Skip CCNP for IE?

My CCNA just expired this month. Instead of starting over I'm thinking of skipping ccnp and going straight to CCIE in the 2020 to 2021 time frame. I assume with a consistent study schedule I should be ready by that time. Thoughts?

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Nutsy

akboyboy,

No one really knows how good you are with your networking skills. Just looking at your certs, I am going to just stero-type you, and assume you have a current IT gig, been doing it for a couple years, and if you lost employment, you could find another gig.

If all of the above are true, then this is where I would say go: First, if you aren't in, and are not actively work to obtaining, a full time network roll, it doesn't hurt to go straight for it. If you are trying to go for a full time networking role, any cert you can add to your resume helps.

I don't know your personal aptitude, but 20 - 21, seems to far out. If you put in consistent time, I don't see why you couldn't do it closer to 18 months.

Either way, it never hurts to aim as high as you can, and go for it. You will be a better engineer.

Lastly, for anyone who posts that maybe you don't have enough experience, to get the cert. That's BS. We hired a CCIE with no experience. (We did do an extra round of hands on technical interview.) So, you can get a position even with slim, or no experience.

HTH.

-Nutsy

TechGuru80

I don't understand why you wouldn't get your CCNP since it's going to be a subset of CCIE material, and all the certifications build upon each other...CCNA > CCNP > CCIE. Unless you are literally already in a networking position that doesn't care about anything but CCIE (guessing not since you let your CCNA expire), getting your CCNP could help you get into a networking role and make your studying more useful.

On the point of getting a CCIE without experience...I don't think the part about having zero experience is the issue. Honestly getting a high level and expensive certification is beyond pointless if you aren't in a role actively using that knowledge. Would it make sense to have a CCIE and be a Microsoft system administrator? Darn near 100% of the time that would be pointless and so much time and money wasted. If you aren't in school, you literally need to get a networking job and start studying going CCNA > CCNP > CCIE (if you haven't been in networking). The fact that you let your CCNA expire but want to be in networking shows a lack of dedication...if you really wanted to be in networking instead of just having a CCIE, you would put forth the effort.

It's going to look really strange to employers for a few reasons:
1.) If you have a large unemployment gap just to study for your CCIE.
2.) The fact you let your CCNA expire, and now are studying for your CCIE...they are going to be like...facepalm, really?!

akboyboy

Thanks for the replies. I have a network position now, I've been in the role for about two and a half years. I had just finished wgu in November and tried to rush through studying for the switch exam and didnt pass it. I figured I'd follow a real study plan to go through the ccnp material, then move on to the ccie material. I'm just torn between going through 4 test before trying to tackle IE material, or just taking my time and going straight to IE. Honestly I'm leaning towards going through the na > np > ie, but wanted some more opinions.

Nutsy

Employers want competent qualified people. If you follow through and do the IE, no one cares about NA/NP.

As far as why not do the NA/NP, then do the iE. I went through the NA/NP curriculum for the DC track. I can say that it what was required to pass the NP tests hasn't really helped me on the IE so far. So the real question is does the curriculum really line up? Lastly, from my experience the NA/NP are a lot more trivia, and not so much the hands on piece. So, overall you will save time by just going to the CCIE.

HTH

Legacy User

I mean technically you can skip straight to the CCIE but the thing is many people try and few people pass. The people who are burnt out with multiple failed attempts give up and years go by and no cert so you don't want to be in a position 2 years from now that you had a hard time passing and don't even have a ccna.

Can you work on getting small wins as you aspire to the big win? With that said can you work toward the ccie rs and make a spreadsheet of what overlaps with the ccna->ccnp. As you become competent in whatever overlaps schedule and take the exam. Follow that approach all the way through ccnp rs. With the things in the NA/NP blueprint that don't overlap read up/lab it up.

NOC-Ninja

Skip it. It doesnt really matter if you skip it. All of you skip will catch up on you. So go for it!

bender000

Sorry I'm going against the trend here. I wouldn't even consider the IE until you polish off your Ps. You only have 2 years specialist XP (assumption, but your other certs are all server/generalist).

