Hmmm...
So I just read a lot of things on the Internet these days and even in the last couple of years or even few years now where a lot of CCIE types, who in my opinion, have lost their way and now seem to believe the CCIE is not still the power house of certifications to strive for.
Well, I don't think what they say is true, at least not from my vantage point. Not hardly. First you might ask what is their point of view and what is mine by comparison, as I am a CCNA to CCNP Complete Encyclopedia of Cisco Certifications and they are at least CCIE and probably others like Juniper and whoever else (I mention Juniper because it almost always gets mentions when I read about the children crying about the fence being greener over on the other side and then, of course, they almost always chide that... they are not even sure where the other side is anyway)...
So...
1. They are typically of the typical CCIE mold, they hold the title, passed the lab, and even have the digits registered to a CCIE of some sort or another. Fine. However, in nearly every case, they typically no longer work as Cisco Engineers and probably are not Administrating, Managing, even Field Engineering, Architecting Cisco Networks, or have otherwise went so vendor neutral that they are probably not doing, contracting, or even consulting on Cisco products any longer, in the first place.
Yet, they tend to pontificate that the Cisco CCIE Certification is dead. They don't mention other certifications, as none have the prestige of the CCIE, the market value, or the actual earned value of the CCIE, which still, in my humble opinion, still holds its place as the undisputed King of the Certifications out there, despite the CCDE, and despite the CCAr and quite honestly, there are really no contenders for the title, and I don't care what you heard about Juniper... or any other brand.
Don't take my word for it - Google it today - 3-21-2015 and take a look at the demand and the supply - There used to be about 500+ jobs asking for a CCIE Certified Professional and today you will find the same results as 5, 10, and 15 years ago hear in the USA, despite there being around the #45,000 mark worth of CCIE holders on this planet. Your value may vary with the digits you buy, but that's another discussion for another day...
So, I'd be wary of taking the word that there are little or no opportunities for a CCIE and that the CCIE Certification is worthless from people who are or may even be questionable about their own title to the digits in the first place (some have clouds on their credibility) and, of course, whether or not they even WORK in the field they say they represent, versus being more or less Sports Commentators or the like... not saying they don't get experience... at... something... I'm just not sure they can see the forest of opportunities for their own lack of opportunity trees...
Take a visit to their linkedin profile and if you like visit mine: Darby Weaver, only a CCNA/CCNP for example.... Do you see a difference?
If you do, then... take a moment and ask yourself... who you want working on YOUR beloved multi-billion dollar network that pays your bills... a town crier or a battle hardened network warrior.
2. My point of view: I'm just a CCNA/CCNP of many flavors, mostly Enterprise, LAN, WAN, SAN, DMZ, SDN, Management, Protocol/Application/Network Analysis, Security, Wireless, and don't forget Data Center, etc.
I work low-level, I'm in the weeds. Like the wannabe CCIE's who talk a good game, I work from home, remote, and every day may even write a thing or two. I am in the technical forums, answering questions and giving career advice, un-waveringly to my co-network aspirants around this little globe we call home.
Earnings... Well to say that over the 300 and K mark is my hallmark/benchmark is a perfect indicator to me that the Cisco Certification Pyramid is still very much alive and well.
I do LAN, I do SAN, I do WAN, I do tricks... I jump over Candle-Sticks... I take tickets, I do Visio, I work spreadsheets, I enumerate and document networks, SAN/WANS, I plan and design... and most very thing in between.... All remote, all from home or even on the road... All very well compensated and have a very fat and juicy lab to show for it, for example...
In short, I'm a practitioner in the Art of Network Preparation, Planning, Design, Implementation, Operation and Optimization... and when anything arises... Troubleshooting a Cisco Network or perhaps other vendors as well...
I'm a CCNA and a CCNP and it show... it's remarkable that I'm not a CCIE but I am a walking Cisco Certification Pyramid. I have accolades to my name such as:
- The Design of the Nation's most state of the art Children's Hospital in America's First Medical City.
- The Consultant to the World's Largest Private Company's Network's Upgrade (over 100,000 devices globally) to a more secure network security reference model.
- The Automation of the Reference Model Architecture for Cloud-Based Multi-Tenancy Data Centers (one-step deployment of literally thousands of IPv4/IPv6 networks implementing the entire OSI model from Layer 1 to Layer 7 auto-magically). I think they call this SDN.
