CCNA Certification in 2023: Is It Still a Valuable Investment?

Certificates of expertise in specific fields have a significant influence on your career. The certificate’s function is proof that you are indeed an expert in that field and can be trusted by the company.

Well, one of the certificates that you must have if you want a career in IT is CCNA. CCNA stands for Cisco Certification Network Associate, a certification program issued by Cisco Systems in the computer network industry.

Cisco is a company currently the de-facto standard for computer network technology worldwide. Can you imagine how vital this CCNA certificate is for those of you who want to get into the world of IT?

For those of you who want to have a career in IT, CCNA is the option with the most potential to build your career and skills. It will take time to become an IT Network expert, but at least this is the gateway to pursuing the job you want!

Reasons Why You Should Apply to CCNA

As previously explained, a certificate is one thing that has real benefits in building your career. Whether it’s being an employee, consultant, entrepreneur or whatever.

Because the certification proves that you already have written acknowledgement from the source, namely the certificate issuing organization.

So, here are the reasons why you should have a CCNA certificate:

1. Understanding Routing and Switching as the Core of Computer Networks

Routing and switching are the backbones of a computer network. When talking about computer network infrastructure, two things that are always remembered are: routing and switching.

Simply put, routing is selecting the direction of traffic between computer networks. While switching is the activity of receiving data, processing and sending it back into the grid. These two devices are commonly known as routers and switches.

These two are the most essential parts of a computer network. For those of you who already have a CCNA certificate, it is confident that you are an expert in these two things. Your skills will not be doubted.

2. CCNA Certified: You’ve Been Certified by Networking Leader

Although there is a lot of debate about which vendor is the best. But still, cisco certification is the most priority at this time.

This is proven by the requirements for applying for work as a Network Engineer, almost all of which require candidates to be CCNA certified.

In other words, CCNA is a high-class certification, and its quality has been recognized. Of course, today, the majority of large companies use Cisco devices.

Even so, if it is required to deal with other devices, a CCNA Certified will be clear one day.

3. Open Opportunities for Salary Increases

A CCNA certificate will increase your chances of being accepted to work in the companies you desire. Especially the opportunity to be taken at a company that has become Cisco’s gold partner.

For those of you who want to work in a company that you wish to, especially if you are a fresh graduate, studying CCNA is a powerful way to boost your career.

The benefits of having a CCNA certificate are not only for those looking for work but also for those who are currently working and want to earn more income.

The CCNA certification program was issued by Cisco in 1998. CCNA is an intermediate-level certification. This means those of you who hold a CCNA certificate are considered capable of managing an enterprise scale medium-high level network.

Cisco Certificate Tier

In general, Cisco certification is divided into three levels, namely Associate, Professional and Expert. To understand more deeply, the following description.

1. Associate Level: CCNA

Cisco CCNA is a type of computer network expertise certification from Cisco Systems for entry-level/associate (beginner) levels. The owner of this certificate is expected to be able to design, build, and maintain LAN/WAN systems for up to 100 devices.

Then the owner of this certificate can also continue the next Cisco certification, namely CCNA, which leads to one of the computer network specializations, namely CCNA Telepresence, CCNA Security, and CCNA Wireless.

2. Professional Level: CCNP

At this level, the Cisco Certified Network Professional is the most popular certification. This certification indicates that the owner has expertise at a professional level. Additionally, certificate holders can design, build, and maintain up to 500 devices.

The requirement to have this certificate is to already have a CCNA certificate. At the professional level, there are Jennings other than CCNP, namely CCDP, CCIP, CCSP, and CCVP.

3. Expert Level: CCIE

The top and last level are Expert, the owner of this certificate is known as an expert in the field of network technology according to the certificate. CCIE stands for Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert.

To get it, the certification exam that is carried out is not only written but also practical, increasing the difficulty level.

Careerpaths and Job Opportunities from CCNA

For those of you who want to participate in the Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions (CCNA) v1.0 training, here is the most appropriate job role! Among them:

1. The first is an Entry-level Network Engineer or a network engineer at the novice/initial level, who can help plan, build, install, and troubleshoot network or technology systems for customers.

2. The second is the Network Administrator, or a network administrator, where an organization whose responsibilities include the maintenance of computer infrastructure with an emphasis on networks.

3. The third is the Network Support Technician or a network support technician, who works to develop and maintain IT networks and monitor network performance, optimize server capacity, and secure networks and data.

4. Fourth, namely the Help Desk Technician, a person who is responsible for answering various questions from users regarding technical matters.

How To Get A CCNA Certification

Study materials will be provided for anyone who wants to obtain a CCNA certificate to make it easier for participants. Such as study guides, workbooks, laboratory books, and course materials from Cisco.

Suppose you have experience in studying the field of network technology. In that case, it will really help you understand the basics of networking.

Conclusion

The CCNA certificate is a certificate that can help widen opportunities for acceptance in large IT Network companies for those who have it.

This certificate is very crucial in finding work. Still, actually, this certificate is optional for everyone who has a career in the IT Network field.

However, large companies will generally find it easier to trust people with this certificate.