Wassim

Every now and then I read an article about the value of Cisco certifications, and how they are declining over time. Depending on whether the question is from a perspective of advancing in career through another Cisco cert, or from the perspective of choosing a network certification between Cisco and another vendor. The question can have two or more logical answers. If I had to start from scratch once again and study for a Cisco certification, I would consider this set of thoughts before engaging in the cert journey. Is the Cisco certification relevant to my job? In the previous CCNP Security curriculum for example, we had an exam for each Cisco security product: one for ASA, one for VPN, one for ISE, etc. You get the idea. So if you work with Fortinet or Juniper instead most of the time, those Cisco security certs won’t be as much of value as you think. But, one of the reasons that Cisco certifications are in constant demand, is that Cisco continuously adapts its exams to the ma...

Introduction Once I’ve finished college studies and entered the professional world, I had some regrets of not having continued my Master’s degree. At least 5 of my college classmates opted to continue studying to earn their Master’s degree. My excuse back then was “I do not want to study deeper Algebra and circuits. I’ve have enough of them. Besides, Master’s degree is for girls who want a stable job in academia.” I was spontaneous in my answer. But I was not completely wrong. Since I was graduating as Bachelor and having at the same time a CCNA certificate, I was confident in my ability to snatch a good job in network engineering. Back then in 2008, a CCNA was a pretty good value to hire. There are many types of college degrees. But if you are considering an Information Technology job, having a degree related to IT is helpful. This alone could save you a lot of time understanding the basics of computers. But if you don’t, it’s not t...