The job outlook of CCNA professionals

A look at the job prospects for those with certifications is one of the best ways you can evaluate it. This can be a bit confusing if the certification you are looking at has undergone a major overhaul. This can alter candidate expectations or even make it questionable if you should apply for the certification.

This article will discuss the Cisco CCNA certification, which is a network administrator certificate. It will also cover the CCNA overview, benefits, job opportunities, salaries, and job titles for CCNA-certified professionals. The article will also highlight the top US cities based on the potential salary for CCNA professionals. This article will help you if you are unsure about obtaining the CCNA certification and how it could impact your career, financial standing, and professional future.

Overview and benefits of CCNA certification

In February 2020, the changes that were made to Cisco Certified Network Associate (or CCNA) took effect. CCNA used to be a collection of various associate-level certifications. Employers would typically require CCNA professionals to hold more than one certification. These certifications were:

• CCNA Collaboration
• CCNA Cloud
• CCNA Industrial
• CCNA Wireless
• CCNA Security
• CCNA Data Center
• CCNA Service Provider
• CCNA Routing & Switching

All of these individual certifications have been abandoned, and now there is only one CCNA exam. This exam is meant to make it easier for all CCNA professionals.

It's easy enough, pardon the pun. But how do you determine if you are eligible to take the exam? You have no prerequisites, which is great! This is the one thing that has remained constant from previous exam versions. This should be noted by candidates who have:

• Cisco Solutions: More than 1+ Year of Experience
• Basic knowledge about IP addressing
• Network fundamentals are a solid foundation
• CCNA certification confers the same benefits as before, despite structural changes to the certification exam. These benefits include:
• Career boost
• Recognize
• Salary/pay raise
• This is the first step towards other Cisco certifications
• Respect your coworkers more
• Global Acceptance
• This outline is less detailed than other career paths (such as Microsoft).
• You can validate your competence with the most up-to-date technology

There are many job opportunities for CCNA-certified professionals

The biggest question a cert holder has to ask is about the job opportunities available to them. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the employment outlook for IT networking professionals with CCNA certification will grow at 8% per year until 2024. This is due to the increased use of networking technologies and cloud-based services in the corporate world. In addition, networking infrastructures will be stronger until 2024 according to the business world.

The pay for CCNA-certified professionals is good, and you have career growth. PayScale estimates that CCNA-certified professionals can earn a median salary of $78,701, which is almost 30% more than the average salary in the United States.

Common job titles and salaries of CCNA-certified professionals

Next, let's talk about the logical questions: What jobs are available to CCNA-certified professionals? And what are their salaries? Let's talk turkey. Below are the job titles and salaries for CCNA-certified professionals:

• Sr. Network Engineer: $101,000
• Network Engineer: $75,000
• Network Administrator: $63,000
• Information Technology Manager: $86,000
• Information Technology Director: $106,000
• Systems Engineer: $75,000
• Software Engineer: $89,000
• Network Administrator, IT: $60,000
• $64,000 for System Administrator Network
• Senior System Engineer: $100,000
• Network Security Engineer: $87,000
• Cyber Security Analyst: $78,000
• Senior Systems Engineer: $98,000
• Systems Engineer, IT: $78,000
• Information Technology Specialist: $63,000
• Senior Systems Administrator: $85,000
• Network Analyst: $62,000
• Security Engineer: $88,000
• Information Security Analyst: $69,000
• Senior Network Administrator, IT: $82,000

This list isn't exclusive, believe it or not! You can see that CCNA certification opens up more opportunities than the one for network administrators. Instead, CCNA certification can serve as a launchpad to help you take the skills and knowledge that the CCNA cert validates into the vast reaches of the IT career industry.

This certification is also applicable to all IT-related sub-disciplines.

The top ten most lucrative cities in the United States for CCNA-certified professionals

Okay, now you understand that this certification is useful and will help your IT career. Next, you need to know where CCNA-certified professionals in the United States can increase their salaries. Here is a list of the top cities where CCNA-certified professionals can find work:

• San Jose: $94,000
• Washington D.C. $76,000
• New York City: $75,000
• Chicago: $72,000
• Houston: $72,000
• Dallas: $71,000
• Atlanta: $68,000

Conclusion

The CCNA certification is a good option for those who want to obtain an associate-level certificate to either become a network administrator or just validate their Cisco and networking skills. Although there have been some changes to the certification exam in 2020, they are mostly in terms of their structure. The result is simpler and more efficient for candidates.

This cert has a unique feature: it can be used to jump-start other IT areas. It does not make you a network administrator, but it can validate your IT skills and knowledge.