Should I let my CCNP expire?

bryguy

Little background, I started my career in networking in a medium sized data center with all Cisco gear, about 6 years ago. At that point, I already had my CCNA, and my company offered to pay for the 4 exams that made up the CCNP with the condition that I had to get it done within a 6 month time frame. I read, and labbed, almost every day averaging an exam pass every 1.5 months, until I had earned my CCNP. With it, I received a title promotion and 6k raise.

Fast forward a year later, and management had replaced all our cisco gear with Brocade, F5, and Juniper gear. Esentially, the only Cisco equipment we had left was a couple 7200 edge routers, and a few end-of-life VPN concentrators.

Another two years go by and I find out that the contract is ending, and I have to find another job. After an extensive search, the only thing comparable I can find in my area is a network review position- mostly travel. I get to the interview, and they start asking me questions regarding vulnerability assessments. To make a long story, short I find out that the position has very little to do with networking, and has a lot more to do with performing vulnerability assessments. The silver lining is that for this position, I get to stay local (I'm a family man).

Nearly 3 years had gone by since I earned my CCNP, so I decided to recertify my CCNP with the Cisco IPS specialist exam, which is good for 2 years, and was loosly related to my current security role. I pass and my CCNP is good for another 2 years.

My question is, as my CCNP draws close to expiring again, do I bother to recertify? I haven't typed "enable" at a command prompt in nearly 3 years. I don't want to misrepresent myself at a CCNP caliber engineer, if I'm not. My only reservation is, that I want to eventually get back to the networking side of the house. That, and I put an awful lot of work into earning this certification, and it's probably the one cert that I'm most proud of.

One side of me says, "Let it go" but the other says, "keep it, you might need it down the road."

Thoughts?

EdTheLad

I let mine expire, as i don't see any value in CCNP anymore.Do i regret it? no, if i was to do it all again i would do all ccnp level exams but never take the ccna, which means never starting the cert clock. I would show any potential employer my exam results and if they absolutely required me to have the ccnp cert i would pass the ccna, but only if a job was 100% guaranteed.
I still put ccnp on my resume, i've never been asked if i'm a current ccnp, and would anyone care if it's current or not? i don't think so, once i show my technical knowledge. If you think it's worth dishing out the $150-200 every couple of years to keep it, then do, otherwise let it expire.
But remember it's easier to study core material to become ccnp respectable rather than have to sit the exams again and study all kinds of irrelevant info.

GarudaMin

You only need to take one exam to maintain CCNP. If you ever needed to get it again, that's 5 exams to go through. Plus CCNP is still good on resume. You can always tell the hiring company that it's been awhile since you have worked on Cisco Switches but you still maintain necessary skills and know what to look during troubleshooting and how to fix. But if you feel that your path will never cross it again, then it's up to you. Just my 2 cents, it's worth keeping it unlike CCNA if your path won't cross.

shodown

I would say keep it. That sweet job at a cisco partner may come up one day, and you don't want to disqualify yourself because you didn't re-cert.

RouteMyPacket

Easy decision, if you are NOT using skills related to being a "Cisco" based Engineer then the answer would be a resounding "No" IMO.

Supplement your actual skill with certification/s. You are in a position in that should you re-certify your "paper" then potential employers will be coming at you with CCNP and up level technical questions/scenarios and it's been far too long for you to be sharp and up to date and could make for a disastrous interview.

You sound like someone who is honest with themselves (that's a rarity) and if you want to circle back around and get back into the swing of things, certainly cracking the books and labbing should get you up to speed enough to get you into another engineer role. You can always be honest and tell potential employers about your situation (i.e. Previous CCNP, went to work on Brocade but now getting back into Cisco). You have skills, they are simply rusty and you are in a far better position than someone who never worked in the field. I think you will be fine and should start running scenarios and labbing.

SweenMachine

RouteMyPacket wrote: »

Easy decision, if you are NOT using skills related to being a "Cisco" based Engineer then the answer would be a resounding "No" IMO.

Supplement your actual skill with certification/s. You are in a position in that should you re-certify your "paper" then potential employers will be coming at you with CCNP and up level technical questions/scenarios and it's been far too long for you to be sharp and up to date and could make for a disastrous interview.

