News and Views from CCPrep.com

As I scour the Internet message boards relating to Cisco Certification's I can't help but notice that I see the same question over and over again.  I have also had numerous calls to my office with the exact same question so I decided to put together this little article to give you my take on which certification you should pursue.  Cisco seems to have decided that the more Certifications they have the better!  In recent months Cisco has added a copious amount of certifications with more to come.  In this article I will try to identify them for you and give you a good idea of which one is best for you.
 

For many years since 1998 Cisco didn't feel the need to add any more until their product lines became so large that we just couldn't have Certifications in the Routing & Switching field.  There was now a full complement of Voice over IP products, hence the CCIE Voice and soon after the Cisco Certified Voice Professional (CCVP).  There was also the Security field that was taking off hence the CCIE Security and soon after the Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP).  There was also a similar path followed with the Storage Area Networking (SAN) Products but that is outside of my discussion as here at CCPrep.com we concentrate on Routing & Switching, Voice, and Security.  Last month Cisco introduced three new CCNA certifications, Voice, Security, and Wireless.  Wireless is relatively new to the whole Certification game and you will see the number of certifications rapidly expand in this field.

Ok, you have a brief history of Certifications, which one do I get!?  To quote one of my favorite College Football analysts "Not so fast my friends!".  Before choosing a certification it is important to consider who it is you wish to work.  Cisco resellers, which CCPrep.com's sister company Qoncert is a Gold Partner, require the standard public certifications but also a special set of reseller certifications.  These certifications are required for the account executives, sales engineers, and filed engineers.  If you want to work for a Cisco Reseller the reseller certifications may be a viable option for you.  These certifications are called specialist certifications and can be found by clicking on this link.  It is important to note that if you are NOT going to work for a reseller these certifications are generally useless as most employers could care less.

The CCNA is required for everyone looking to work with Cisco products in my opinion.  It is a difficult but fair exam, unlike some of the other exams.  If you have any experience working with Cisco products this should be an exam you can pass with relative ease.   The next certification you acquire will require more thought however.  The CCNP is next logical choice but this is professional certification in the Routing & Switching path, perhaps you are more interested in Security, Voice, or Wireless?  If you don't care and you just want to get a job or make yourself more valuable you have to figure out which certification is more in demand.  The easiest way to accomplish this is to hit the job boards.  I did a little research on July 21st, 2008 and here is what I found when doing a search on www.monster.com and www.dice.com, two of the biggest job boards.

As you can see above, the CCNA certification is still the most sought after by employers with both sites having over 1100 jobs to chose from.  The CCNP is still very popular with over 750 jobs at both sites to chose.  If you are looking at the different specializations, the CCVP has a slight edge over the CCSP but a search under the term "Cisco Security" yields, a massive, over 1800 jobs meaning that employers are looking for individuals with Security experience but not necessarily the CCSP designation.  The same can be said of the CCVP yet yielding almost a 1000 fewer jobs at each site.  For good measure, I did a search on "CCNA + VoIP" to see how many organizations were looking for a CCNAs with Voice experience and I was surprised to see that many companies were just looking for experience rather than the certification.  I want to also point out that many of the jobs that I looked at that did not require Cisco Certifications had other requirements outside of the Cisco space.

Alright already... "Which Certification Do I Pursue!?".  Clearly every one has their own personal preference as to which technology they prefer, my suggestion is you follow your heart (I know it is corny, but it is true).  Personally, I find the voice field very interesting hence I took my CCIE Voice for my CCIE re-certification and am considering getting my CCIE Voice and most certainly the CCNA Voice when I get a chance.  But, I already have a job and have no intention of leaving it!  If you are more concerned with getting a job and could care less which specialization you would like to pursue, I would suggest the CCNA and CCNP to start and then jumping into the CCNA specializations (Voice, Wireless, and Security), these are the prerequisites to the CCVP, CCWP (soon to be announced), and CCSP respectively.  The CCVP appears to be the certification that has a slight lead over the CCSP (at the time of this writing the CCWP had not been announced and was not available).  However, Security experience is in much more demand than Voice experience.

One other factor that you will want to take into consideration is the area in which you would like to reside.  Demand in your desired area may differ from the national average.   Here in the Tampa area, I find many more opportunities in the Voice specialization than Security, contrary to the results above.

In conclusion, it will be best to pursue the certification that most interests you, chances are that is the field you most certainly will be the most successful.  But start with your CCNA and CCNP.  We just happen to have classes for both!