2021: What is Cisco CCNA?


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What is Cisco CCNA?

If you are thinking of a career path that’s related to the IT world but you can’t afford to use the time and money to earn a college degree, then Cisco’s CCNA should be a good option that you might want to consider. So, what is CISCO CCNA?

CCNA stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate. A person with a CCNA certification is trained in certain CISCO technical specializations and is widely favored by different companies worldwide because of how CISCO is the world’s most popular company when it comes to network equipment.

So, if you are interested in the CCNA career path because you think that it will open more opportunities for you in the future, you might want to start learning more about what CCNA is and what it has to offer to you.

What is CISCO CCNA?

CISCO CCNA or simply CCNA stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate.

That means that those with a CCNA certification are actually certified by Cisco itself when it comes to a wide range of different IT-related topics and specializations that CISCO offers to the entire world and not just to companies.

CCNA is essentially a training program that trains its associates in different topics which will be talked about later. It is an associate-level program that will allow people to learn skills connected to the different IT-related services that CISCO offers to the IT world. 

A Career Path without Requiring a Degree

One of the best things about the CCNA is that it allows people to earn good money without the need for them to go to college and earn a degree.

That means that you don’t have to spend a lot of money just to earn yourself a living because, as you might know by now, college is pretty expensive and student loans can be too crazy to handle.

In that case, going through the CCNA training course can help you have a career path without earning a degree for yourself.

As long as you are certified by CISCO, companies would be able to hire you knowing for a fact that you have the training and the skills they need for the many different IT-related concerns they have.

In any other case, a CCNA certification will look good on your resume and you will be able to gain the upper hand against other applicants for a job position in a certain company you would like to work for.

There are also other instances wherein CCNA certifications can help you get promoted or give you a raise in your job.

This is great because of how networks and IT infrastructures are now getting more and more complex and there is a need for a company to have an in-house employee with a CCNA certification to work through problems and issues related to the services that Cisco offers.

CCNA Topics

The CCNA actually has a wide range of topics such as voice, video, cloud, industrial, wireless, data center, service provider, and routing and switching. However, most people actually refer to a person who is CCNA-certified as someone who specializes in Routing and Switching.

Routing and Switching is actually the most popular CCNA program because of how different networks in companies worldwide are now requiring individuals who are properly trained by CISCO to understand how to implement infrastructure and manage network issues effectively.

Still, though, the other topics that you can learn through CCNA certification are also just as useful and relevant because of how the world is becoming more and more digital every single minute and how CISCO is still the most widely known company when it comes to network equipment.

Training for the CCNA

Training for the CCNA requires that you prepare yourself in any way you see fit. There are some people who train on their own by studying books and other similar online and offline resources.

In such cases, they use CCNA kits that they can purchase online on Amazon so that they can actually train themselves using real equipment.

However, one of the better ways for you to really get to train yourself extensively is by attending a CCNA course. Cisco itself offers training courses through different companies that are accredited in doing so.

A simple Google search will reveal to you the nearest CCNA training facility in your area, and most of these will probably last for a few months and can cost you somewhere close to a thousand dollars.

The reason why it is best for you to take a CCNA training course is that it has a hands-on approach that will truly train you for the exam.

There are also CCNA boot camps you can attend but these are for the advanced and highly-trained specialists who are asked to train in topics for a few days or a few weeks even though the usual person might need months to understand such topics.

After training for the CCNA, you should take a single exam of about 120 questions. Passing it means that you are CCNA-certified and that you can include this certification in your resume when you are applying for a job.

Average CCNA Salaries

On average and by basing it on nearly 15,000 CCNA-certified employees and professionals, PayScale found that they are earning a little over $78,000 in a single year.

The highest-earning CCNA professionals are those who are working in places where IT-related jobs are at their most common. In that case, we are talking about San Jose, California, where they can potentially earn somewhere close to $100,000 in a year.

Is the CCNA worth it?

Based on the average salary figures we showed, it is clear that you can earn well enough if you are a CCNA-certified professional.

A training course that is about a thousand dollars will translate into a good-paying job that will yield you $78,000 a year or even $94,000 if you are working in San Jose, California.

That can be pretty good especially if you consider that the average pay for most people in California is $80,000 a year.

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