I started to learn for Cisco certification, CCNA, back in 2010 or 2011. It was so long ago that I don’t remember anymore.

Why have you started to learn for CCNA?

Back in 2010, I finished my University degree and I met a very good teacher who encouraged me to follow this path. Even now, I remember him saying that the CCNA certification will open many doors for me. Back then, I wasn’t very sure, but today I can confirm that it indeed brought a lot of opportunities for me.

The CCNA curriculum contained 4 modules. I did the first 2 modules in Moldova having Dinu as my teacher. I finished the last 2 modules in Romania.

NetRiders competition

I enjoyed learning about networks and how computers speak to each other. I was so excited about the Cisco curriculum that I decided to participate in the NetRiders competition (a competition organized by Cisco Networking Academy). I finished 4th in the NetRiders Moldova 2012 competition.

After passing the CCNA exam and obtaining the CCNA certification in July 2012, I was able to land my first IT job in Romania as a Help Desk Engineer.

I continued my studies with CCNA Security and, eventually, I passed the Cisco Certified Network Associate Security in 2014.

First role in a Technical Assistance Center

In 2015, I started to work for Juniper in its Technical Assistance Center (JTAC). I started to focus more on Juniper and learned for Juniper certifications. I passed the JNCIA-Junos exam in 2015 and JNCIS-ENT exam in 2016.

Unfortunately, because I only worked with Juniper technologies everyday I did not have enough time to continue studying for Cisco certifications. As a result, my Cisco certifications expired in 2017.

Don’t let the certification expire

A couple of days ago a read a blog “I am letting go of my networking certifications for now”. In 2017, I did the same thing as the author. I let my Cisco certifications expire. I thought that I didn’t need the Cisco certifications anymore. Now, I believe that I made a mistake and I needed to keep them active.

This is why I am writing this post today. If you still enjoy networking and you see yourself working in IT in the future, try to keep your certifications active. You never know when you will need them. By keeping them active, even if you do not work as a network engineer and you do not configure switches and routers, you are aware of the latest developments in the networking world and you can envision what can come in the other areas of IT.

After reading that post, I decided to resume my learning in the networking field. As the first step, I will start to prepare for the new 200-301 CCNA exam and I hope to pass it by September 2023. I will keep you posted with my journey.

Did you have to make the same decision? Are you interested in Cisco certifications?

Share your comments below.