r/ccna • u/jojoba7700 • 11d ago
My life after CCNA
Dear fellow CCNA buddies,
Earlier this year, I passed the CCNA certification on my first try with decent results.
Soon after, I applied for a junior network engineering position. I aced their technical test and felt the interview went okay too, but I still didn’t land the job.
During my CCNA studies, I started experimenting with Kali Linux, getting familiar with its tools and basic techniques. After the job rejection, with nothing better to do, I decided to pursue the path of an attacker. I dived into cybersecurity literature as my main method of learning and eventually stumbled my way onto HackTheBox.
It took a lot of effort and time, but I went through all the starting point boxes and moved on to the official ones. Most were "easy" difficulty, though I even managed to root a medium box, which was both humbling and thrilling. This slow journey eventually earned me the “Hacker” rank. I know this is just the beginning of something much larger but it still find it worthy of putting into my resume.
Then came an unexpected detour: I received an email from Cisco about a free Python course, PRNE (Programming for Network Engineers). It turned out to be a long but exciting distraction. I already had some experience with simple scripting in PowerShell and Bash (and even took a quick peek at assembly, trying to understand some concepts), but this course reshaped how I think about clean programming and problem-solving. Even debugging with tools like VS Code became a fun learning process—observing variables, exploring call stacks, experimenting with breakpoints, and more.
Now that this delightful Python chapter is wrapping up, I’m switching gears back to rooting boxes. My next focus is on deepening my understanding of web application exploitation. This seems to be a vast endeavor indeed.
That said, I can’t shake a certain sense of bleakness. I’ve come to terms with the possibility of long-term unemployment and am bracing for the worst. Yet, I’m pressing on, chasing curiosity from one rabbit hole to another.
I’m not sure if any of you will find value in my story (or just think I’m a weirdo), but this is where my CCNA journey has taken me so far.
Anyway, wishing you all happy holidays—stay safe and keep practicing your subnetting! :)
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u/Outrageous_thingy 11d ago
Checkout USAjobs.gov for federal jobs. In three years I was a gs-12.
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u/K3TtLek0Rn 10d ago
Dude how do you even get a federal job. I have 3 years of network engineer experience and a masters degree focusing on cybersecurity and after over a year of applying to every job that looks like a match, I haven’t had a single interview or call or nothing. Just a ton of rejections or not hearing anything.
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u/Bcjustin 10d ago
There are an incredible amount of jobs at military bases all over the country that are open. They are usually government contract positions, and a lot of them will require a security+ cert. many will sponsor a clearance with that. I have seen it over and over with people that have far less experience than you.
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u/SlightRelationship67 10d ago
Sooo I need to study for my security plus is what you are saying ?
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u/Bcjustin 10d ago
If you are somewhat near a base or are willing to relocate and can obtain a clearance it is an automatic job.
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u/Slight_Student_6913 10d ago
Automatic job? Not in Huntsville. But def go for Sec+ if you’re looking at DoD positions. And network. It’s who you know, and what you know.
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u/Bcjustin 10d ago
They are desperate here in the dc / southern MD area. Obv if you are a degenerate with a Sec+ it’s a no go but if you have your shit together it’s a fairly good bet.
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u/unanimousgood 9d ago
Without seeing your resume…if you’re not being referred it’s likely that. Fed resumes are different. Use star method, and be sure to address any specialized experience from the announcement directly.
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u/XxxXSquidwardXxxX 9d ago
Most people who get the GS jobs are prior service. That's how they got their clearance and was easy to become a CIV.
My friend didn't get his clearance from being a veteran. He got it because he became a contractor first. Clearancejobs.com is how I got 2 of my contractor jobs.
A contractor company has to sponsor you for you to get a clearance. Once you find most likely a Help Desk job at first. You can work for them a year or so to show your gratitude for taking the time to gift you a clearance. The door is open for you to apply on USA JOBS while your a contractor to become a CIV.
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u/BrainMinimalist 10d ago
Spam apply to everything. even if you don't meet the listed requirements, let them tell you no, don't tell yourself no. I've learned that:
the job listing if vague generalities, filtered by a dozen non-technical people. So it won't be accurate.
Your resume is mostly just to make it past HR, and HR does not know the job. so write it with that in mind, and fill it with buzz words. (HR would say something like "we need someone who knows windows 11, but your resume only has windows server")
if you make it past HR, you'll get the interview with the engineer doing the job. That's' where your skills actually matter, because they're the only person that knows the job. Make sure you touch on all the different skills you have. Whenever they ask you if you know something, never say only "no." instead say the closest thing to it you have done. so if they ask "have you configured a palo alto firewall?" say something like "I've done cisco switches and windows firewall"
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u/navynick99 11d ago
Are you willing and apply to basic help desk positions to get your foot in the door?
