CartWell unless you’ve been living in a cave like a hermit (perhaps studying for your CCIE lab) you are probably aware that the global economy is in either a severe recession or depression, depending on which news source you read. Globally, unemployment numbers are increasing dramatically as businesses cut expenses enabling themselves to become more efficient. The unfortunate ramification of this is that employer funding for training is becoming increasingly scarce. That’s the bad news.
There is a silver lining to this though: demand for knowledgeable workers is increasing for similar reasons. If a company can only afford to employ fewer people, then they need each of those people to be as highly skilled and adaptable as possible. Knowledge is power, and one of the many attributes of a CCIE is knowledge – after all, we’re the best of the best. In the past few months, myself and many CCIEs that I know have received more job opportunities than at any time in the past 18 months. Initially I assumed this to be an anomaly due to the contracting economy and then something clicked for me – CCIE demand by employers is booming.
The most common reasons I hear amongst students aiming for CCIE certification when I ask them why they are pursuing it include: sense of accomplishment; increased salary; better job performance; increased job security and a desire to achieve a higher level of knowledge in their chosen field. Generally I hear them in roughly that order. The average CCIE wage is over $100k in good times – in many cases significantly higher. The average CCNP wage is around $70-80k in good times.
What happens in bad economic times? As companies cut back, those at the top of their field, the CCIEs, either stay where they are whilst their team dwindles in size, or move to another company that needs the most talented workers. This effectively keeps the average CCIE wage at about the same level, with perhaps a slight decline. However, for the lower skilled CCNP level workers (and more so for the CCNA level and so on down the line) jobs become more scarce, both due to the reduction in overall networking positions and the increased competition for senior as CCIEs gradually move to take up the top roles in each organization’s network teams.
Now, this might seem bad – but there is good news. With such a large demand for CCIEs, there has probably never been a better time since the dot-com bubble burst to push yourself to upgrade your knowledge and ability to CCIE level. At IPexpert we provide the CCIE training industry’s foremost programs in the R&S, Voice, Security and Service Provider track to enable you to achieve this certification in the most compressed timeframe possible, whilst ensuring that you have that powerful level of knowledge that your job may require. Our labs and courses are designed to ensure that your time is spent most optimally with the goal of making the CCIE lab exam achievable in 3 to 6 months (after completion of the written exam).
As someone who self funded both my purchase of IPexpert’s self study products and instructor led boot camps for both my R&S and Security CCIE tracks (as well as the international flights to attend them), I fully understand the financial and time challenges that come with making a commitment to achieve CCIE certification. I can also say that from a personal development, a financial and a work lifestyle choice that was the best decision I ever made.
If you are interested in attaining your CCIE, so that you can also benefit from the additional level of security and satisfaction that comes with it, please send an email to sales@ipexpert.com and one of our Training Advisers will gladly talk to you about tailoring a program to your needs. After all, knowledge is power.
Cheers,
Jared
Tags: CCIE, Certification, Economy, jared, Job Security, Salary, training