CCIE vs Java/J2EE Programming. Comments invited.?

Question

Hi,

I have been working in telecom/datacom domain for past 4 years. I have CCNA, SCJP and SCWCD certifications. I find networking more interesting than Java. I would like people to compare top level networking job say CCIE with top level Java programming job (in terms of salary, job satisfaction, future opportunities etc).

Answer 1

I completely agree with the first respond, it is absolutely true that you have to be really grounded in programming before you can actually get the pay of your worth and more so there are many aspect of developments you need not only to know the concept but as well have a great deal of hands on experience before you can fit into a position that fetch the salary above an average pay. Cisco exam tracts is absolutely an easy access to greater height with a very discrete set of knowledge that if you take just relatively short period of two to three yrs to master, then you can count yourself equal to anyone in terms of pay in the field of IT. I love programming, I started with it but  now I am starting my Cisco exam tract because of what I mentioned earlier. Congrats for being a CCNA. I wish I were in your shoe.

Answer 2

You should stick to networking if your interest is there.

Doing thing you don't like is a form of torture.

There are too many Java programmers in the market.

So the pay is not very good.

Most of them do not have in depth knowledge of the programming language. However, only a few are good programmers. The good one get very high pay and the bad ones get average pay.