Cisco Certification Jobs: How to find the right role for yourself?

Networking is allowing the exchange of Data/Information by connecting two or several devices. Every sector, be it manufacturing, small and medium enterprises, banking and finance, service providers, defense and so on makes use of networking. Due to its omnipresent nature, networking has one of the fastest growing job opportunities in the IT Sector. Among all the players in the Networking industry, Cisco is the key player. There are a set of skills that the candidate must have to apply for the Cisco Certification Jobs. Imbibing these skills will make it easier for you to apply for Cisco Certification Jobs. The blog also provides information about the Roles and Responsibilities of Cisco Certification Jobs.

Various Cisco Certification Jobs Domains:

1. Routing and Switching
2. Security
3. Data Center
4. VoIP/Collaboration
5. Service Provider
6. Wireless
7. Cyber Ops
8. Industrial
9. Cloud

Let’s have a look at the Cisco Certification Job Opportunities in each of these domains.

Routing and Switching

A switch and a router are two equipment which connect two devices. These two devices communicate within themselves and different networks. Routers and switches are building blocks of any business from data to wireless networks. Routing and Switching include sharing applications, speeding access to information, reducing working costs, enhancing customer service, etc. The Cisco Certification Jobs Profiles in Routing and Switching Domain are:

Job Roles and Responsibilities:

• Implement, Manage and Configure Network Infrastructure within the company enterprise.
• Troubleshoot the networks (Local Area Networks and Wired Area Networks)
• Maintaining standards and documentation as products and technologies evolve and ensure backup of data
• Configuration, operation, troubleshooting, and management of Network related issues.
• Services infrastructure cost monitoring analysis and optimization
• Help in customer network services and, support engineering and technical teams.

Job Skills:

• In-Depth knowledge of Routing and Switching Concepts
• Configuring/installing/troubleshooting -Cisco routers like 2600, 3600, 3700, 2800, 1700, 1800, 2900, 1900 and 3900 series.
• Configuring/installing/troubleshooting-Cisco IOS and IOS-XR.
• Configuring/installing/troubleshooting – 2950, 2960, 3550 and 3560 and 3700, 3750 catalyst switches.
• Configuring/installing/troubleshooting -Cisco access points 1300, 1200 Aironet.
• Configuring/installing/troubleshooting BIG F5 load balancers (LTM).
• Configuration and troubleshooting on Cisco Nexus Switches.
• BGP, Confederation, Filtering, Route redistribution, Summarization, Attributes, and advanced features.
• OSPF Route Filtering, LSA Filtering Types of LSAs
• IS-IS Route Filtering, Route Leaking, L1 Router, L2 Router, and L1/L2 Router DIS and Configuration.
• Configuration LDP, RSVP and TDP Protocols and VRF.
• MPLS Layer-2 VPN and Layer-3 VPN, L2TP and QinQ Tunnel.
• BFD integration with SPF, IS-IS, and BGP.
• GRE and Tunnelling protocols.
• Configuring and Troubleshooting of IPv6 technologies.
• Configuring and Troubleshooting Site-to-Site VPN with pre-shared key and RSA signature.
• Configuring and Troubleshooting DMVPN.
• Configuring and Troubleshooting Remote Access VPN.
• Configuring Cisco Routers with different Protocols such as RIPv2, EIGRP, OSPF, IS-IS and BGP, Static Routing and different ACL permissions
• Working with High Availability protocols like HSRP, VRRP, and GLBP.
• Configure Cisco Switches with VLAN’s and VTP, STP, RSTP, MST and Working with Private VLANs.
• Optimizing the network by using Syslog, Local Logging, Net Flow and SNMP.
• L2 Security, DHCP, DHCP-RELAY Agent Snooping Arp Inspection.
• Multicasting – PIM Sparse Mode, PIM Dense Mode, RP, auto-RP, BSR, and MSDP.
• Implementation of Network Services and Optimization like NTP, DHCP, IP SLA, SPAN, and RSPAN.
• Managing application protocols (HTTP, HTTPS, FTP. LDAP etc), Blocking Unblocking the URL, VPM management, Layer and rule creating, layer managing, creating forwarder, introducing server to blue coat, sniffing the logs
• BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, STP, VTP, HSRP, VRRP, RSTP

Security

Network Security is evolving at a fast pace which requires more practical knowledge and hands-on skills to increase network security performance. Network Security Professionals understand the practices and compliance related to security along with learning about products and services. They protect the organizations from threats to their systems. Cisco Certifications professionals can design, configure and support the technology as a Security Analyst/Consultant and a Security Expert-level professional.