- Planning and Design of who knows how many networks on this little planet by now and beyond.
- The Planning, Design, and Testing of Network Implementation Standards of one of the World's Most well-known named companies for perhaps one of the largest SAN Infrastructures on this little ball of dirt we all know and love...
I could go on and on, but we all know that when I start writing, the Internet slows down... or so the legends say... It would have happened anyway...
Umm... Time to summarize...
1. If a CCIE were busy being a CCIE doing network stuff... then a CCIE would have CCIE-ish opportunities presented daily at worst and by the millisecond at best... The market is what it is... and it is HOT for a Cisco Certified Professional Practitioner and quite honestly... I don't know that all CCIE's are that... at all... just not at all. So they cry, they beg, and they moan... that the Cisco Pyramid aka the Sky is Falling... and... it's just not. The Sun is just not shining on those who have lost their way... No surprises here.
2. If a CCNA becomes multi-talented and is resourceful, then a CCNA can become very well-employed, even to the $100k mark more or less and a CCNP... well I know a CCNP who is well skilled can earn in excess of $300,000.00 per year if one tries... and perhaps more than double this if one finds/grinds/minds the business as such...
How do I know this to be true?
1. CCIE's moan and call themselves Principal Engineers as they become more and more prevalently road-kill....
I may not by a CCIE, but I sure know what Road Kill is....
2. I personally tutored/trained/mentored a batch of CCNA Candidates and some are nearing or at the $100k mark with the CCNA or some now CCNP - arguably this is 4 years later. However, many were marketable and employed within 3-6 months of completing those 6 months or so with me 2 nights per week at about 2 hours per night...
It's history now.
The skinny of the matter is this:
A variably skilled and highly motivated CCNA can earn $100k and work for better...
A non-motivated and burned out kinda lame CCIE may be lucky if he/she can ever get to the $100k mark and you can tell em' when you see em'...
Umm....
Google and Linkedin are my references - Take a look, do the math, and check it out.
Build a profile you think you can be and see what kind of attention it draws... if its not the kind you are looking for... move on... If it is... work to that profile and be what you want to be...
Quote me: "LET YOUR CONSCIOUS BY YOUR GUIDE" - Darby Weaver
There is absolutely no time like today to get started and get ahead in your very own Cisco Certification based career... and why not work from home too - aren't we network engineers and know how to use SSH, VPNs, and Wireless -> we literally write the scripts that make the magic...
Get out from under the shade of these CCIE types who did what they had to do and have yet to see the Sun light shine...
I don't fault them for doing it... everyone needs a break in their career, however, don't bit the hand that feeds you...
Sincerely,
Darby Weaver
So I just read a lot of things on the Internet these days and even in the last couple of years or even few years now where a lot of CCIE types, who in my opinion, have lost their way and now seem to believe the CCIE is not still the power house of certifications to strive for.
Well, I don't think what they say is true, at least not from my vantage point. Not hardly. First you might ask what is their point of view and what is mine by comparison, as I am a CCNA to CCNP Complete Encyclopedia of Cisco Certifications and they are at least CCIE and probably others like Juniper and whoever else (I mention Juniper because it almost always gets mentions when I read about the children crying about the fence being greener over on the other side and then, of course, they almost always chide that... they are not even sure where the other side is anyway)...
So...
1. They are typically of the typical CCIE mold, they hold the title, passed the lab, and even have the digits registered to a CCIE of some sort or another. Fine. However, in nearly every case, they typically no longer work as Cisco Engineers and probably are not Administrating, Managing, even Field Engineering, Architecting Cisco Networks, or have otherwise went so vendor neutral that they are probably not doing, contracting, or even consulting on Cisco products any longer, in the first place.
Yet, they tend to pontificate that the Cisco CCIE Certification is dead. They don't mention other certifications, as none have the prestige of the CCIE, the market value, or the actual earned value of the CCIE, which still, in my humble opinion, still holds its place as the undisputed King of the Certifications out there, despite the CCDE, and despite the CCAr and quite honestly, there are really no contenders for the title, and I don't care what you heard about Juniper... or any other brand.
Don't take my word for it - Google it today - 3-21-2015 and take a look at the demand and the supply - There used to be about 500+ jobs asking for a CCIE Certified Professional and today you will find the same results as 5, 10, and 15 years ago hear in the USA, despite there being around the #45,000 mark worth of CCIE holders on this planet. Your value may vary with the digits you buy, but that's another discussion for another day...
