Congrats! Congratulations! This means that you are ready to assume more technical responsibility. You will be promoted, which could lead to a raise. But take it one step at a. Here’s how you can ask for a promotion once you have earned your CCNA.
Is a CCNA a guarantee of a better job?
It depends. It depends on your company, their staffing needs and tech stack requirements, your previous experiences, office politics, your boss, the boss of your boss, and your current role and how you sell it. We can tell you one thing: never assume that certification will lead to anything. There is no promotion, no better pay, and certainly not a new and improved skill set.
Certifications are a great investment in your professional and personal growth. They are just one part of the greater value and benefit you provide to your employer. You can read through test prep materials, memorize terminal commands and facts rotelly, and still not grow as network engineer.
Is your goal learning or passing a test? We don’t want you to downplay the achievement of passing the CCNA exam (or any other exam). It validates everything you should have learned in the first two years of your job.
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Start training Learning is understanding how things work. While you can memorize the commands to add VLANs and assign ports, understanding the actual workings of the system makes you an engineer.
This knowledge will allow you to identify a problem and build a network. You can then perform at a higher level. These are the things that will get you promoted — the day to day.
Can’t I just ask already for a promotion?
The CCNA is a certification that shows you have set a goal and achieved it. Your company is more valuable because of you. It’s not clear if they will reward you for your efforts. As we have discussed, there are many variables at play.
Let’s look at the company’s size and status. If your company is small and you are half of a two-person staff, don’t expect to be promoted as Senior Network Engineer with a similar salary. A small team usually has many people. A larger team may not allow for the possibility of specialization. You can expect to be the go-to person in your team and that’s something you can boast about on your LinkedIn and resume.
Perhaps you are part of a large enough team to be able to perform specialized roles. You may have taken the CCNA in order get a boost from the help desk into networking. Bravo! Unless the job is already filled. If you don’t have the role, it’s a good time to make friends with the network engineer. You might be able to do some grunt work for them. They’ll likely be happy to oblige, and you’ll be ready to take their place if ever they move on.
Common misconception is that you cannot get experience in a job before being promoted. There are many ways to gain hands-on experience. This is where you need to be careful about office politics. Your boss, or their boss, might take offense at you moving beyond your normal work lane. Let everyone know that you are interested in networking.
Before you ask, get to know your boss
Different people may view certifications differently, especially if they have been in the industry for a while. Some people view certifications as valuable, a way to improve and demonstrate skills. Others supervisors don’t see the point. They believe that certifications only prove your ability to regurgitate answers to multiple-choice questions. The middle bosses are those who value your dedication to achieving a goal but don’t think you’re an expert yet. Their outlook is more realistic than others. Find out where