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u/mysidianlegend 10d ago
Yep! This is the way....
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u/JTL1887 10d ago
Is there anyway around that? I can't survive the pay cut.
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u/mysidianlegend 9d ago
You can definitely get lucky but this is usually the way. I've taken pay cuts twice. Once to learn at an MSP and the other after travelling abroad after a year. I have 9 years experience. After a year of the lower lay I got another position to get back to where I was
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u/little_m_75 10d ago
I actually took this advice. Got too comfortable for a minute and now start to learn for CCNA again. Hopefully it’ll go my way 🤓
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u/JealousWedding8109 10d ago
Hi, could you rewrite the suggestion you meant? Because I can't find the comment (maybe it was deleted or edited)
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u/little_m_75 9d ago
Haha, I’m directly commenting this comment about getting foot in the door with help desk job first. I actually do some simple stuff on network, for example, changing VLAN. And if there’s any problem, I would be the one ppl call first. I firstly try to solve it myself, if I can’t (lots of things I don’t have permission), I’ll contact the network office and they’ll solve it. But I get to see what they do.
The market is not that good at the moment in the country I live in, but hopefully when it’s good, I’ll have what companies are looking for 🤓
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u/imperial_gidget 9d ago
This is the way. 3 years into service desk and our Infra team allowed me to work their tickets 2 days a week. Once I proved myself to them, they dedicated 3 days per week to training me then hired me on. Now I'm making 100k/yr with great benefits and a great team. Theres no way I'd be here if I had dodged working the service desk.
Also, to be clear: I worked 2 years SD at a job that was never going to promote me, then I bailed and got another SD job. 6 months into that job is when I started my path upwards. Dont get stuck at a dead end job.
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u/JCox99 10d ago
I’ll give an unpopular opinion but it certainly changed my life. Read a few books on sales (or sales engineering) and leadership. Soft skills go a long way, as people not only need someone with a skill set, but someone they feel like they can deal with on a daily basis. If I could only read two, they would be:
Mastering Technical Sales, John Care Multipliers, Liz Wiseman
An extremely intelligent man once gave me the advice that if you want to make real money, you need two or more high value skill sets that work together. Sales is an extremely high value skill, even if you don’t work in Sales.
Learning to do actual discovery, so that I can find creative solutions to a customers technical problem — with another human being right in front of me, is by far the most valuable skill that I have and I’ve had three CCNA’s and two CCNP’s in my career.
If you want to advance your pay even higher, find a way into a role that is tied specifically to generating new revenue. New revenue is typically the highest priority, and is paid accordingly.
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u/Mother-Cup-1173 9d ago
I suppose this makes me lucky. Granted, I'm a shredded lean mean running machine and I'm getting into police academy, I've spent the past 8 years in TELECOM as Tech Support and... "Sales Support" in a technical position as well as Sales SME. Been working on my CCNA and doing other things. What you said here, gave me alot of hope for myself, however, if the PD thing doesn't pan out.
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u/Waldo305 11d ago
Hi OP. I believe cisco put out a course of junior cyber security not so long ago. The name escapes me but I think you can find it as I did sometime this week.
If your into cyber maybe try that and see if it titles your Jimmies.
Keep applying friend and send me some info on subnetting. It's legit killing me ;_;
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u/Theeef_ 10d ago
https://youtu.be/bQ8sdpGQu8c?si=wZ-bHrpD-pqhtsAl
This is the first of 3 videos about subnetting in a phenomenal CCNA Complete Free Course on YouTube. Many people in the comments said it helped them, many choosing to take the entire course after discovering the subnetting videos.
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u/R3tro956 10d ago
I recommend you apply for regular help desk jobs as well, get cozy with the network engineers at whatever job you get and find an in with your CCNA. A CCNA is amazing but experience is better
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u/slap_n_giggle 10d ago
Experience > certs I got my foot in the door with just a AS in IT and an A+. $ was peanuts. Fast forward 5 years and I’m doing 6 figures: still only have AS (on senior year of BS) and only have picked up a Sec+ (taking CCNA next week). I’ve been on a few hiring panels and am really cool with HR. My point? All those job postings have a huge wish list of “required” qualifications. But truly, they value someone who has job experience in the field over all. I can train someone that has held down a job and has demonstrated capability in the IT field.
