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Hello there, my name is Hank Preston, and I\u2019m CCNA certified. Well, actually, I\u2019m also CCNP, CCIE, and DevNet Expert certified, but it is the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) that started me on my journey way back on August 8, 2004.<\/p>\n
20 years ago, I sat down for the first time at a Prometric testing center, heart beating fast, palms a little sweaty, and super nervous for my first certification exam: CCNA 640-801. I still remember the feeling of hitting the \u201cEnd Exam\u201d button and waiting for the results screen. I was sure I failed; there were just SO many questions I wasn\u2019t sure about. Did I remember my decimal to binary steps?\u00a0 Was the maximum hops for RIP 15 or 16? It only took maybe 5 seconds for the screen to pop up, but it felt like I was waiting for spanning-tree to converge after a root bridge failure\u2026 and not the rapid<\/em> version of spanning-tree, either. When the screen changed, I closed my eyes\u2026 I didn\u2019t want to know.\u00a0 But eventually, I opened my eyes and was presented with those glorious words\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cCongratulations, you passed!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n (Or something along those lines.)<\/em><\/p>\n It was an amazing feeling. I had done it<\/em>. I was Cisco CCNA Certified!<\/em> I was ready for my career as a network engineer. Well, to continue and grow my career.\u00a0 I was technically already working as a network engineer, but having the certification gave me confidence. It gave me proof that I had some knowledge about networking.\u00a0 Heck, it meant that CISCO endorsed me as a network engineer. It was a pretty big deal. When the hard copy of my CCNA certification arrived in the mail, I bought a frame and hung it on the wall.<\/p>\n Now for the slightly embarrassing turn in the story\u2026 three years later, on September 29, 2007, my CCNA expired.\u00a0 Phew\u2026 <\/em>I said it.<\/em>\u00a0 And it feels better to get the truth out. It wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t still value being CCNA certified. Or that I wasn\u2019t working as a network engineer anymore.\u00a0 Nope\u2026 what happened was\u2026 well, \u201clife.\u201d\u00a0 I was back in graduate school working on my master\u2019s degree while working full-time. I had to do some tough prioritizing, and I had to let my CCNA expire. I was disappointed, but I knew I could study and re-earn it again.<\/p>\n And re-earn it, I did.\u00a0 722 days after my CCNA expired (8 days less than 2 years), I was back at a testing center in front of a computer, tackling CCNA exam 640-802.\u00a0 In those two years, Cisco had updated the CCNA certification.\u00a0 In fact, I could have taken two exams, INTRO and ICND, instead of a single exam. But coming back to recertify, I was more confident and dove right into the single exam. I say more confident<\/strong><\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>but not fully confident.\u00a0 The nerves were still there, and by the time I was done, my confidence had dwindled. I was sure I was going to be back the following week for another attempt. But that didn\u2019t happen. I once again was faced with the wonderful words:<\/p>\n \u201cCongratulations, you passed!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n As I walked out with my results, feeling that same pride at being\u00a0<\/strong>CCNA certified, I promised myself I would NEVER let it expire again.\u00a0 And I haven\u2019t.\u00a0 In fact, I was back at a testing center less than a month later, taking the CCNA Security exam (I passed).\u00a0 And a month after that, I was back once more to take and pass the CCNA Wireless exam.<\/p>\n Why the rush,<\/em> you might ask?\u00a0 Great question.\u00a0 While I had been working as a \u201cnetwork engineer\u201d for several years, by then, I wanted to grow my career. I wanted to work on bigger networks for bigger companies. While I had my master\u2019s degree in information systems by then, something I was also very proud of, job postings, recruiters, and managers were looking for people with the practical skills to work on complex networks.\u00a0 Senior network engineer positions all listed Cisco certifications as \u201cdesired\u201d if not \u201crequired.\u201d\u00a0 And I wanted one of those positions.<\/p>\n Which brings me back to that day in 2004 when I first earned my CCNA certification, and then returned in 2009 to re-earn it. The skills I learned when studying for my CCNA were instrumental in helping me learn about wireless so I could add \u201cwireless network engineer\u201d to my skill set.\u00a0 Without the basics of the OSI model, IP addressing, and routing, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to tackle security topics like firewalls, VPNs, and intrusion prevention to become a CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional \u2013 the old name for CCNP Security) in September 2010.