IT Certification, the highway to satisfying careers

Since the advent of personal computers and the resulting automation of several mundane tasks there has been a large and growing demand for trained and certified IT professionals. Becoming an IT expert is not about knowing how to write programs or how to operate computers, it needs a much larger diaspora of skills training, orientation and attitudes. There are certifications in different niche areas of the IT industry. You could be a certified network expert, or a microsoft certified system expert or qualify for any one or more of the several similar certifications available. But without proper training and certification you can't land your dream job.

In the current market the largest demand is perhaps for professionals with Cisco certification. Cisco offers several niche areas in which you could get certified such as voice, network or security. Different certifications prepare you for distinctly different roles in the industry. For example a CCNA Voice certification prepares you for jobs such as voice administrator, voice engineer, and voice manager. The certification is proof that you are trained and able to configure and manage the latest technologies for VoIP infrastructure.

Career opportunities for people with Cisco certification are tremendously large. For example according to Certification Magazine's 2007 Annual Salary Survey the average salary of a CCNA professional is around US$74,810. And if the person has a professional-level CCVP voice-based certification beyond the CCNA, there is possibility of a 23 percent salary hike.

I personally haven't yet experienced the uniquely uplifting and professionally dispensed Cisco training. But I hope to sign up for a programme soon and get myself certified in one of Cisco's leading fields of IT. I am confident that this certification will catapult my career to great heights and enable me to gain respect among peers and colleagues. One of the sole aims of becoming a Cisco-certified professional is to get access to the amazing careers in the IT field. A field in which there is constant career growth and excitement of learning and implementing new technologies.