So, I'd be wary of taking the word that there are little or no opportunities for a CCIE and that the CCIE Certification is worthless from people who are or may even be questionable about their own title to the digits in the first place (some have clouds on their credibility) and, of course, whether or not they even WORK in the field they say they represent, versus being more or less Sports Commentators or the like... not saying they don't get experience... at... something... I'm just not sure they can see the forest of opportunities for their own lack of opportunity trees...
Take a visit to their linkedin profile and if you like visit mine: Darby Weaver, only a CCNA/CCNP for example.... Do you see a difference?
If you do, then... take a moment and ask yourself... who you want working on YOUR beloved multi-billion dollar network that pays your bills... a town crier or a battle hardened network warrior.
2. My point of view: I'm just a CCNA/CCNP of many flavors, mostly Enterprise, LAN, WAN, SAN, DMZ, SDN, Management, Protocol/Application/Network Analysis, Security, Wireless, and don't forget Data Center, etc.
I work low-level, I'm in the weeds. Like the wannabe CCIE's who talk a good game, I work from home, remote, and every day may even write a thing or two. I am in the technical forums, answering questions and giving career advice, un-waveringly to my co-network aspirants around this little globe we call home.
Earnings... Well to say that over the 300 and K mark is my hallmark/benchmark is a perfect indicator to me that the Cisco Certification Pyramid is still very much alive and well.
I do LAN, I do SAN, I do WAN, I do tricks... I jump over Candle-Sticks... I take tickets, I do Visio, I work spreadsheets, I enumerate and document networks, SAN/WANS, I plan and design... and most very thing in between.... All remote, all from home or even on the road... All very well compensated and have a very fat and juicy lab to show for it, for example...
In short, I'm a practitioner in the Art of Network Preparation, Planning, Design, Implementation, Operation and Optimization... and when anything arises... Troubleshooting a Cisco Network or perhaps other vendors as well...
I'm a CCNA and a CCNP and it show... it's remarkable that I'm not a CCIE but I am a walking Cisco Certification Pyramid. I have accolades to my name such as:
- The Design of the Nation's most state of the art Children's Hospital in America's First Medical City.
- The Consultant to the World's Largest Private Company's Network's Upgrade (over 100,000 devices globally) to a more secure network security reference model.
- The Automation of the Reference Model Architecture for Cloud-Based Multi-Tenancy Data Centers (one-step deployment of literally thousands of IPv4/IPv6 networks implementing the entire OSI model from Layer 1 to Layer 7 auto-magically). I think they call this SDN.
- Planning and Design of who knows how many networks on this little planet by now and beyond.
- The Planning, Design, and Testing of Network Implementation Standards of one of the World's Most well-known named companies for perhaps one of the largest SAN Infrastructures on this little ball of dirt we all know and love...
I could go on and on, but we all know that when I start writing, the Internet slows down... or so the legends say... It would have happened anyway...
Umm... Time to summarize...
1. If a CCIE were busy being a CCIE doing network stuff... then a CCIE would have CCIE-ish opportunities presented daily at worst and by the millisecond at best... The market is what it is... and it is HOT for a Cisco Certified Professional Practitioner and quite honestly... I don't know that all CCIE's are that... at all... just not at all. So they cry, they beg, and they moan... that the Cisco Pyramid aka the Sky is Falling... and... it's just not. The Sun is just not shining on those who have lost their way... No surprises here.
2. If a CCNA becomes multi-talented and is resourceful, then a CCNA can become very well-employed, even to the $100k mark more or less and a CCNP... well I know a CCNP who is well skilled can earn in excess of $300,000.00 per year if one tries... and perhaps more than double this if one finds/grinds/minds the business as such...
How do I know this to be true?
1. CCIE's moan and call themselves Principal Engineers as they become more and more prevalently road-kill....
I may not by a CCIE, but I sure know what Road Kill is....
2. I personally tutored/trained/mentored a batch of CCNA Candidates and some are nearing or at the $100k mark with the CCNA or some now CCNP - arguably this is 4 years later. However, many were marketable and employed within 3-6 months of completing those 6 months or so with me 2 nights per week at about 2 hours per night...
It's history now.
The skinny of the matter is this:
A variably skilled and highly motivated CCNA can earn $100k and work for better...
