Is The CCNA Worth It?

Oct. 22, 2023, Post by Curtis



For most every one trying to move up in the IT field the CCNA is worth getting.

 

The only people who it is not worth getting is:

 

  • If you have a college degree in an IT field.
  • If you already have experience working as a Network Admin.

 

Having a CCNA will help you move up in IT even if you don't plan on going down the Networking path.

 

Understanding how networks work is valuable to all the IT fields. Networks are fundamental to everything that IT does and understanding network components, how traffic flows, and how to analyze connections between system will be a valuable skill.

 

No matter which IT field you work in you will be collaborating with the network team on a regular basis and it will help if you understand the lingo and the concepts that they are working with.

 

What Is So Good About The CCNA

 

There are very few certification that I would recommend people get. I feel like you can gain knowledge quicker by building practice labs than by studying for test. I think the only real value to getting certifications is that they look good on your resume and will get you an interview. If you don't have network experience to make you resume stand out the next best thing is a certification.

 

So spend the least amount of time getting certifications as possible and do this by only getting the most sought after certifications. It is tempting to just keep getting certification after certification but it is not the best use of your time.

 

The CCNA is so great because it will get your resume noticed. Combine the CCNA with one or two more highly valuable certifications and spend the rest of your study time doing labs to actually gain the hands on experience that will get you the job after the CCNA gets you the interview.

 

The other certs you decide to get will depend on what path you ultimately want to take but one should be a security cert. Security is also relevant to all IT fields. After that would be maybe a server, Linux, Microsoft, or cloud cert.

 

Why Get The CCNA

 

The number one reason the get the CCNA is that it will get your resume to the top of the pile. Hiring Managers love the CCNA and you will find this out by doing a search in Job search engine like Indeed or Linkedin. Search for CCNA and certifications comparable to the CCNA like CompTIA Net+ or JNCIA. You will see many more jobs listings with the CCNA as a qualification for the job.

 

I'm not saying that the CCNA is better than the CompTIA Net+ or the JNCIA. I have both the CCNA and CompTIA Net+ and I work for a company that only has Juniper network equipment. They told me that they were interested in me because I had the CCNA and not the Net+. The CCNA is simply more widely recognized by people in the IT industry.

 

CCNA vs CompTIA Net+ vs JNCIA

 

There are scenarios where the CCNA may not be the best certification to get.

 

  1. For instance if you are trying to get a job a specific company and you know that they use Aruba equipment you may want to get the Aruba certification.
  2. If you are sure you would rather work with a specific type of network equipmnet. For example many people think that Juniper is better that Cisco and not only that, Juniper is more commonly used by the service providers. So if you think that you would like to work in the large and complex networks that the service providers use the the JNCIA would make more sense.

 

CCNA Pros And Cons

 

Pros

 

  • The most recognized by Hiring Managers, even with companies that don't use Cisco equipment.
  • Gives general knowledge about networking, not just about Cisco equipment.
  • As it is a very popular cert, there are a lot of tutorials for the CCNA.

 

Cons

 

  • Difficult test.
  • Expects that you understand network fundamentals.

 

CompTIA Net+ Pros And Cons

 

Pros

 

  • Vendor neutral. Leaves you open to work with any network equipment.
  • No need to have any network knowledge.
  • ComTIA is well known in the IT industry.
  • As it is a very popular cert, there are a lot of tutorials for the Net+

 

Cons

 

  • Not as highly respected as the CCNA.
  • Difficult test. CompTIA words their test questions in a way that makes them more difficult.
  • Limited depth.

 

JNCIA Pros And Cons

 

Pros

 

  • Juniper equipment is popular and not many people have a JNCIA
  • Test is not as difficult.
  • If you already have a CCNA it gives you the opportunity to learn networking concepts not covered in the CCNA.

 

Cons

 

  • Highly focused on Juniper equipment. Less general networking knowledge.
  • Expects that you already know basic networking concepts.
  • Not very useful if you don't plan on working with Juniper equipment.

 

Wrapping Up

 

If your new to IT or just at the lower levels of the IT field and want to move up, having a CCNA is going to help you a lot. For most people it is not an easy certification to get. It may take you many months or even a year depending on how much time you have to study and how effective your study habits are.

 

Get started now so you can get a better job as soon as possible and start gaining what is really valuable in this world - experience!