Professionals who hold the Cisco CCNP certification today qualify for senior networking roles that pay a national average of roughly $109,000, with specialized tracks like CCNP Security commanding averages above $130,000. The CCNP has evolved considerably since its original ROUTE, SWITCH, and TSHOOT exam structure, and understanding today's certification format, career paths, and realistic salary expectations matters for any networking professional deciding whether to pursue this credential. Below is a current breakdown of the most common CCNP-qualified jobs, what they pay in 2026, and the questions most salary guides fail to address.[ziprecruiter][examcert]
CCNA jobs include roles like network support specialist, network technician, junior network administrator, and junior network engineer. With more experience, they can lead to network administration and network security. The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) credential shows that you understand networking fundamentals that employers use every day. It doesn't replace an employer's requirements, though. Each organization sets its own expectations for education, experience, and practical skills. This guide explains which roles fit CCNA knowledge, how starting roles differ from later specializations, and what to build beyond the exam.
Average Salaries of the Most Common Entry-Level IT Jobs
The Cisco ISR-AX, once positioned as a game-changing appliance for branch office application optimization and security, is now fully retired — Cisco's ISR G2 platforms (1900, 2900, 3900 series) that hosted ISR-AX reached end-of-life years ago, with all support services now unavailable as of November 2026. Understanding how branch networking has moved from ISR-AX to today's Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms helps IT professionals and network architects plan infrastructure decisions that will actually hold up over the next hardware refresh cycle.[cisco]
Microsoft has retooled its MCSE certification for IT professionals to include a major focus on the cloud. The company made the changes in response to the growing movement of IT resources to cloud-based solutions. According to Microsoft-sponsored research, cloud computing may create 14 million jobs and generate 1.1 trillion in revenue by 2015. The new MCSE certificate holder is expected to have more comprehensive knowledge of both on-premises and cloud resource technologies.
There is no doubt that the CCNA certification exam is considered one of the most daunting exams in the networking certification field. This exam has more first time failures than almost any other. In this post we explore some things that can help you prepare yourself better before sitting in front of that Pearson VUE testing station for the CCNA exam.