Job Roles and Responsibilities:

• Handling Network security-related operations and protect networks from external threats and attacks.
• Managing and configuring the firewall & IPS Technology. Testing of operations, support, and commissioning, of these networks.
• Analysis of IPSec VPNs implementation and Manage and Monitor all VPN connectivity.
• Knowledge to analyze, investigate and troubleshoot security-related information systems based on security platform reporting, network traffic, log files, host-based and automated security alerts.
• Work with the customer support team to solve customer issues and troubleshoot issues onsite.
• Perform security audits and standards, Common Criteria Certification, etc.
• Conceptualize and Build Security Solutions to integrate them with SOC of the operation center.
• Hands-on experience in Network Hardening.
• Knowledge of security best practice guidelines (ISO 17799, NIST, etc.)
• Experience analyzing network, event and security logs, and IDS alert logs
• Basic knowledge about Risk, Incident and Change Management
• Knowledge of Analysis of IPSec VPNs implementation and Manage and Monitor all VPN connectivity.
• Iron-Port, Worked on technologies like URL filtering, bandwidth management, malware protection, AD integration, Proxy authentication etc.
• AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting), RADIUS, TACACS+, ISE.

Skills required:

• TCP/IP networking including IP classes, subnets, multicast, NAT
• WINS, DNS, and DHCP, Network troubleshooting
• Familiarity with UNIX A plus
• Experience in network monitoring in NOC/SOC to identify security breaches, service outages, network performance issues.
• Hands-on with anyone Application Load Balancer (Array, F5, Radware, Citrix, etc.).
• Hands-on with a couple of Firewalls (Fortigate, Palo Alto/Cisco ASA, etc.).
• Routing, NAT, ACL, Object-Group, CTP, Transparent Firewall, Context, Failover, VPNs, MPF, VPN-Load Balancing, Zero-down-time-upgrade, Firewall management etc.
• ASA OS 9.x Features like Clustering, BGP on ASA, Dynamic Routing in multiple modes, OSPFv3 on ASA
• NAT with IPv6, Site-Site with IPv6 on ASA, SSL With IPv6, Failover Active-Standby & Active-Active With IPv6.
• Site-Site VPN, Remote Access VPN, DMVPN, GETVPN, SSL-VPN, FLEX VPN.
• Configuration and management of Next-generation firepower threat defense.
• Troubleshoot, escalate production problems as per operations processes, affecting the network infrastructure that includes Routers, Switches, Firewalls and Load Balancers
• Monitor L1 and L2 resources.
• Knowledge in service provider level networking with expertise in TCP/IP, Routing Protocols (OSPF and BGPv4, RIP, etc.). Knowledge of BGP, OSPF and IP protocols in MPLS & none MPLS Environment.
• VLAN-pair, Interface-pair, Signature tuning, monitoring, logs etc.

Data Center

Technology these days is transforming. Initiatives like IoT, Big Data, Cloud are the proof of the same. Business Transformation Initiatives rely on the Data Center Infrastructure of the company. The demand for Data Center professionals is increasing with ever-growing roles and responsibilities. These roles and responsibilities help you to gain skills in building, implementing, maintaining and troubleshooting the data centers.

Job Roles and Responsibilities:

• In-depth knowledge of infrastructures like Servers, SAN Storages, and Backup methodologies.
• Manage Data Center with Mechanical and Electrical Support, Cabling Infrastructure Support and Network Installation Support.
• Understanding components like Firewall, Load Balancers, and Switches.
• Install, manage and troubleshoot the cabling and hardware and infrastructure in the Data Center environments.
• For building these networks, the candidate should understand the virtualization technology and it’s impact on the data center infrastructure.
• Provide information about the layout model of cable infrastructure and equipment.
• Manage vendors providing network/hardware support and cabling installation services.
• Act as one point of contact for any escalations to first, second and third level groups.
• Serve as the escalation point to first, second and third level support groups.

