Certification Paths After CCNA

If you have passed the 200-301 Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) exam and earned your CCNA certification, then kudos to you. You have a solid foundation for your IT career.

But this is not it. You must keep moving forward. Now, the question is, what's next. After getting CCNA certified, you may want to explore the Cisco career path and opt for more certifications to advance your career. This post will guide you through the various paths you can take after obtaining the CCNA certificate.

Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certifications

CCNP is a professional-level certification that requires you to pass one core exam and one concentration exam. Core exams in every CCNP technology track serve as qualifying exams for Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) lab exams. The CCNP technology track covers the following certifications:

· CCNP Enterprise: The core exam validates your knowledge of implementing core enterprise network technologies, such as IPv4 and IPv6 architecture, virtualization, infrastructure, network assurance, security and automation, and many more. The concentration exam covers your enterprise focus area of choice.

· CCNP Data Center: This certification endorses your knowledge of data center infrastructure, unified computing, network virtualization, storage networking, data center technologies, and more.

· CCNP Security: This certification tests your knowledge of security concepts to design, build, monitor, and automate security solutions.

· CCNP Service Provider: This certification validates your knowledge of implementing service provider network technologies, including core architecture, services, networking, automation, quality of services, security, and network assurance.

· CCNP Collaboration: This certification authenticates your skills in designing, configuring, deploying, and troubleshooting collaboration solutions.

· Cisco Certified CyberOps Professional: This certification validates your abilities as an information security analyst in incident response roles, cloud security, and other active defense security roles.

· Cisco Certified DevNet Professional: This certification demonstrates your skills in developing and maintaining applications built on Cisco platforms.

If you crack the CCNP exam, you qualify for several employment opportunities and, of course, a higher salary. According to a Cisco survey, CCNP certified professionals get at least 10% higher salaries than those working at the same position without a certification.

Possible job roles for a CCNA certified professional

Earning the CCNA certification opens immense opportunities in the networking field. CCNA certifications help freshers start their careers in networking. Not only freshers but CCNA job experts are also in great demand for optimal utilization of technological solutions that various organizations constantly improvise. After passing the CCNA certification exams, you get worldwide recognition as a Cisco Certified Associate.

You can gear up your networking career in the following IT fields:

· Entry-level Network Engineer

· Help Desk Technician

· Network Administrator

· Network Support Technician

· System Administrator

· Network technician Also read: Career Opportunities After CCNA Certification

If you want to gain detailed insights into the CCNP certification, explore the whole range of NetCom Learning's Cisco certification courses.