How to Become a Cisco Certified Network Engineer

Cisco Systems Inc. has been at the top of the market of networking and telecommunications for a long time now. Recently scoring a revenue of $49.3 billion, Cisco seems to be continuously growing at a massive rate with its specialized interest in high potential fields like the Internet of Things. To certify Cisco professionals, Cisco has its separate certification program which is based on five different levels of difficulty and experience of operating Cisco. These are sub-divided in 9 different paths as well. These certifications provided by Cisco usually end up becoming the game-changer element when it’s time for applying for a job. Employers prefer individuals applying for any networking position to have these highly accepted and demanded certificates in the bag, as it clearly differentiates between an amateur and someone who knows what he or she is doing. In this article, we will be taking a deep look into a specific job position of Cisco network engineer, and talk about how the Cisco certifications would go on to help someone in fulfilling the requirements of this job.

How a person functions in the associated job

Before we inspect deeply into what responsibilities are associated with a Cisco network engineer, let’s take a brief look into what the job is all about. Being a network engineer, you would be required to develop, maintain and install computer networks within the organization and support users like the internal staff and external customers, and also troubleshoot frequently occurring issues. Furthermore, a critical aspect of being a Cisco certified network engineer is knowing how to design fresh networks specific to the requirements of the organization, something which is covered extensively in Cisco certifications.

Being a network engineer, it is also essential to be familiarized with specific network types such as LANs, MANs, and WANs. LANs deal with local networks; MANs link large areas while WANs are used for networking purposes of national or international scales. Other network types Cisco certified engineers is capable of operating include WLAN, GANs, SAN, PAN, DAN, and VoIP. As you already may have an idea, all of these networks are designed and utilized for specific purposes; therefore, it is crucial to be familiarized with them all.

What their responsibilities are

As of yet, we have covered the gist of the responsibilities of a Cisco network engineer, now let’s see some of the major specific responsibilities which fall on their heavy shoulders. Firstly, certified network engineers are required to establish a networking environment by configuring the system, ensuring effective installation and then documenting and implementing system standards. Secondly, it is essential to boost the durability and resilience of the current network environment which is the responsibility of a certified network engineer as well. Additionally, engineers who have taken Cisco certifications are able to maximize the network performance through consistent monitoring and observation, inspecting and solving problems and issues, planning for upgrades and integrating with network architects for the purpose of network optimization. Talking about network upgrades, it is also a significant measure to upgrade data network equipment so that it is capable of operating the latest stable firmware releases. Moreover, as a network engineer, you will need to undertake data network fault investigations in multiple areas using information available through numerous sources.

Ensuring the security of the network is perhaps one of the major responsibilities of Cisco certified network engineers, as they set specific procedures and standards, which are to be followed at all cost. Linked with securing a network is implementing adequate firewalls and integrating them within the security policy. Furthermore, network engineers report network operational status by carefully sorting through information and selecting relevant information, which would be used for managing projects. Apart from this, Engineers are expected to have a routing experience using Cisco IOS, COS, Juniper and IP routing protocols. Moreover, another requirement is to have the knowledge of switches, by troubleshooting layer one networks and understand layer two, layer three, and later four switching. Equally important is acting as a support for users or customers during their installation, as they may experience multiple issues, so it is required to solve them and troubleshoot the issues right at the moment.

You may also have realized that Cisco network engineers are also expected to have top-notch communication skills due to their interactions with both internal and external users. For instance, network engineers regularly communicate with project management teams, third-line engineers and service desk engineers to ensure smooth operations within the organization, especially pertaining to the organization’s networking requirements. Additional working skills include the ability to work in a team and different groups as the job requires a lot of integrating effort within the organization. The workload, as you might have realized also overburdens many highly talented engineers, so it is necessary to be mentally prepared to prioritize workload and take on a variety of tasks. Finally, engineers are supposed to have peak analytical skills so that when they are collecting and monitoring information, they can detect the right issues and patterns, which can be worked upon to improve the overall network environment of the organization.

How the training will help achieve success

So these were some of the primary job responsibilities, along with other skills a Cisco certified network engineer needs to master. Even though this might overwhelm any individual who is looking for a career in network engineering, with the appropriate Cisco training for the Cisco certifications, all of this would seem a piece of cake. Most of the Cisco certified network engineers have already taken the CCNA certification and CCNP certification, which are of the associate and professional level. Definitely, these are comparatively more tough and exhaustive to complete, but with a multi-modular Cisco training, all of the aspects and contents of the certifications would be covered extensively making sure that you too can achieve your dreams of nailing your certification examinations in the first attempt and becoming a Cisco certified network engineer.