<\/p>\n Something else happened to my career in September 2010. I was hired as a Systems Engineer at Cisco. Working for Cisco had been like a \u201csecret dream\u201d of mine for many years. I mean, I was a network engineer \u2014 and Cisco IS networking. At that point in my career, I hadn\u2019t had the opportunity to meet many Cisco employees, but the ones I had met had left me in awe of their skills and knowledge. They gave me an example to work towards. Just interviewing at Cisco was an amazing experience.<\/p>\n I remember conversations with my hiring manager, Eric Knipp.\u00a0 We talked about what it meant to be a Cisco SE, how important technical knowledge and skills were for a Cisco engineer, and how he was impressed by my devotion and focus on earning certifications. At that point, I was working towards my CCNP Route\/Switch (the certification now known as CCNP Enterprise) when he asked whether I saw myself becoming a CCIE.\u00a0 He was a CCIE Voice cert holder who valued knowledge, experience, AND certifications to validate that knowledge and experience.\u00a0 I told him I\u2019d love to become a CCIE in the future. In later interviews with other leadership and engineers at Cisco, the knowledge I gained from studying and passing my certification exams was critical to standing up to the technical interview questions I was posed. One engineer asked me to do subnetting exercises on a whiteboard, describe how spanning-tree worked, and how lightweight access points communicated with controllers.<\/p>\n By the way\u2026 Eric Knipp is currently a Vice President of Sales Engineering at Cisco and STILL maintains his active CCIE certification and pushes his engineers to maintain and earn certifications. He champions a \u201cBeat the Boss\u201d challenge where he rewards engineers who can earn a new certification before he does.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Being certified didn\u2019t get me the job, but\u00a0becoming<\/strong><\/em> certified <\/em><\/strong>did. Without the Cisco Network Academy instructors and classes that introduced me to networking and put me on the path towards the CCNA, without the nights spent with Cisco Press books from authors like Wendell Odom, Kevin Wallace, and Tim Szigeti, and without hours spent practicing practical skills on lab gear scrounged from anywhere I could find it, my career would not be what it is today.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve heard this question and comment a lot.\u00a0 While I agree that certifications and their place as part of learning and building experience have changed, they are absolutely still a valuable part of any engineer\u2019s toolkit and value. I just did some job searches for different network engineering roles. Every single one of them lists certifications as required or preferred.\u00a0 And you know which certification showed up more than any other?\u00a0 The CCNA. Yep, 26 years after being released, CCNA is still recognized as a requirement for network engineers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s safe to say that I absolutely LOVE the CCNA certification.\u00a0 It continues to change the lives of engineers worldwide, and I\u2019m excited to be helping new engineers earn their CCNA certifications.<\/p>\n My first network engineering course was a Cisco Network Academy class at my local community college. Under the supervision of a wonderful instructor, I connected to my first router with a blue ribbon cable. Last year, I returned to a Network Academy classroom as a CCNA instructor. Helping the next generation of engineers make their first ping work was so rewarding. While some of the skills I had to learn when I earned my CCNA are no longer part of the material \u2013 RIP and HDLC connections, foundational topics like subnetting, spanning-tree, and VLANs are just as important today.<\/p>\n I\u2019m excited to be \u201cgetting back to basics\u201d this summer with the CCNA Prep program, refreshed for version 1.1 of the CCNA. Joined by Patrick Gargano, my colleague here at Cisco and fellow Network Academy instructor, we have launched \u201cSeason 1\u201d of our CCNA Prep \u2013 Back to Basics series to help network engineers prepare for the CCNA exam. This first season will cover some of my favorite foundational networking topics, such as VLANs, Spanning-Tree, EtherChannel, and the basics of routing. The CCNA Prep program is completely free, so register to join us for demonstration-based webinars where we look at the technical topics on the CCNA exam, provide access to practice questions, and downloadable CML and PacketTracer files to work through the exercises yourself! You can sign up for CCNA Prep here for free.<\/p>\n I know many of you reading this blog have your own CCNA stories. Please share them in the comments below.<\/p>\n Are you studying for your CCNA? Here are some helpful resources.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Use\u202f\u00a0#CiscoCert<\/strong>\u202fto join the conversation.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Share:<\/p>\n \n \t<\/div>\n![\"Hank](\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/blogs-images-new\/ciscoblogs\/1\/2024\/09\/hank-ccna-cert-1024x768.jpg\")
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\u201cBut Hank\u2026 that was great 20 years ago, but what about today? Certifications aren\u2019t important anymore.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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