CCNP Worth Doing

Callisavana

is it worth doing ccnp.. will i get a good job on the basis of ccnp and be comps.. how much salary will i get?

networker050184

Callisavana wrote: »

is it worth doing ccnp.. will i get a good job on the basis of ccnp and be comps.. how much salary will i get?

No, just doing the CCNP is not going to get you a job or certain salary unfortunately.

Todd Burrell

I would say that the CCNP is not a bad thing to get - but most jobs are looking for certifications AND job experience. I've been working on getting IT certifications over the last couple of years (company pays for tests), but I need to get some work experience to help backup the certs.

But I always say that certifications and knowledge are NEVER a bad thing.

MAC_Addy

I have found that a lot of people don't go into cisco when they're looking for jobs. A lot of people will get CCENT with no experience, this will allow you to get your foot in the door, when you're actually in a position to where you're gaining experience then you'll go onto pursue higher certifications.

ptilsen

networker050184 wrote: »

No, just doing the CCNP is not going to get you a job or certain salary unfortunately.

This.

On its own, CCNP with no experience is like a degree with no experience. If you have experience and are looking at moving up in the networking world, CCNP is a no-brainer. If you aren't working very deeply in the networking world, CCNP doesn't make a lot of sense regardless of your experience (it won't really do much for a systems admin/engineer or generalist).

Kelkin

I dont look at certifications on how much money im going to get from it but rather a way to push me to learn things that will help with my current or future job..

mochaaddict

The way I look at it, I am going to be learning this stuff anyway, why not get something to write on a resume?

TesseracT

CCNA and no experience is fine for looking for jobs... CCNP with no experience to me looks poor on a resume. I'm sure not everyone agrees but the CCNP to me is not an easy cert to obtain and if I see it with no experience on resumes the alarm bells start ringing

SteveO86

I will always expect more from someone with their CCNP than someonewhat with only a CCNA.

A CCNP with no experience to me means someone should be able to catch on quick but will still need hand holding until till they either feel confident enough to do the job and/or know the consequences of the commands they are issuing so they don't take down networks.

With that said their is nothing wrong with getting your CCNP but without that real world experience don't expect a real high end position paying a load of money. Remember everyone has to start somewhere

CodeBlox

TesseracT wrote: »

CCNA and no experience is fine for looking for jobs... CCNP with no experience to me looks poor on a resume. I'm sure not everyone agrees but the CCNP to me is not an easy cert to obtain and if I see it with no experience on resumes the alarm bells start ringing

To me personally, I see nothing wrong with getting a CCNP with no experience if you genuinely studied the material.

kmcintosh78

I have to agree with other posts.
Having a CCNA and little to no experience is not a bad thing, and shows initiative?

Having a CCNP and little to no experience to me, shows that you either have a lot of time and book smarts or a person that wants the Cert and uses the **** Method.

CiscoCerts

Cisco created the entry level CCENT for just this reason, to get you in the door working with real equipment so then you can move on in your studies to CCNA and beyond. In and entry level position you are almost assuredly not going to be configuring routing protocols but more like switch move/add/changes to vlans and similar. This was my experience anyway.

Eildor

Callisavana wrote: »

is it worth doing ccnp.. will i get a good job on the basis of ccnp and be comps.. how much salary will i get?

Well, you need to get your CCNA first if you haven't already.

As to whether CCNP is worth it... there's no easy answer there, it depends on you and your situation. If you have your CCNA and your done with education then it might be better for you to simply go for a entry level position so as to get some experience, whilst of course studying for CCNP in your own time.

If you're like me and you'll be in education for at least another year then why not go for the CCNP? I wouldn't do it thinking you'll land anything but an entry level job, but it will definitely help you get that entry level job.. of course, that's assuming you genuinely know your stuff and can show that to whoever is interviewing you.

mayhem87

To me having no experience and just recently getting my CCNA it is a leg up on the other CCNA's with no experience plus I really do like networking. I don't expect the salary of a normal CCNP with years of experience but while I'm job hunting I might as well keep learning. (I have a job now but don't deal with cisco) I view it will set me apart showing that I am dedicated and can catch on quicker then someone just sitting on the CCNA. I lab almost everyday and try my best to make sure I understand what is really going on in the network. Will be sitting Route on Feb 10 =D. I say go for it!

Eildor

edit: never mind.

ITtech2010

Based on my experiences

Networking jobs will often overlook you because you do not have a lot of experience. It took me 3 months to find a job. It isn't necessarily a bad thing but 90 days is a lot when you have bills to pay.