You sound like someone who is honest with themselves (that's a rarity) and if you want to circle back around and get back into the swing of things, certainly cracking the books and labbing should get you up to speed enough to get you into another engineer role. You can always be honest and tell potential employers about your situation (i.e. Previous CCNP, went to work on Brocade but now getting back into Cisco). You have skills, they are simply rusty and you are in a far better position than someone who never worked in the field. I think you will be fine and should start running scenarios and labbing.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

best response on techexams in weeks... ha

-scott

ande0255

From the perspective of landing a role back in a Cisco networking environment someday, I'd say definitely keep that thing current. Like at my current company who is a Cisco partner / MSP, they depend on certified individuals to not only keep their partner status, but also to sell their products to potential customers by showcasing their talent by their credentials.

I had my CCNA R/S but no current experience, and I was honest about that in my interview, and still got hired on as a Data / Voice engineer based on our conversation of my desire to learn and get into that role.

I can almost guarantee it was my CCNA that got me in front of the hiring manager, then it was up to me to land the job, and I'd imagine most interviewers worth their weight will root you out pretty fast if they are hiring solely based on skill or experience.

Keep that thing current if you have the time to study brother!

gbdavidx

ande0255 wrote: »

From the perspective of landing a role back in a Cisco networking environment someday, I'd say definitely keep that thing current. Like at my current company who is a Cisco partner / MSP, they depend on certified individuals to not only keep their partner status, but also to sell their products to potential customers by showcasing their talent by their credentials.

I had my CCNA R/S but no current experience, and I was honest about that in my interview, and still got hired on as a Data / Voice engineer based on our conversation of my desire to learn and get into that role.

I can almost guarantee it was my CCNA that got me in front of the hiring manager, then it was up to me to land the job, and I'd imagine most interviewers worth their weight will root you out pretty fast if they are hiring solely based on skill or experience.

Keep that thing current if you have the time to study brother!

dang you got that role straight from help desk? that is encouraging, must get CCNP level!

ande0255

^ I kid you not, straight up call center type help desk, to a high level data / voice work role although I'm hesitant to ever really use the title engineer as I don't feel my skill level merits that title yet.

However the credentials got my foot in the door for the interview, and had to wow the hiring manager in the interview to get the job, but they offered me the position without even a second interview.

So now I landed a position that is going to allow me the experience to back up the CCNP / VCP credentials some day, because I got the certification that was outside of the scope of my skills, that got me the interview.

networker050184

I'd base my decision on how much effort it will take to relearn the material. Could you get back up to speed on the material in a fairly short amount of time? If so then I think it's worth it to keep your certification current. If not then you probably doesn't make much sense in keeping it current.

Chitownjedi

bryguy wrote: »

My only reservation is, that I want to eventually get back to the networking side of the house. That, and I put an awful lot of work into earning this certification, and it's probably the one cert that I'm most proud of.

One side of me says, "Let it go" but the other says, "keep it, you might need it down the road."

Thoughts?

Sounds like reason enough to not let it lapse to me. When do you plan on getting back into Networking? Maybe the recertification can be your first step in getting back into the swings of things. Time is $$$ and the time you already put into it to earn it..... yeah, if I was remotely interested in getting back into Networking and in this position, id take whatever I needed to keep it active.

PurpleIT

networker050184 wrote: »

I'd base my decision on how much effort it will take to relearn the material. Could you get back up to speed on the material in a fairly short amount of time? If so then I think it's worth it to keep your certification current. If not then you probably doesn't make much sense in keeping it current.

For me, the fact the he is "a family man" and happy to not have to travel says that he probably has other things he would rather do instead of relearning the CCNP material.

Renew it now, use it to help open doors, but be honest in your interviews and enjoy all those nights you get to spend with the family instead of studying.

bryguy

RouteMyPacket wrote: »

You can always be honest and tell potential employers about your situation (i.e. Previous CCNP, went to work on Brocade but now getting back into Cisco). You have skills, they are simply rusty and you are in a far better position than someone who never worked in the field. I think you will be fine and should start running scenarios and labbing.

Good advice... This did, in fact, come up during a recent interview with a hiring manger. I disclosed the fact that I had been performing vulnerability assessments, for the last 3 years or so, and that I was a little rusty from a networking operational perspective. He said he understood, and that he appreciated the honesty... and in truth, he was looking for someone willing to learn and who had a good work ethic. In any event, the interview resulted in an offer letter. An offer contingent upon contract award, but an offer nonetheless.

With that said, I think I'll drop the CCNP like I did my JNCIS, and F5-LTM certs, and adapt from there... I figure if I'm just collecting certs, I'm doing it for the wrong reason. Certificates should validate my current skillset, not act a bullet point on a resume.