Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
The CCNA certification was the first in the new line of Cisco certifications and was the
precursor to all current Cisco certifications. Now you can become a Cisco Certified Network
Associate for the meager cost of this book and either one test at $150 or two tests at $125
each—although the CCNA exams are extremely hard and cover a lot of material, so you have
to really know your stuff! Taking a Cisco class or spending months with hands-on experience
is not out of the norm.
Once you have your CCNA, you don’t have to stop there—you can choose to continue
with your studies and achieve a higher certification, called the Cisco Certified Network Professional
(CCNP). Someone with a CCNP has all the skills and knowledge he or she needs to
attempt the routing and switching CCIE lab. Just becoming a CCNA can land you that job
you’ve dreamed about.