNA and CCNP,Voice,Sec,Wireless if they dedicate time and study hard. Im sure you already know this since youve proven that by passing the test without cisco experience but its different in real world, when things go down, the clock is ticking, people are staring at you, asking you to fix it ASAP, you're pressured to fix the problem and in a hot spot. Furthermore, the engineering behind this. A person can read all the books as much as he want but if he cant think outside the box then he will have problems engineering it or connecting all the dots. Networking is huge. From core, ASA, WCCP, DMZ, ABR, distribution layer, call manager, gateway, sip, vmware, wlc, wcs, aps, monitoring tools, solarwinds, netqos, apc's, and the lists goes on.


It's a combination of real world experience and theory/knowledge.

mirror51

Thanks for info. Now i understand that. One thing i want to ask is that it it possible to have cisco job which can de done from ome. I mean with less travel to destination. I mean something like in web designing where we can do most of stuff home and then show cleint when its ready. is it possible any any field like Disign or something else?

Turgon

mirror51 wrote: »

I want to know that which side of cisco has the highest salary. I know things may vary from employer to employer. But in General sense which side is highest paying. I mean Network Arcitect or security or VOIP etc Above 200K Or Maybe where one can start contract work for companies etc Just like in web development one can start web site business. is there something similar in cisco field so that person becomes self employed in later stage of life rather than working for someone.

The money is in solutioning these days as opposed to being an uber engineer who installs, maintains and fixes stuff. Millions of wannabes have dashed into this field so even the niche markets are competitive. For example, back in the day you could read a book, attend a course and pass yourself off as an expert., talk yourself into a high paying rate, muddle through and collect the winnings. Not today as since then as the knowledge has become more wide these things have since been revisited and done properly. If you listen to old timers they will tell you they installed by todays standards impressive stuff on a national or international scale. What they dont tell you is that it was very new to them and that they largely hacked it together. Times have changed. If you want nexus, ace, vss, checkpoint, san, mpls, asa, deep packet analysis and integration and migration expertise there are plenty of experienced experts out there with formidable bigtime experience that will outgun you. You want to be in a design capacity where your work either saves your company a great deal of money, or provides ways of protecting existing business and winning new business. For that you want commercial experience and a great track record of delivering bottom line results. Certs teach you a little about how things work, but not what is the best solution to deliver for a paying customer. Even the design tracks dont teach you that. The books show you how to do something, not if you should do something. Every situation has its own criteria and drivers, commercial strategy, training costs, technical direction. Sometimes a cisco alternative is the best way to go, sometimes a hybrid solution is best, sometimes staying as you are is best.

Get the right experience so you learn how to deliver these results and the money will flow naturally.

gbadman

Turgon wrote: »

The money is in solutioning these days as opposed to being an uber engineer who installs, maintains and fixes stuff.

If you want nexus, ace, vss, checkpoint, san, mpls, asa, deep packet analysis and integration and migration expertise there are plenty of experienced experts out there with formidable bigtime experience that will outgun you. You want to be in a design capacity where your work either saves your company a great deal of money, or provides ways of protecting existing business and winning new business. For that you want commercial experience and a great track record of delivering bottom line results.

Get the right experience so you learn how to deliver these results and the money will flow naturally.

Very true Turgon. An oracle as always. I'm often distracted by the idea of delving into the other tracks besides R&S to at least pro level, as the only true way of becoming an all-round networking expert. But increasingly I'm beginning to wonder if it's actually feasible of desirable to have a hold on all of them. Sure, it's possible to rack up multiple CCIEs (or equivalent experince) if you're an ubernerd who has no other concerns in life belond the CLI, or if you work in training, where that is basically your job.

But for most networkers, pursuing a wide range of detailed networking knowledge may be self-defeating. By the time you aquire hands-on expertise in a third or fourth area, much of your knowledge of the first and second have already evaporated or become obsolete. Furthermore, you probably wouldn't have the design, commercial, project management and soft skills required to properly leverage the knowledge you have managed to retain.

The design guys at my workplace don't seem to be multi-area experts. The ones who tend towards multi-area knowledge seem to be stuck in implementation. It may just be my limited view of the picture, but it doesn't strike me as a coincidence.

With that said, the key thing seems to be to be the ability to identify your own strengths and play to those. Not everyone can become a good designer or communicator. So for someone in that boat, multi-area expertise may be the alternative path to excellence.

viper75

DPG wrote: »

SALES for sure.

You can do real well in sales, but if you don't sell and make your numbers, you'll be standing on the unemployment line. This is almost a daily thing at my job. They switch sales people faster than you change your underwear.

Sales is the LAST job I would ever want to do.

kmcintosh78

I would say it is area specific.
Some states have a high concentration of data centers.
Some have ISP NOC/SOCs.
Some are engineering havens.
It, to me, truly depends on the area/State you want to work in.

sieff

the money is in SALES. specializing in a field like VoIP, Security, Wireless, etc will get you $100K if not initially after a few years of hard work and delivering projects. the Data Center skills like CCIE Storage, VMware F5 ARX, etc ... will demand over $100K salaries, but the fasted way to the $250K mark that I've seen is in sales. Generally the sales guys make points on selling solutions and they even get points on hardware and warranty renewals. Of course, the catch is if they don't make quota they're out on their ass. It's risky, but I've found that the engineers actually sell the solutions and the hardware sells it self. Some consulting firms are doing over $5 Billion a year in profits this year, so it's not hard to believe that some sales guys are making 7 figure incomes.

alxx

After all that its not just about the money but finding a job that keeps you interested and can be flexible enough
to give you enough time for your family/hobbies/other interests and pays enough.

You need to work out a balance and find out what works for you.
Have interests/hobbies that aren't work related - can help keep you sane (mostly).