Skills Required:

• Windows Server troubleshooting.
• Database Backup and Recovery using RMAN
• Expertise Installing, Configuring and Troubleshooting Data Center Equipments. Recommended Certification MCITP / MCSE, CCIE/CCEE/ CCDA/CCIP/CCDA/VCAP, RHCE, SNIA, BCNE/BCFE, CWNA/ACMA
• IOS-XR, IOS-XE, NX-OS, and IOS
• Cisco Service Provider (SP) platforms (GSR, CRS, ASR9k, ASR1k, NCS5500)
  Cisco Data Center (DC) platforms (Nexus 3k, Nexus 7k, Nexus 9k)
  ISR and Catalyst.
• IOS and Features, IRDP, NAT, SNMP, SYSLOG, NTP, DHCP, CDP, TFTP, FTP
• AAA Architecture: TACACS+, RADIUS, Cisco ACS.
• Network Management: Wireshark, SNMP, Solarwinds, Cisco prime
• WIFI device configuration, Firewall configuration.LAN crimping
• Router Configuration – knowledge of WIFI router / ADSL router
• Should have Advanced Unix/Perl Scripting knowledge

VoIP/Collaboration

Collaboration is combination of voice, video, data, and cell-phone applications . Network Video Engineers, IP Telephony Engineers and IP Network Engineers develop and advance their collaboration skills by taking up the Cisco Collaboration Certification. Collaboration personalizes omnichannel experiences, simplifies teamwork by getting people together. Cisco has launched several products like Room Kit Mini, Cisco Finesse, Cisco IP Phone 6800 series and Cisco Cloud Calling.

The Cisco Certification Jobs Profiles in the Collaboration Domain are:

Job Roles and Responsibilities:

• Design Cisco Switch, Router, Firewall, VPN
• Cisco AVVID Analysis and Design experience in IP Telephony System Administration, Configuration and Collaboration.
• Maintenance of voice and data network infrastructure.
• PC Components and Functionality to work on types of equipment which send and receive data.
• Work with customers and isolate/resolve problems with the equipment at a customer location or fiber network.
• Architect and support voice over IP System, manage and optimize voice and data contracts.
• Configure and secure route plans, route lists, device profiles, etc
• Review network utilization statistics.
• Consult and Audit Networks to determine technical requirement.
• Work with LAN/WAN networking components (i.e., PCs, Routers, Multiplexers, Bridges, Switches)
• Learn about Linux commands and Linux/Unix System Configuration

Skills Required:

• Cisco Routers – 1841, 2611XM, 2621XM, 2691, 2801, 2811, 2901, 2911, 2921
• Cisco Switches – Catalyst 2950, 2960, 3550, 3560, 3750.
• Cisco Switches – Catalyst 2950, 2960, 3550, 3560, 3750.
• IP Phones – 3905, 7941, 7942G, 7961, 7962G, 7965, 7970, 8945, 9971.
• Expansion Modules – 7914, 7915, 7916.
• MCS Servers 7825, 7835, 7845.
• UCS Servers – C220.
• DSP – PVDM2, PVDM3.
• T1 and E1 cards on VWIC, VWIC2 andVWIC3.
• FXO and FXS on VIC and VIC2.
• Codec – G.711, G.729, G.722, ilbc.
• VMware Esxi basics
• UC servers
• CUCM 7.x, 8.x, 9.x
• CUC 7.x, 8.x, 9.x
• UCCX 7.x, 8.x, 9.x
• CUPS 7.x, 9.x
• Soft Clients & Tools used – CCP, CIPC, CUPC, RTMT, rPSM.
• CUE – 7.0 on AIM and 7.1, 8.6 on ISM-SRE, AIM2-CUE, NM-CUE
• IOS – 12.X, 15.X.
• Protocols & Technology glimpse.
• Voice Gateways – H323, SIP, MGCP, SCCP, Dial-peers.
• Protocols – DHCP, NTP, TFTP, FTP, VLAN, VTP, DTP, Dot1q, RTP, RTCP, CRTP, POE.
• Mobility – Extension Mobility, Extension Mobility Cross Cluster, Device Mobility, Mobile Voice Access, Unified Mobility.
• VoIP Trunks- SIP Trunk, H323 Trunk, and ICT.
• High Availability- SRST, AAR.
• CUC- Mailboxes, Call Handler, Directory Handler, Interview Handlers.
• BAT- Add, Delete, Update & Maintain CUCM.
• CUCM – Call Routing, Call Restrictions, Route Plan and Time of day routing.
• Installation of servers like CUCM, CUC, CUPS on MCS, UCS.
• Troubleshoot – DNA, RTMT, Trace analysis.
• CAC – Locations based CAC, RSVP-based CAC, ELCAC.
• PSTN Trunks – T1, E1, ISDN PRI.
• Call Coverage – Forward, Hunting, Transfer, Voicemail.
• Exposure of GSM, VOIP, SIP, MSRC, RTP, MSRP, RCS, TDM, TCAP, LNP, SS7, SQL SERVER
• Should posses IP addressing/sub-netting knowledge and VoIP solutions like Asterisk, OpenSIPS, Kamailio
• Design, configure and troubleshoot QoS classification, marking and prioritization of network traffic.
• Should have expertise in CUCDM/Voss, IM/Presence & Jabber, Cisco Voice Gateway (MGCP, H323, SIP) & SRST configurations, CUBE-SP, Virtualization, and data networking experience.
• Configuration and support knowledge of VOIP gateways (6608, 2600, 3600, VG-200, VG-248, and MRP), PSTN connection types (FXO, FXS, T1 CAS, PRI) and control protocols (H.323, MGCP) Unity/Exchange integration
• URI Dialing – ILS Topology and Inter-Cluster URI Dialing.
• Media resources – MOH, Transcoder, Conference Bridges, Annunicator, MTP.
• Gatekeepers – Implementation and troubleshooting.
• SAF – Implementation between CUCM and CUCME clusters as well as SRST Devices.

