Certified Certification, anyone?

MCSEs aren't worth the paper they are printed on these days. The market is so saturated with MCSE certified people that they have lost their value. We don't even look twice at applicants that hold only a MCSE because the information tested to get a MCSE is very basic.

A CCNA applicant is a different story. If I'm looking to hire an entry level network administrator to work for me, this is the certification I'm looking for. We don't even use Cisco equipment, however the Cisco certification classes teach a heavy amount of network theory. It goes well beyond the scope of simply learning IOS commands. The certification also demands that you hold an understanding of the concepts and technology computer networks are built on and offers a gateway to even better certifications such as the CCNP and the CCIE. A person with this knowledge is much easier to train in a network administration position and I would much rather train someone to use Microsoft software than to try to teach them basic network theory.

So if you are willing to take the advice of a CIO of a fairly large company that regularly interviews and hires applicants based on these certifications, I would highly recommend getting your CCNP. Obviously it can't hurt to get both a CCNP and MSCE, but the market value of a CCNP is far higher at the moment.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I don't hold any Cisco Certifications myself as I went the college degree route, but I can answer most of your questions. Note that the costs are based on what they are here in Southern California.

1- Courses can be taken at pretty much any local community college. Right now that costs $35 a unit and the CCNA course consist of 8 units.

2- One year for your CCNA if you take a Cisco sponsored course.

3- Yes, I believe the CCNA exam costs $108 US at the moment. And yes you are required to register with the Cisco academy before taking the test as well as take the test though a Cisco certified partner. If you take one of the Cisco sponsored courses, your professor will set this all up for you automatically.

4- Yes this is entirely possible. In fact 3 of our guys have taken this route. You can pick up some official self study books from pretty much any major bookstore. These books also come with a Cisco router simulator which allows you to practice all of the IOS configuration stuff without any actual Cisco hardware. The guys also rave about the usefulness of buying and taking the official practice tests Cisco offers. These aren't exactly cheap though. I don't know the exact cost, but I'm sure the Cisco site has some information.

5- Yes, the certifications expire every three years. I have no personal experience to know how easy or difficult this is, but I know the CCNA tests tend to change quite a bit over three years and no doubt it will require some study time to pass the recertification exams. Depending on the person though, our company doesn't require recertification if they don't wish to retake the exams. Usually their work experience with us is a enough for them to keep their jobs. Most people tend to use the three years to study to achieve a higher level Cisco Certification. If you achieve a higher level certification, this will automatically recertify all of your lower certifications for three years as well.

6- Most defiantly. Our CCNA holders make between $30,000-$45,000 a year. Our CCNP holders bring around $60,000 a year. CCNP holders are also more valuable to our company and much more difficult to replace (job security). Another route to consider is the CCSP which is a fairly new certification which is similar to a CCNP but focuses on network security. There is a great demand for this type of knowledge in the industry at the moment. I imagine we'd be willing to pay ~$80,000 a year to someone that could bring a high level of network security knowledge to our company.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I should clear up my comment I made about the MCSE. I didn't mean to imply that the knowledge held by a MCSE is worthless, rather the market worth of MCSEs themselves are next to nothing at the moment. What I mean by this is there are so many people out there with MCSEs that employers like myself can easily find a MCSE who is willing to work for $25-30K or less a year. That's great for me, but bad news for MCSEs or potential MCSEs.

I'm not saying it is impossible for MCSEs to find great paying jobs, but due to the current competition in the market for that level of knowledge it is going to be very difficult to find such a job. Right now you have a much higher chance in landing a well paying job with a CCNA.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.