A non-motivated and burned out kinda lame CCIE may be lucky if he/she can ever get to the $100k mark and you can tell em' when you see em'...
Umm....
Google and Linkedin are my references - Take a look, do the math, and check it out.
Build a profile you think you can be and see what kind of attention it draws... if its not the kind you are looking for... move on... If it is... work to that profile and be what you want to be...
Quote me: "LET YOUR CONSCIOUS BY YOUR GUIDE" - Darby Weaver
There is absolutely no time like today to get started and get ahead in your very own Cisco Certification based career... and why not work from home too - aren't we network engineers and know how to use SSH, VPNs, and Wireless -> we literally write the scripts that make the magic...
Get out from under the shade of these CCIE types who did what they had to do and have yet to see the Sun light shine...
I don't fault them for doing it... everyone needs a break in their career, however, don't bit the hand that feeds you...
Sincerely,
Darby Weaver
9 comments:
Thanks Darby. I'm a CCNP who would like to work from home. Any tips?
Hi Darby, don't want to make this too long but just wanted to say I happened to stumble upon your blog yesterday and I am totally hooked!! Goes without saying, you're a hero to rest of us network admin/engineers.
One request, is it possible to setup a sort of index for all your blogs to help us navigate quickly? I find each time I re-open your blog, I have to click "Older Post" link tens of times to reach the page I last read.
No worries if it's not possible though, each click is worth it :)
Cheers!
Ricky
CCIE does not have the same value as before. May be till next 5 years at best, you can demand good number's with Experience .Change is happening all around CISCO. The monopoly is about to end.
We are still waiting on IPv6 to make its grand appearance and dominate the Internet.
Hasn't happened yet.
The CCIE is still the Gold Standard and it is what's been marketed and re-marketed.
It's has no competitors... None.
SDN Certified Experts are not being asked for or demanded by the market.
Automation Engineers are not being asked for.
Even Active Fabric Manager does not appear as a job requirement.
The CCIE does and is an ABSOLUTE REQUIREMENT.
The CCIE dominates the market.
If not, then help me out and show me what does dominate the CCIE?
Even Juniper asks for Cisco Certified Professionals.
Not the other way around. Not yet and probably not ever.
Damn. CCIE is a lot of work for dead :)
Not dead in my world.
You seem pretty bitter and angry, let go of the hate man
I was being sarcastic about those calling the CCIE a Dead Certification...
It Rules.
No question and no doubt.
I'm not angry except maybe for folks selling misleading information.
Cisco pays well at the CCNP/CCDP level and the CCIE compensates even better.
I'm a satisfied customer of the Cisco Certification and Learning Program - 100%.
I'm getting ready to spend some $25,000.00 on the entire battery of CCNA to CCNP and CCIE Written Exams and Labs in a 6 Week Period for the written Exams followed by the entire battery of CCIE Labs in a very compressed time frame - say 3 months or so...
Pass or Fail and with a smile no matter the outcome.
I'm a CCNP - I can afford this gauntlet... and again if required...
Darby Weaver
"A variably skilled and highly motivated CCNA can earn $100k and work for better...
A non-motivated and burned out kinda lame CCIE may be lucky if he/she can ever get to the $100k mark and you can tell em' when you see em'..."
Complete BS, a CCIE has done far more work to get where he/she got to than a guy with CCNA there is no kind of lame CCIE when it comes to configuring Cisco devices.. Not even comparable, I spent about 5 or 6 months reading then another similar amount of time working on configuring labs and mock labs and I'd been a full time cisco engineer for 3 years already. So a guy like my brother who did ccna in a week or two, whether he's motivated or not I think an employer can probably see the difference.. Am I motivated ? Not all that much these days, but I'm still a much safer pair of hands to put in front of your customers multi-million dollar DC network.
On the hand, is it still the certification to strive for? I would say not really, for the cost of quite possibly repeated attempts and amount of work needed now, thats just my opinion though.. I was thinking about taking DC exam until I priced it up. If I were to get it great, if not thats lot of money completely wasted on lab attempts. So for me I'll keep the R&S one that I got many years ago even if half of it is obsolete now.
your spending $25000 on exams, fair enough if that how you want to spend your time and money.. lets see how long that would be in the exam center. Say 4 exams a day costing you $500 dollars roughly?.. You need to be in the exam center for about 2 months... Is that a good investment for you?? Seems a bit strange to me.
Post a Comment