Service Provider:

A service provider is a vendor who provides IT Solutions/Services to organizations and end users. A service provider caters to all IT businesses who supply products and services on demand. As the service provider domain is multiplying with fresh and innovative products/service, there is a demand for Network Engineers who can understand and implement this infrastructure.

Job Roles and Responsibilities:

• Interpret and Implement the Network Engineering Infrastructure
• Building IPv4 and IPv6 Service Provider Next-Generation Networks
• Verifying implementation and starting an end to end testing.
• Providing support to installation and operations personnel
• Providing suggestions to network architects on optimization and compatibility.
• Providing verification of a high variety of implementation.

Skills Required:

• IP Networks Knowledge: IPv4 and IPV6
• Switched Network Technology including Bridging, Switching, Link Application Control Protocol(LACP), Port Aggregation protocol and Flex Links
• Routed Network Technologies including Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) versus Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF), Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE), route redistribution
• Cisco Operating Systems and Platforms including Cisco IOS, IOS XE, IOS XR CLI operations, and configurations
• Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), Spanning Tree
• Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS), Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP)
• (MST), Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVSTP), VLAN, InterVLAN routing
• Managing IOS XE and IOS XR software packages

Wireless

Wireless Networks in organizations are growing at a fast scale. These wireless networks use radio waves to connect the devices to the internet. There are four types of wireless networks:

• LAN – Connects two or more devices using a wireless distribution method by providing a connection through an access point.
• WAN – Connects areas such as neighboring localities
• MAN – Connects several wireless LANs
• PAN – Interconnects devices within a shorter span, within a person’s reach

Job Roles and Responsibilities:

• Implement wireless architecture and design along with maintaining and troubleshooting it.
• Possess knowledge about WLAN (Includes knowledge about products and services)
• Perform Site Surveys and provide a review for the survey to ensure compliance with industry norms and standards.
• Capacity and performance analysis for wireless project planning.
• Provide direction and guidance to process improvements and establish policies for accomplishing work objectives.
• Experience is Mesh Wireless Networks

Skills Required:

• Cisco Routing-Switching/ Cisco Wireless/ Cisco Access Point/ Cisco Prime/ Cisco ISE
• HPE /ARUBA/ Aruba switching (commware, Aruba OS)/ Aruba Wireless (WLAN controller, IAP)/ Aruba ClearPass Policy manager ( BYOD, Guest portal, TACACS, 802.1x)/ Aruba Airwave device management.
• Cisco Wireless environment deployment and support experience
• Creating WLAN maps and diagrams.
• Bridges Cisco series 1030, 1130, 2000, 4400, 5508 wireless controllers.
• Cisco series 1130, 1230, 1240, 1300, 1500, 3500, 3700, and 3700 access points

Cyber Ops

Cyber Ops operations play an important role in protecting the system information by monitoring, detecting, analyzing and finally responding to the threat. Companies are setting up Security Operation Centers(SOCs) to monitor and act upon the vulnerabilities. Due to Cyber Crime, Insider Threats and Advanced Persistent Threats organizations are setting up teams who can control the security incident before damage. Hence, SOC proves to be an important part of the organization.

The Cisco Certification Jobs Profiles in Cyber Ops Domain are:

Job Roles and Responsibilities:

• Install, configure, Troubleshoot and Support firewall Appliances
• Ensure compliance with processes and adherence to standards and documentation
• Understanding the security implications that come with allowing TCP/UDP/ICMP services to transverse the firewalls.
• Build and Enforce Security Policies to protect the infrastructure.
• Monitoring solutions and understanding how they are performing.
• Expert knowledge and hands-on experience with internal routing protocols and configuration.
• Latest information about the latest technologies and security.
• Be able to work with cross-functional technical and business teams ad several levels of management.

