[grey_whiskers]

Every Cisco CCIE in the world that wants to work, is working. All of them. And making $100+ per hour in the US.

How does one transition to this? Is there "we don't hire Americans" / "we don't hire over 35" in this area?

[taxcontrol]

Transition to CCIE plan

Buy books, study, practice on home lab - repeat for each level of certification. Most can complete the full path in less than 4 years of after work hours study. Some can do it in two.

Certifications in order:
Comptia Network+
Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching
Cisco CCDA
Cisco CCNA Security
Comptia Security+
Cisco CCNP Routing and Switching
Cisco CCNP Security

LOTS OF study and lab time

Cisco CCIE written
Cisco CCIE Lab

Process took me 2 years and passed the lab on the 3rd attempt (typical). Got mine back in 1996

[Mariner]

“How does one transition to this? “

First, don’t listen to the CS professor.
Second, start the Cisco curriculum of self study.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-certifications/certifications.html

Expect to put more time and effort into a CCIE cert than you would into a BSEE. And far less money.

Just an entry level CCNA cert gets you employed at $30/hr +.

And never, ever think it’s going to be easy.