But there are key things that might help you. If study advanced topics that your confident on you can squeeze it in your previous job and say you helped out the network admins at one point. By you having the certification your in a good place where managers will feel you have a desire to learn. Sometimes they will take a chance. I was fortunate enough to have a friend in the field that knew someone that needed a fresh person with no exp.

Needless to say the phone interview was challenging and i was a little nervous. They called me in about 1 1/2 weeks later for in person interview. I was more confident because I studied the topics from the description and I showed that I wanted to learn. The interview was 6 hrs. I never been through something like that. My friend's contact did not take it easy on me either. He was tough. So it helps to know someone in the field and just try your luck but be prepared and I wouldn't worry about the ccnp for the job interview. You need to know the basics from the ccna level like bits/dns/ntp/subnetting/accesslists even private ip addresses. They will ask these simple questions and it can stomp people sometimes to unless you read your ccna book multiple times then go for ccnp but don't sleep on the "non important" topics

QHalo

CodeBlox wrote: »

To me personally, I see nothing wrong with getting a CCNP with no experience if you genuinely studied the material.

I agree. If you manage to get an interview you'll be found out quickly if the interviewer is worth their salt. Don't expect CCNP level salary over someone with a CCNP and experience or even someone with just extensive experience and no certification. There are plenty of amazing engineers that simply had no time/desire/need to cert.

lekai

CodeBlox wrote: »

To me personally, I see nothing wrong with getting a CCNP with no experience if you genuinely studied the material.

Hello everyone, this is my firs post by the way, I was checking the forum and I read this threat, In my case I am exactly in the same situation, I have my CCNA, no experience, and Im having the ROUTE exam in one month, I have always love networking, since I was in university I was always curious about it, I got my CCNA before finishing my engineering studies, I loved it and I wanted to learn more and more about it, and at the same time filling a bit my resume.
Now that I am graduated I continue with the CCNP, preparing it at home in my free time, why? because I like it and, as unfortunatelly I am not working in networking, what I am really longing to, I believe it will help me somehow at the time of getting chosen for a entry level networking job, and in the other hand Im doing something I really love. Unfortunately, in both my country (Spain) and where I live nowadays (Turkey) Its really hard to get an entry level job in IT, so I dont wantt to waste my time while waiting my chance

ITtech2010

lekai wrote: »

Hello everyone, this is my firs post by the way, I was checking the forum and I read this threat, In my case I am exactly in the same situation, I have my CCNA, no experience, and Im having the ROUTE exam in one month, I have always love networking, since I was in university I was always curious about it, I got my CCNA before finishing my engineering studies, I loved it and I wanted to learn more and more about it, and at the same time filling a bit my resume.
Now that I am graduated I continue with the CCNP, preparing it at home in my free time, why? because I like it and, as unfortunatelly I am not working in networking, what I am really longing to, I believe it will help me somehow at the time of getting chosen for a entry level networking job, and in the other hand Im doing something I really love. Unfortunately, in both my country (Spain) and where I live nowadays (Turkey) Its really hard to get an entry level job in IT, so I dont wantt to waste my time while waiting my chance

That's very encouraging to hear. I was in the same boat where I had a desire to learn but no job. So I studied ccna and finally after a few months i landed an opportunity. If you keep a applying something will pop up eventually. Just don't lose site on the amazing goal you want to achieve.

martell1000

i guess it always depends on how good you know your stuff and if you really do have "no experience" at all and what kind of position you wanna get.

for example, someone with a ccnp who did a lot of labbing to prepare for the exam has done far more complex things then a guy who stopped at ccna level. he might not be able to do these things yet like a senior network engineer but at least he has seen some of these concepts and might have some advantages compared to the ccna competition when shooting for an entry position.

another fact that a lot of people dont consider: if you already have a cert the company wont have to pay for your certification.

dont get me wrong - you will never stand a chance against a ccnp with years of experience but if you are shooting for an entry level position it cant hurt to bring some more knowledge to the table. even if this cert wont pay out at the beginning - after some time you will have the experince AND the cert under your belt ...

theodoxa

CCNP by itself probably won't get you a CCNP-level position, but it might help you get promoted [even ahead of people who've been there longer, but quit trying] if you are currently in a CCNA-level position.

TechGuru80

This thread is from 2012 fyi lol.

ccnpninja

depends on how you get it: hard study/experience or braindump

theodoxa

TechGuru80 wrote: »

This thread is from 2012 fyi lol.

That's weird, for some reason it was at the top of the list of threads.