Job Skills:

• Knowledge of implementing and managing IDS/IPS, Firewall, VPN
• Security Information Event Management (SIEM) tools(Administration/System Hardening/Vulnerability Assesment)
• TCP/IP network traffic and event logging
• Usage ArcSight, NetIQ Sentinel or any SIEM tool
• Security certifications, for example, Security+, GCIA, GCIH, CISSP, CEH, etc
• Work with Email gateway, EDR tools like Iron port, Proofpoint Titanium, Carbon black etc.
• Exposure in categorizing information security alerts from tools like SIEM, DLP, Proxy
• Strong exposure in handling Information Security Alerts from tools.
• Understanding of Operating Systems, Virtualization technologies, Network Devices, Cloud computing concepts, Web Proxies, Firewalls, Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems, Antivirus Systems, Data Loss Prevention, Vulnerability Assessment tools.
• Understands SIEM tools functionality and logic behind creating rules and filters, integrating with a different solution, for example, AV software, IDS, IPS, etc
• Understand network protocols like TCP/IP, UDP, DHCP, FTP, SFTP, ATM, SNMP, SMTP, SSH, SSL, VPN, RDP, HTTP, and HTTPS.

Industrial

Major Industrial Sectors are undergoing evolution. Robots, Vehicles and other networks are all connected to the internet. Automation is not only happening at the factory level but also at the business process level. These Networks have demands, taken care via inter-connectivity across the types of equipment and devices. Industries use IIOT (Industrial Internet Of Things) to control systems with automation and control.

The Cisco Certification Jobs Profiles in the Industrial Domain are:

Job Roles and Responsibilities:

• Provide Communications Systems Design (Conceptual, Detailed Design with documentation)
• Installation and Testing support remotely on site.
• Support Product Development Team and assist in implementation, installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
• Make the data flow highly available in an industrial environment (QoS, IP address, protocol, and hardware resiliency)
• Differentiate the capabilities of switch types Describe and set the operation and use cases for static routing
• DHCP use for IP addressing of devices and configuration pushes.
• The connection of a security component to a network device.
• Troubleshoot advanced Layer 1 problems such as mechanical deterioration, electromagnetic noise issues, and infrastructure mismatches

Cloud

Cloud Networking is one of the most effectual in delivering better business demands. Majority companies are using the XaaS offerings. Network Engineers, Cloud Engineers, and Cloud Administrators use the Cloud Networking Technology to cope up with the technological transitions. Cloud Engineers possess the skills to work with public, private and hybrid cloud models. The Cloud Professionals can design, automate, manage and troubleshoot Cloud Infrastructure.

The Cisco Certification Jobs Profiles in the Cloud Domain are:

Job Roles and Responsibilities:

• Maintain a 24×7 Cloud-based services
• Design, Deploy, Administer and Test the Cloud-based products
• Research and recommend Cloud Infrastructure Products and Services.
• Knowledge of networking in regards to security and performance
• Provide support for all the internal and client facing Cloud-based solutions
• Actively mentors all staff on the use of all Cloud-based services.
• Provide support for production network and servers.
• Knowledge of remote desktop software solutions, such as VNC, NoVNC, and Spice
• Reviews, evaluates, specifies, designs, maintains, and documents system architecture, system configuration, system monitoring, and system performance.
• Works with Quality Assurance and Engineering departments to troubleshoot system issues and deliver resolutions on time.

Job Skills:

• Azure PaaS and IaaS (Azure LB, Azure AD, Cosmos, Service Bus, etc.)
• AWS PaaS & IaaS (ALB, KMS, EC2, auto-scaling)
• Operate, manage Veeam Backup & Replicate similar backup technologies
• Gather information to define a solution on AWAS/Azure
• Provide AWS/Azure operations and deployment guidance and best practices throughout the lifecycle of a project
• In-depth knowledge and experience with Linux system administration.
• Experience configuring and using hypervisors, such as KVM, Xen or ESX
• Deploy Cloud systems such as Simplivity, Nutanix, OpenStack or Eucalyptus

The networking domain is expanding and a lot of engineers are opting for a career in Networking. Due to this growing technology, networking as a sector is rapidly increasing and will continue to grow as it benefits each and every sector. The Cisco Certification Jobs are high in demand due to the mentioned reason. It is a good time to assimilate the mentioned skills and in turn, apply for the Cisco Certification Jobs.