From Dream to Reality: Unboxing My CCIE Plaque

[@prodigalSon3]

Truly inspiring my man, thank you for sharing. Your CCIE plague is so clean. Gotta QUESTION for you: I just passed the CCNA in Feb 2024 on my 2nd attempt and I'm debating whether or not to continue the upward path via the CCNP followed by the CCIE. My question is, and this may sound naive, "Did getting your CCNP and then CCIE open endless opportunities and job offers to work with Cisco Enterprise networks?" I've been job hunting for several months now and am seeing tons of Cloud Admin and System Admin job postings and a very small amount of Network Admin/Engineer job postings. Thanks for your time and I'm glad I stumbled upon your video. Be well.

[@andreking2k]

Apologies for the delayed response, but thanks so much for the kind words and your support. To be honest, the Networking world has not changed a lot under the hood and there's been few paradigm shifts. Even when something appears new, it's just abstracting a few layers that used to need to be configured/managed by the administrator, but under the hood it's still there. So the push to cloud is more so organizations adopting the speed to deploying infrastructure and you'll read trading capex for opex, etc., but most companies I've worked for the past 5 years have a hybrid network (on-premise physical hardware and a cloud presence), because they'll still need to support staff that go into the office (switches, firewalls, access points at a minimum usually). My real opinion has always be to just get in somewhere, even if it's help desk or support, and if you know your 2-3- year goal of where you want to be, which sounds like a Network Engineering, it will just be super quick versus someone that just wants to do tech. But that way you're possibly seeing a different side of tech (e.g., the security tickets, server, AD, etc. tickets that you may not see if you waited to land a networking role. Another option is to look at government positions, as there are less candidates for various reasons which makes the competition a little less than the corporate roles. But the seeing "tons of Cloud Admin roles..." again, most networks are hybrid, so you should aspire to know a little bit about the cloud (e.g., AWS Practitioner level knowledge). Getting ready to post a video about what I've done since getting my CCIE and thanks for the inspiration as I do shout you out in the video as well, lol. But not sure if this response helps you or not, but let me know if not and I'll try to respond better.

[@amariosakwe8834]

Congratulations Mr King. I myself am Striving for my CCDE and your story is definitely an inspiration. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.

[@andreking2k]

Oh wow, that's a big one there and definitely kudos to you for the pursuit and future achievement (as I know you're got this and future blessings on you getting your #). Let me know how it goes and wishing you all the best, and my apologies for the delayed response.

[@amariosakwe8834]

@@andreking2k No worries. Thank you for the encouragement and I will definitely keep you posted.

[@jeterw75]

Lifetime goal for me to get that plaque one day. Congrats dude! Very inspiring.

[@andreking2k]

I appreciate that, and just keep pecking away at it and you'll have your number one day as well. Apprciate your support and wishing all the best in this new year and beyond.

[@spiderjericho]

Congratulations on your amazing accomplishment.

[@andreking2k]

Thank you so much! In hindsight, it was definitely a journey but many memorable moments along the way and just glad I kept going! But again, appreciate the kind words and wishing you all the best in the new year and beyond.

[@MattSaunders1028]

HUGE!! Big congratulations!!!

[@andreking2k]

Thank you so much and it was definitely a life long journey and just appreciative of every opportunity along the way. Because that's also what it's about. Though this is a culmination of the hard work, there's no way to tangibly show the sweat equity, hurdles, solutions implemented, great teammates, etc in the journey (which each of us has), but definitely glad to get this one on attempt #3. But thank you so much for the kind words and for your support, means a lot.

[@eprohoda]

excelllent unboxing~ciao- =)

[@andreking2k]

Thank you so much, I've definitely been waiting on this box for a while lol :)

[@CiscoUtube]

What began with an unboxing became an epic story and message. Andre, your video absolutely captivated us. The team is raving over your success! We wanted to share our warmest congratulations to you, as you near the 1-year anniversary of earning your CCIE Enterprise certification. Truly, that plaque is a reflection of far more than your expertise, but the layers of grit and grind, hours, sacrifice, determination, strength, and focus that you have put in towards this incredible achievement. Thank you for this wonderful video. You did it!!!

[@andreking2k]

@CiscoUtube, I am deeply humbled and incredibly grateful for your kind words. Your message truly resonates with the journey and dedication it took to achieve my CCIE Enterprise certification. Your attentiveness and always giving back the community (even recognizing this tiny video) very often goes unrecognized and I just want to say thanks and let you know that I've seen tremendous growth over the past 20 years and am looking forward to what's to come. From the unboxing to the countless hours of study and practice, your recognition of my efforts means the world to me. As I near the one-year anniversary of earning my CCIE, I reflect on the invaluable support and resources Cisco has provided throughout my journey. Your tools, community, and unwavering commitment to excellence have truly been instrumental in my success. I am proud to be an advocate for Cisco, and I look forward to continuing to share my experiences and insights with others. Thank you once again for your heartfelt congratulations and for being a constant source of inspiration!

[@damtewmekke2659]

Congratulations King.That is so beautiful.

[@andreking2k]

Thank you so much and yes, it's here with me everyday and I saw one from maybe 8-9 years ago another CCIE showed me, and it has improved a bit in quality. Thanks again for your support, I truly do appreciate it.

[@BiggameTechJourney]

Congrat and this video motivate me study harder in A plus my tech journey. Keep it up

[@andreking2k]

My apologies for the delayed response, but definitely appreciate your support and the kind words. Yeah, just stay encouraged and focus your path on those technologies/concepts that truly interest you and you can see yourself enjoying for a bit. Once you start and get in, you won't be locked into a job/technology/etc, but you do want to find an area that you'll enjoy doing for a bit and hopefully in your role you will be able to work with and interact with other team members on different teams to see and learn various parts of IT. Stay inspired and wishing you all the best.

