Next after CCIE

Hi all,

So after attaining my number, JUST got back from mexico today from celebrating, been deciding what to do next and decided to gain more supporting skills to add to the CV.

I am 26 and have not had the greatest opportunity yet to play with anything except cisco r/s kit.

SO on the list is:

ASA firewalls - Probably sit one exam, more focused on the ability than the cert
F5 Loadbalancers - Again will sit the lower end exam to get a taste of what this can do, if i fancy it i will dive deeper.
Checkpoint- Again will sit the lower end exam to get a taste of what this can do, if i fancy it i will dive deeper.
JNCIA - Will be aiming for this over the next week, i hear 60-70% pass mark so i am not too worried with this been a nice quick one for the CV
NEXUS - Will start with the basics, maybe sit an CCNP D/C exam or two to see how i like it.
ISE/Wireless - (work related so dont have a choice here - probably a course in a week or two for the ISE)

The important thing is i am not going deep into a "i want my next CCIE" - i want to spread myself a little, see which technologies i actually WANT to work with.

Any hints/Tips/Ideas/Suggestions are welcome - Also if you can speak from personal experience of what you did after IE or WOULD do after IE and why, please let me know

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Comments

down77

I can only speak from my own experience. After I completed my CCIE I made sure to spend lots of quality time with my wife and kids to make up for the evenings and weekends that I was busy studying/labbing/etc. Once I got back on the cert train, so to speak here is what I completed:

CCIE SP Written - Was too burnt out to attempt lab in 2013
CCNP Data Center
CCNP Security
IBM Mid Range & SVC Storage
Netapp NCDA/NCIE (cDOT)
Riverbed RCSA/RCSP for Granite (SteelFusion) and Steelhead
TOGAF

In Progress or Planned:

!Personal
Daddy x3 - Daughter came last week!!!
NPC Mens Physique Competition - late 2015 (In Progress!).
Photography

!Technical
Cisco Collab/Voice (CCNA Voice, CCNP Collaboration)
Cisco Wireless (CCNP Wireless)
CCIE DC Lab
CCIE SP Lab
JNCIE SP

Most importantly pursue what you are interested in and vary it up to keep from burning out.

silver145

Much appreciated, i presumed the same e.g Vary it up or die from bordem

gorebrush

At the moment I'm looking at the DC Written then see where we go from there. The amount of time I need to put into the racks might be what puts me off - My hours make it awkward to book slots at racks. But I need to do a written anyway so I figure I'll do it regardless. Security can be done 100% virtually now - as you are used to IOU now then Security should be easy enough

Also I've been there and done that with Microsoft (MCSE) so I've already had a fair go at another technology.

silver145

Seems to suite you quite well to go straight into another IE then gore, i am cisco only atm - Going to sit the JNCIA next week then pick another from my list shortly after that.

Still just enjoying having free time though.......

gorebrush

Free time, what's that?

Juniper is a good call - You'll enjoy that.

gorebrush

Oh yeah, remember also that with your CCIE - you don't need to do any CCNA level exams now, the IE is a pre-requisite for all NP levels.

jamesp1983

Congrats on getting your number BTW.

zxbane

down77 wrote: »

I can only speak from my own experience. After I completed my CCIE I made sure to spend lots of quality time with my wife and kids to make up for the evenings and weekends that I was busy studying/labbing/etc. Once I got back on the cert train, so to speak here is what I completed:

CCIE SP Written - Was too burnt out to attempt lab in 2013
CCNP Data Center
CCNP Security
IBM Mid Range & SVC Storage
Netapp NCDA/NCIE (cDOT)
Riverbed RCSA/RCSP for Granite (SteelFusion) and Steelhead
TOGAF

In Progress or Planned:

!Personal
Daddy x3 - Daughter came last week!!!
NPC Mens Physique Competition - late 2015 (In Progress!).
Photography

!Technical
Cisco Collab/Voice (CCNA Voice, CCNP Collaboration)
Cisco Wireless (CCNP Wireless)
CCIE DC Lab
CCIE SP Lab
JNCIE SP

Most importantly pursue what you are interested in and vary it up to keep from burning out.

