Hi Dan,
Thank you for the insightful answer!
even complete CCNA Exploration provide just very basic level of knowledge
I would say that this depends on the point of view. Looking from a CCNP's or CCIE's, the required knowledge for CCNA is relatively small compared to what is required for the higher certifications. However, even a CCNA is already a vast amount of information - me also being a university teacher and a NetAcad instructor for 10+ years, I have a good insight into the scope of CCNA and the way it compares to CCNP and CCIE.
So, most certainly, I am not belittling the importance and impact of CCNA. Whether it provides enough skills and knowledge for a particular job position - that's a different story, and it depends on what the job is. Considering the fact that there is even a CCENT certification that precedes CCNA, there is definitely a job market for both CCENTs and CCNAs, even though it may not be typical in our countries.
But out of CCNA Exploration courses, the CCNA Exploration: Network Fundamentals alone would not even suffice to achieve a CCENT. We both know that the Network Fundamentals course covered only the theoretical basics and people haven't even really laid their hands on routers and switches. Yet another fact is that the CCNA Exploration courses stopped being available in the Networking Academy about a year ago, so I am surprised to learn that Andrei has recently finished this EoL course.
Although some companies understands Cisco's certification system, so many companies are not aware of details. It just too complex.
This is actually surprising to me. The triad of Associate-Professional-Expert seems reasonably simple, as well as the existence of certifications in various tracks (R&S, SP, DC, ...). If we go into details about achieving a certification, maintaining it, going higher etc., then yes, it starts getting cumbersome but those details are relevant to certification applicants, not to companies.
Note that the question has not been "how to become expert on ..." but "can ... certificate help to find job". It's not the same question.
That is true - however, shall we actually support this approach? We both know that if Andrei has only passed the CCNA Exploration: Network Fundamentals then even if this certificate of course completion helped him to get a job, wouldn't both his employer and he himself be harmed because of lack of further knowledge? Who would truly be helped?
Best regards,
Peter