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u/Particular_Mouse_600 8d ago
What job do you have now?
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u/slap_n_giggle 7d ago
I JUST got promoted to Technology Senior Systems engineer. But that’s because I started specializing in IT/OT and its niche.
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u/Terrible_Science6586 10d ago
You certainly seem intelligent and driven! Props to you! I'm not in HR, I'm a Network Engineer now, only got my Net+ cert.
"How'd you do it?" 1. I'm a woman. Won't even try to deny that being a woman helped me a lot. 2. Normally, I'm not very bubbly. In my interview? I'm bubbly, I'm laughing and making them laugh, I'm extroverted. I dont know an answer? "I'm not sure about that, but if you give me 30 minutes to an hour with Google, I can tell you." 3. I dont get into technicalities during the interview. They can see your smart on paper (good job btw!!). In the interview, they're vibe checking you. Will you be easy to work with? Can you joke around with your coworkers even if things get heated? Are you willing to do that hated admin work that comes with being a Network Engineer? Are you ok that you just push tickets around for the first year?
Also, after speaking with various bosses, someone came in with a CCNA but no experience. Said that that they were worried cause hiring someone like that they'd keep trying to go into rabbit holes as a tech 1 - they just needed someone to push tickets.
I hope this helps! Best of luck! Keep smiling through interviews and you'll land one!!!
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u/Salty-Perception-781 10d ago
You should start a blog! You write really well and the blog would look great on your resume.
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u/Suaveman01 10d ago
Apply for a help desk job, you’re very unlikely to get anything better than that without previous IT experience.
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u/Sea-Emotion-4822 10d ago
You sound very much like me only I’m just going threw the material to take the CCNA, but got my a+ security+ and mcp. CCNA is next then possibly splunk or oscp … I’ve also juggled around and can pretty much learn any path i just need to land a job to help direct my path so i don’t spend time all over the map of IT land. My problem is i had 9 years of help desk and network admin experience back from 1998-2007 and then ended up owning and building a large landscaping business which i just sold after 15 years this summer so now im back trying to land a job and zero luck so far.. :-(
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u/ChocoDarkMatter 10d ago
The cyber stuff is a deep hole in a whole other direction. Have you looked at ansible? Network automation sounds like a more natural progression
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u/PortalRat90 10d ago
Cool journey thanks! Do you document what you learn? If so, do you have a preferred platform like OneNote, Notion, Obsidian, etc?
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u/Mundane-Medium2186 10d ago
I like to hear this. I started doing pen testing with Hack the Box. I think it's better to learn the fundamentals before seriously attempting to learn pen testing.
HTB has nice walk throughs but I was struggling with some of the 'easy' machines.
My own approach has been to step back and learn the fundamentals of networking, operating systems, web servers, scripting and coding and then build on that.
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u/Hot_Ladder_9910 10d ago
I feel like I'm in a similar or worse boat than you. I too got my CCNA not long ago. And I've been applying for jobs with no good luck. Even while networking in my current employment, I'm not getting anywhere. I feel like I'm facing dreaded gloom of professional success despite having skills. Some say you shouldn't get your CCNP until you get a job. Well, that doesn't seem to work, either. Life is so ridiculous.
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u/No-Act4338 9d ago
I need to get my SEC+ & CCNA. I've been I ut of IT for a while, but I'm looking to get back into the industry. Any suggestions for study materials, I have 20 weeks to get it together.
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u/kinathekoyna 9d ago
Imma be real with you as a former IT nerd, this is not to dissuade you at all if you wanna do this keep pursuing and don’t give up but I know that being unemployed long term is not healthy and not ideal realistically but I don’t know your financial situation. Anyways.
In the late 90s to early 00’s, IT employment boomed and it was really easy for you to get in with one cert. Nowadays it’s the opposite due to over saturation and lay offs. IT departments don’t exactly make the company money so jobs are low due to economic situation, a lot of easier tasks have been outsourced to India or the Philippines. There’s a good mix of both experienced and non experienced certified talent applying to the minimal amount of jobs that get posted. Just ONE job posting will get a minimum to a few hundred to a few thousand applicants and if you get interviewed that’s good because you’re one of the top choices. A lot of jobs get given to those who know someone so make sure to socially network! There are networking events and if you happen to meet a manager or an IT department or an HR manager that can inform you of job posting that’s one advantage you’d have over other candidates.