Not to Hijack but it is good to see someone with such a high level IT certification also have a passion and dedication to fitness, not very common in our career field

ccnpninja

down77 wrote: »

I can only speak from my own experience. After I completed my CCIE I made sure to spend lots of quality time with my wife and kids to make up for the evenings and weekends that I was busy studying/labbing/etc. Once I got back on the cert train, so to speak here is what I completed:

CCIE SP Written - Was too burnt out to attempt lab in 2013
CCNP Data Center
CCNP Security
IBM Mid Range & SVC Storage
Netapp NCDA/NCIE (cDOT)
Riverbed RCSA/RCSP for Granite (SteelFusion) and Steelhead
TOGAF

In Progress or Planned:

!Personal
Daddy x3 - Daughter came last week!!!
NPC Mens Physique Competition - late 2015 (In Progress!).
Photography

!Technical
Cisco Collab/Voice (CCNA Voice, CCNP Collaboration)
Cisco Wireless (CCNP Wireless)
CCIE DC Lab
CCIE SP Lab
JNCIE SP

Most importantly pursue what you are interested in and vary it up to keep from burning out.

you rock man

down77

zxbane wrote: »

Not to Hijack but it is good to see someone with such a high level IT certification also have a passion and dedication to fitness, not very common in our career field

Thanks. I will never be Phil Heath or Kai Greene, but I'll take a NPC Open win any day! I'm planning on working my way up to competing in either the Dexter Jackson Classic or the Europa (NPC, not IFBB) by 2017!

silver145

Good to see someone went down a similar route after passing down77. What peaked your interest in the side topics you chose to study the most? also how was the riverbed/CCNP sec stuff?

Also did you tackle the CCNP sec in one lump, or pick and choose the technologies you wanted to study for at the time. E.G ASA, then go back eventually

ccie14023

I went straight into Cisco TAC. It was not the best 2 years of my life but a great learning experience. In general having Cisco on your resume opens a lot of doors. A lot of guys get stuck in TAC too, which is why I did only 2 years. This also depends on where you live of course. Another option is an NCE or SE.

ccie14023

Oh and one other thing... I wouldn't get too focused on the certification game. CCIE is the most important thing you will put on your resume. When I see a resume come in with a CCIE and a long list of other low level certs, I usually think less of the person applying. If they have so many certs, what are they doing with their time on the job? Working or studying? Maybe this is the wrong place to voice such a heresy, but I think I speak for many in the industry when I say that a cert or two is fine but experience is the determining factor in hiring decisions. Also, don't spread yourself too thin. Often we are looking for someone deep in a couple of technologies rather than someone who has superficial knowledge of many.

silver145

Thanks for those CCIE,

My aim isnt for the certs on these, its to dip my feet into the technologies (as i dont deal with them on a day to day basis) and see which i like. I like my route and switch but would like another speciality to compliment my skill set, this is the process of finding that skill which i would like to go as deep in

down77

ccie14023 wrote: »

Oh and one other thing... I wouldn't get too focused on the certification game. CCIE is the most important thing you will put on your resume. When I see a resume come in with a CCIE and a long list of other low level certs, I usually think less of the person applying. If they have so many certs, what are they doing with their time on the job? Working or studying? Maybe this is the wrong place to voice such a heresy, but I think I speak for many in the industry when I say that a cert or two is fine but experience is the determining factor in hiring decisions. Also, don't spread yourself too thin. Often we are looking for someone deep in a couple of technologies rather than someone who has superficial knowledge of many.

So you're saying its about time I remove the A+ from my CV? (just kidding).

I would agree that working for TAC or even Cisco AS (Advanced Services) is a phenominal way to obtain exposure. They aren't the only guys in the game, but you are right that having Cisco on your resume is a great way to get noticed. My biggest regret to date is turning down a Cisco PSS position to pursue another path.