[@thembasibambo2692]

Congratulation's Brother, thank you for your inspiring words

[@andreking2k]

My pleasure and appreciate the support!

[@hamada99457]

congratulations!!!.

[@andreking2k]

Thank you so much!

[@kalithasanmahen9905]

inspiring brother !! good luck

[@andreking2k]

Thank you so much and yeah, this was a great reward for passing that exam (was pretty brutal - over 6 hours)

[@FedericoNdjoliEvita]

Please can you tell us how CCIE professionally changes your Life for sure?

[@andreking2k]

Thanks for the question, and honestly for me, this was more of a "lifetime achievement" effort, as it definitely would have helped more in 2016-17 during my first two attempts and I think the "superficial" value has changed a bit from the heydays. But I personally will always respect CCIEs and even those that attempt the exam, because of the sacrifice of time, sweat equity, and everything else that comes with it. Since I'm more in the cloud these days, and doing security related things as well, it's not gained/earned me a promotion or anything like that, but again, just something I didn't want to give up on from all the hours I had put in over the years. But again, that's just me personally, but I see how it could open up doors for opportunities for those that achieve it within their organization or elsewhere, just didn't for me.

[@regissan2]

Congratulations!!

[@andreking2k]

Thank you so much!

[@valdirmalaquias5390]

Congrats Andre! This is really difficult goal to achieve!

[@andreking2k]

Thank you so much and definitely takes perseverance sometimes (as this was years in the making). Appreciate the support and kind words, and enjoy your weekend!

[@MattSaunders1028]

Just under the 1 yr anniversary mark at this point :)

[@andreking2k]

😄yes indeed and time truley does fly!

[@damanioguynn8421]

congrats !!

[@andreking2k]

I appreciate it!

[@dcgirl7]

Congratulations Andre

[@andreking2k]

Hey Diane, hoping all is well and thank you so much! Hoping things are good for you and the family and wishing you all the best in the New Year. This one did mean a lot, and definitely glad to have it behind me, but always pushing myself for more knowledge!

[@maximepivi]

so when you pass ccie they send it or you have to puechase it separately?

[@andreking2k]

It’s yours for free (along with the sweat equity of course) but no additional money. You do need to login (they’ll send you a link) and request it (validate address and standard details)

[@maximepivi]

@@andreking2k thanks. Im going for my ccie. My ccnp rs got expired, lol.

[@ZKTheGreat]

Congrats!

[@andreking2k]

Thank you so much, I appreciate that!

[@ChineseSe7en]

How much does your salary go up with CCIE?

[@andreking2k]

I wouldn't know how to answer this, back in the day a CCIE could definitely almost always command around $200K, but the landscape has changed, and it depends on what else you bring to the table as I personally feel a lot of organizations have undervalued a great network resource like the CCIE. I think on average, with exerpience, being able to handle yourself in an interview, it's still hard to see a CCIE making below $130 - $150K here in the U.S.

[@ChineseSe7en]

@@andreking2k Thx for the reply Dre. I am looking to switch careers, and just finished studying CCNA. Gotta do more review though, before I am confident in taking the exam. As a pure beginner who doesn't know anything, I feel those numbers you quoted feel kind of underwhelming? From what I can gather, general consensus (and I can be totally off), it will take an x amount of time to get the CCNP from the CCNA, and another x amount of time to get the CCIE after CCNP. And in your words, such as "sweat equity," "support of family," "grueling" make me wonder from purely a salary standpoint if it is worth it? I know everyone is different, and there are endless variables to consider, but I know some dudes in electrical engineering and software engineering making 200k in what I feel like was a fraction of the grind. Makes me want to re-evaluate the return on investment.

[@andreking2k]

@@ChineseSe7en I hear you, and it's honestly tough to relate someone studying/coming in new versus someone that's got 15+ years in the game. For us taking it back then, it was the cream of the crop, but of course now Cloud roles, security (all types of flavor - should consider IAM roles), etc have taken flight and that's what I meant by networking is sort of undervalued/underappreciated a lot. I don't think salary/money these days would be the number 1 driving factor to get a CCIE coming in fresh, it's for those that have been in and it's of course the top cert. Everyone has their different reasons, but again, it's just a different day and time from 2012 - 2016 when I think the heyday of CCIE salaries was. Still worth it, but probably not in the "is the juice worth the squeeze" in what you're after (time committment vs salary). I'd probably steer you in more of a Cyber or Security Tool role, as I honestly don't know about developers 3 - 5 years from now to be honest, but Identity Access Management (IAM) and knowing OAuth/SAML and how to integrate it can pay pretty good in a skill that can take 1/2 the time. But like all things in I.T., it takes time in an environment to see various problems and learn methodologies for troubleshooting and being calm under pressure. That's why you've kind of got a loaded scenario there. But go with what you can see yourself enjoying for at least 5 years and one that you embrace the challenge. Cause this CCIE is super hard, and like I said, the numbers show that less than 800 (roughly 2-3 a day) achieve it across the ENTIRE WORLD... but wishing you all the best in either case and keep me posted!

[@ham_eed578]

You were in Afghanistan wow I am from Kabul 😊

[@andreking2k]

Yeah, beautiful country that unfortunately, doesn't get shown outside of matters pertaining to war. I enjoyed my time there and getting speak with the people of your country. Thank you for your support and for sharing you're from Kabul as well.

[@ham_eed578]

@@andreking2k thank you brother, I am Studying CCNP 📖 it's really hard any advice for me how to remember commands.