Over the years, Cisco has maintained an unmatched reputation as one of the top IT leaders, offering noteworthy networking credentials that validate a candidate’s knowledge and ability to manage different products and services. If you’ve been in the IT industry for some time, then you might have come across these two terms, Routing and Switching, two of the most important skills in today’s IT networking domain. So, what exactly are these skills? And what exactly do Cisco network professionals do? In this guide, we cover some of the most important details of the professional level 350-401 ENCOR (Cisco Certified Network Professional) credential in Routing and Switching. The goal of the article is to provide in-depth coverage of this certification to help you achieve your career goals in the long run.
Below is a sneak preview of the CCNP R&S certification program to start us off.
Summary of the CCNP Certification in Routing and Switching
To begin with, the professional level CCNP certification in Routing and Switching assesses if you have the relevant skills and advanced knowledge of planning, implementing, troubleshooting and verifying LANs (local area networks), WANs (wide area networks) and IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6). It also confirms your knowledge of advanced voice, security, video and wireless solutions that will help you work collaboratively with other network professionals.
Requisites
According to the Cisco website, any previously earned CCNA badge in Routing and Switching or the CCIE credential can act as a requisite for the CCNP certification in Routing and Switching.
Reasons to Certify
Now let’s talk about the reasons to become CCNP certified in Routing and Switching.
1. Get Worldwide Recognition
Getting certified from a reputable vendor such as Cisco implies that your skills will be globally recognized, which puts in an ideal position when you want to advance your career. Validating your professional-level skills in routing and switching not only proves your knowledge but also sets you up for a fulfilling career in IT.
2. Improve Your Earning Potential
If there’s one way an IT professional can improve their earning potential, it is through attaining reputable badges. If you want to beat the competition or even gain promotion and full recognition for your skills, you will need to arm yourself with the right credentials. The CCNP certification in Routing and Switching is a tool for career growth that also comes with huge salary potential.
3. A Step Towards More Advanced Programs
Of course, every IT professional dreams of career excellence by earning advanced level badges. And the CCNP Routing and Switching puts you on the right path when you want to attain the other top-ranked Cisco credentials.
CCNP Routing and Switching Certification Eligibility Requirements
Like with most of Cisco badges, you are expected to have some knowledge of IT networking concepts before getting your CCNP certification in Routing and Switching. In addition, you need to excel in 3 tests to obtain your certification. These include 300-101 ROUTE, 300-115 SWITCH, and 300-135 TSHOOT.
Details of the CCNP Routing & Switching Exams
Let’s dive deeper into the details of thethree tests.
300-101 test emphasizes the importance of routing technologies. It covers several topics that include scalable Cisco routers associated with WANs, LANs, and IPv6 as well as your knowledge of progressive IP routing and addressing. During this exam, you will have to answer from 45 to 65 questions in 120 minutes.
Conversely, 300-115 is built around the switching technologies and deals with between 45 to 55 questions with only 120 minutes to answer them. To pass this test, you should have extensive knowledge related to planning, verifying, and implementing advanced switching solutions.
Finally, 300-135 exam covers your troubleshooting knowledge and skills. Usually, this exam will assess at least 15-25 items related to this Cisco credential and it has a duration of 120 minutes. All three tests are available in the English and Japanese languages.
Career Paths to Consider
Some of the most popular IT job roles that are built around the CCNP Routing & Switching credential include network engineering, support engineering, and systems engineering. The job skill requirements for these positions mayvary but what we know for sure is that all of them attract huge earning potential.
How to Train for Your CCNP Certification in Routing and Switching?
It is highly recommended that all CCNP R&S candidates should register for at least 3 separate courses to have a better chance of passing these exams. These courses cover specific exam concepts and include Troubleshooting and Maintaining Cisco IP Networks for the TSHOOT exam, Implementing Cisco Switched Networks for the SWITCH exam and Implementing Cisco IP Routing for the ROUTE exam.
Besides, you can prepare for your CCNP R&S assessments, using the exam dumps from reliable websites such as Prepaway. The major perk in adopting this training modality is that it exposes you to real exam questions as covered by the main exam. The Premium Bundle just for $99.99 will supply you with the preparation materials for the three abovementioned exams. Each package consists of a premium file with expert-verified questions and answers, a study guide and a lecture training course. What’s more, you can get access to free actual CCNP R&S exam dumps in VCE Format. To open both free and paid products you should download the VCE Exam Simulator that mimics the real exam environment. As you can see, Prepaway is one of the most reliable resources to start realizing your CCNP R&S exam prep.
Why is Cisco Retiring the Current CCNP R&S Certification?
Perhaps, you already know that Cisco will be retiring several certifications as well as exams in early 2020 and the CCNP R&S badge just happens to be one of them. Going by this information, the most likely replacement for the current professional level CCNP R&S certification is the CCNP Enterprise. These changes stem from a desire to streamline the Cisco certification program to give them a modern look that focuses on the latest IT skills.
Conclusion
To recap, CCNP Routing and Switching is a valuable credential that’s offered by Cisco to verify the candidates’ ability to manage network platforms. There are distinct roles within the networking domain which will require specific skills in addition to meeting other experience requirements. If you are looking to verify your advanced routing and switching knowledge, then this is one of the best credentialsfor you to pursue. The Prepaway website with its free updated exam dumps will boost your chances to do well in all three exams and gain the CCNP Routing and Switching badge.