Starting at the tail end of 2022, I decided to shift my certification and learning goals from the Juniper enterprise track to the service provider track. Since I currently work on the enterprise side, I come across most of what is required and used in the enterprise certification. I’ve always wanted to work at a service provider or just a company with that size of a network (and the corresponding protocols!). In lieu of working at an ISP, I’ve decided why not just start down the service provider certification track? This way I can lab and learn those technologies.
The key thing about this is that it’s got me excited and motivated to start learning and working towards a professional level certification again. I started this path over 10 years ago, back when I was in the Cisco Academy, I took and completed the first CCNP course. This isn’t to say I haven’t continued my certification and learning path, I’ve been achieving 1-2 certifications per year since then… Juniper, HP, Shoretel, I focused on learning what was required for the current role that I held. Along with that my original salary goals had been surpassed as well and that original need to have those certifications to open the door for job interviews slightly diminished.
Needless to say the goal of achieving a professional level certification 10 years ago kept getting put on the back burner!
I’m going to set a hard goal of at least attempting the JNCIP-SP certification by August 21st 2023! (Right before starting a Spanish class!)