Cisco is getting a bit old though. If you want to go into networking I would suggest moving to Juniper. Their routers are a lot more complex and if you know them, you will find Cisco quite easy. Programming routers is almost like coding. If you know one language you will be able to figure the others out if you mess around and know what it is you want it to do. You can start with JNCIA and then do JNCIE. The only problem is getting a lab together. Not so sure where to get Juniper network simulators.
I was lucky enough work on the M-Series routers before going on my course last year since our entire backbone got overhauled
