Career after CCNA

If one wants to build their career in IT and technology then Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Certification Course can be the first step towards it. The certification equips the professional with knowledge in the technology and network domains. CCNA certification covers a wide range of topics needed for various IT-related careers. A career after the CCNA course can be a promising one.

CCNA course offers a strong foundation for the IT career and one can take it further in any direction. After doing the course, the students learn software development skills, the latest networking technologies and get trained as per various job roles.

Why get CCNA certification?

The CCNA certifications start from Entry certifications, followed by Associate, Professional, and Expert-level certifications. These certifications validate the professional's knowledge and skills in automation and programmability, network fundamentals, security fundamentals, network access, IP services and IP connectivity.

The scope of career after CCNA in India is huge. The CCNA certified professionals can work in different sectors as all sectors require skilled network engineers to supervise their networking infrastructure. CCNA certifications provide the knowledge and skills to install, manage and troubleshoot cutting edge networks. The certifications specialize in the domains like CCDA, cloud, routing and switching, service provider, security, wireless, collaboration, data centre, Industrial, and Cyber Ops.

Job profiles after CCNA courses

• Technical Support Engineers: The job responsibilities include doing thorough research, identifying, troubleshooting and resolving customer issues in a timely manner. The role requires taking ownership of solving customer issues and following the standard procedures for escalating the unresolved customer issues to the appropriate internal teams. Other desirable skills for technical support engineers are good written and verbal communication skills, strong problem-solving skills along with client-facing skills and the person should be a good team player. One gets to work on different IT projects and also work with different software, hardware, and systems. The average base salary for this profile is ₹5L per year.
• Network security specialist: It is indeed a crucial role as the network security persons are much in demand to safeguard the company against unauthorized users and security threats. They are responsible for supervising the computer networks for any unauthorised users or security threats. The job responsibilities include assessing the security risks and providing proper solutions. They need to find out the compromised part in the network and provide security measures for it. Network security specialists conduct regular security audits and prepare reports as per the audits, assist in disaster recovery and install computer security software. The average salary for this role in India is ₹11L per year.
  
• System Engineers: They are responsible for installing, configuring, maintaining and testing operating systems, system management tools, and application software. They are responsible for ensuring the best levels of infrastructure and systems availability. System engineers manage and monitor all installed systems and infrastructure. Moreover, the job requires one to monitor and test application performance for identifying potential bottlenecks, need to provide the solutions and work with developers to apply the solutions. They must maintain redundancy strategies, backup and security. The required skills include knowledge and experience in cloud technology, automation software, scripting skills and network knowledge. The average salary of system engineers is ₹383,119 per year.
• Information Technology (IT) Manager: They help to find out the IT requirements of a company and are responsible for implementing computer systems to achieve the company's information systems requirements. IT manager coordinates, plans and lead computer-related activities in a company. The scope in this role can either be focussed only on computer networks or in other cases, the focus can be on managing other electronic support systems and telecommunications systems. They must have a good working knowledge of security, computer systems, databases and data storage systems, network and systems administration and phone systems. Other required skills are strong decision-making skills and strong critical thinking. The average salary of an IT manager in India is ₹23L per year.
• Network administrators: They are responsible for installing and configuring computer systems and networks. They maintain the computer networks and provide solutions to all the network-related problems. The other responsibilities include assembling new systems, budgeting for equipment and assembly costs, consulting with clients to design solutions and specify system requirements. They maintain existing hardware and software and upgrade them whenever required. One needs to have patience, good interpersonal skills, attention to detail and problem-solving skills. The average base pay of the network administrator is ₹5L per year.

CCNA certifications can give a good career start in the IT sector and one can join various job profiles in this field. Some of the most popular companies in India that hire CCNA certified professionals are - Wipro, TATA Consultancy Services, Orange, Reliance Communications, Erricson, AT&T Communications, Accenture, JIO Communications, Vodafone, Orient Technologies, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Cisco Systems, Dimension Data, Tech Mahindra, and CSS Corporation.

Read more:

• What is CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional)?
• Career after DOEACC ‘O’ level
• Career after DOEACC ‘A’ level