The CCIE (assume you are talking RS?) is actually harder than most people guesstimate. Just look at all the study threads here that just stop for no reason.... the avg pass rate is 26% and that includes all the people who gave up, so the pass rate for people who make it would be even lower...

I wouldn't even bother making targets at this stage, just get your Ps, then get an INE workbook and re-assess your readiness.

Welly_59

The OP can't go straight for NP though can he because his NA has expired.

He either starts again with the combined exam then the 3 NP exams. Or goes straight for IE

bender000

akboyboy wrote: »

I had just finished wgu in November and tried to rush through studying for the switch exam and didnt pass it. I figured I'd follow a real study plan to go through the ccnp material, then move on to the ccie material. I'm just torn between going through 4 test before trying to tackle IE material, or just taking my time and going straight to IE. Honestly I'm leaning towards going through the na > np > ie, but wanted some more opinions.

OP already knows he has to re-clear the CCNA hurdle. And to be brutally frank, if you're not in a position to pass SWITCH then I'm unclear as to why you would go straight for the money-shot instead. Besides, clearing those CCNP exams will make the CCIE written much easier.

Don't be fooled into thinking that CCIE is a step above CCNP like CCNP was a step above CCNA. Its more like 4x harder, possibly more. The lab isn't actually that tough individual content wise (i.e. no single question or scenario you're likely to get in v5.1 is going to be wilfully obscure, unlike say v3) but there is a metric ton of stuff to plow through under immense time pressure and if you don't have your chops down pat you will end up with the legendary 1600USD lunch.

Anecdotal, but when I started prepping for the IE I had ~6+ years of net-eng XP, 4x CCNPs (which in retrospect was a massive dilution of time and effort LOL, screw CUCM and ASAs...) and I thought I was ready to take the final step. Turned out that I was just ready for the starting line.

dontstop

I've currently found myself in a similar dilemma. My manager wants me to forget about the CCNP and move straight to the CCIE but I honestly know I don't have the time in the seat to make the jump. When it comes to troubleshooting and working on networks I've got a good amount of theoretical knowledge but I'm very clunky when it comes to rapid problem solving were experience would be helpful. For me personally I think I'm going to be stubborn and go down the CCNP route as it's somewhat of a rite of passage and it will also be reinforcement when it comes time for the CCIE.

I think the hardest part of the CCIE for me would be understanding what/why/when I would use the knowledge I'm learning. Without a good understanding of the application of what I'm learning it's just going to be learning for the sake of learning and that's easily forgotten.

I also work with a few guys who have their CCIEs and some of them have gotten theirs very quickly and you can tell. The point of being a CCIE isn't about being some magical Wizard, it's that you have a great set of fundamentals nailed down. A CCIE should be the person who works on the next level above basic understanding because they know those basics cold or can access the right information very quickly. This allows them to work on more challenging problems because they're not fuddling around with trying to recall trivial basic concepts. CCIEs who have taken shortcuts are not confident in their knowledge and are stuck back looking up CCNA/CCNP level topics which should've been mastered a long time ago.

duck-rabbit

I thihnk it is good idea ti jump from CCNA to CCIE. I know one guy who started to CCIE exam without any Cisco crertificates and pass CCIE RS lab exam for the third time.
Good luck!

Paycheck

I haven't taken any CCNP tests yet, but I have to think that skipping the CCNP tests isn't good, for the loss of learning you would otherwise get.

From what've read about CCIE lab exams over the years, it sounds like a lot of people could pass the test, but it is the time factor that fails you. Passing requires doing it right and doing it fast at the same time.

rinoel

Personally, I think that if you have many years of experience it is OK to go with the IE without going through NA/NP.
I believe that during CCIE studies you will see that your experience will help a lot, and might make it easier for your IE studies.

Without experience though, I always recommend starting with the fundamentals (CCNA), moving towards NP, and potentially for CCIE.

craterman

I think a consistent way is better. It may be longer or not. Of course it will be more expensive. But if you fail CCIE Lab it will be much more expensive than consistent way.

I think a consistent way is better because knowledge will gradually build up. And the repetition of the same themes and subsequent deepening in them will contribute to better memorization