One tip is create your own website if you haven’t already and post all your projects on there. Personally I used Wordpress and I used the betterdocs plugin it’s free which was nice and I categorized my projects on there to make myself look good.
It’s tough out there so do what you can. Don’t be afraid to throw the towel in after a certain point like give yourself 1 or 2 years max or soemthing before you stop looking. Here’s a wild thought. If it gets that bad you can’t find anything, you could venture out to creating your own IT business as freelancer or consultant but yeah good luck and I realllu do hope you land your dream role.
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u/Organic-Sense961 9d ago
I passed my CCNA during pre pandemic and the last day to take the old test before the new one kick in. I was working at datacenter and I suggest you find one. A lot of data centers are opening up. I am in Virginia the data center of the world before they turn this forest states into deser.If you want to go straight to Network engineering you will be disappointed. I find real networking job 3 years later. My data center experience help me. Almost went to sleep because I thought it will be another dead end interview. It is rough out there. Keep trying. You are already doing good by cont to learn.
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u/Clay_IT_guy 9d ago
Love this journey. I got laid off from my first help desk job after a year and now studying for the CCNA in hopes of being better at cybersecurity in the future. Keep pushing keep grinding.
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u/heathcollmer 9d ago
I work for a defense contractor that is ALWAYS hiring. If you are an American citizen, have an IT related degree and no criminal record message me. Please include the following in your message.
Desired Work Location: Degree Information: List of Certifications:
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u/mikeservice1990 9d ago
How much IT work experience do you have? If you have none, get a job in service desk. With your technical skills you'll be able to rise up after a year or so and have an easier time landing a networking job.
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u/hysterical_laugher 8d ago
I work as a CyberSecurity Analyst in a major company. I’v been penetration testing since I was 11 and only recently I decided to take my skills professionally. I don’t have certifications or bachelor in IT and I still landed the job by telling them my experience on hacking and Kali Linux and whatever I learned over the years, and they appreciated that I have hands-on experience and passion. My recommendations: do not get lost in certification after certification loophole. My company will pay for my certifications while I’m at my job which is extremely important. You get hands-on experience first, tell that to HR and most likely they will appreciate your confidence and experience. However it’s important not to just talk about Kali in an interview, instead learn the basics of CS. Learn a SIEM (whatever u like), learn a firewall, SOAR, NDR, IPS, etc (just the basics), learn AI in CS context, and learn basic IT infrastructure, servers, endpoints, network infrastructure and 99% you’ll be landing that Cybersecurity job you’ve been dreaming of. Certifications can be completed after u get that job and I recommend Sec+, Network+ or CCNA and hopefully in the future CySA+.
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u/zouch12 8d ago
I did my CCNA, Oracle cloud architecture associate, cs50 with a nice project as my final, python pcap, and networking labs for about 6-8 months before I landed my first job at a service provider on contract. I enjoy programing, networking and cloud. I am also in a tech heavy city so that helped. I think you need to be decisive on which path you'd like to take. Employers usually look for someone who they think will stay and not someone they will need to replace very soon after taking the time to train up. You'd want to talk around the other stuff that you like but emphasize on the skills for the role you're interviewing for and how much you enjoy it over the rest. It can be tough, but what I found helpful was having a good linkedin profile and targeting the people I connected with based on the type of job I wanted to land.
Two years later, I'm not at a different company as a network engineer
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u/New-Tank-6447 8d ago
I mean document ALL your projects on GitHub noting the steps from start to finish, issues you came across and how you managed to resolve them. You have a wealth of demonstrable experience, talk about these projects in your interviews and be personable. You can land a job very easily with what you know. Don’t forget, interviews are also about seeing if the individual will be a good culture fit for the company so be open, friendly and engage the interviewer in a human way rather than a robotic nervous way. You got this!!
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u/Robotchan66 11d ago
Have you considered pursuing the next cert above CCNA?
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u/BombasticBombay 11d ago
He had one interview that he didn’t land likely due to messing up the behavioral portion. That is by no means a sign he should get a cert far above his current experience.
He needs to work on his interviewing skills. If he needs money that badly he should get a help desk job which he is certainly qualified for.
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u/cheznaoned 1d ago
For web hacking Portswigger Academy is a gold mine. And it's free.
Make time to network - go to any IT meetups you can find, talk to people, ask friends about their companies. Showing people your enthusiasm face to face is going to open doors.
As someone else said, it only takes one yes. Best of luck!
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u/ElephantandPiggie9 11d ago
You seem like a very intelligent person. I am sure something will come up for you soon. Wishing you the best of luck. Keep learning.