In 2016, when you drive away on vacation to Nebraska, you have to phone the neighbors, or possibly go knock on their door, and ask them to feed your cat until you get back. Only, what if the neighbors are cat-hating weirdos? Or what if they forget to write down the code to your front door, and then it's just kinda, "Yeah, sorry about Mr. Snuggles. We couldn't get into the house. Who knew a cat could starve in just six days?"

Such is the cold reality of life when you have to depend on people to do things. On the other hand, what if you could just program the house to open a new can of tuna every afternoon at 2 p.m. and put it out for Mr. Snuggles with a nice saucer of milk? That day may not be as far off as you think. The tech-enabled tools that automate everything from home temperature control to driving are becoming more advanced hour-by-hour, and the Internet of Things is linking everything to everything else in a web of continually amplified convenience.

At the heart of it all is networking technology, a realm of routers and switches, servers and MAC addresses, sending and receiving. Let's face it, networks will probably design and deploy themselves someday. Not anytime soon, however, and that's why demand for networking know-how is currently red hot. With the right set of skills, verified by the right mix of credentials, you can practically pick your employer and name your salary.

Welcome to the ninth in our new series of surveys, launched in 2014, that are aimed at smaller targets. We'll still bring out the big bullseye at the end of each year for our annual Salary Survey. In between, however, we'll continue to take a more focused look at certain types of certifications.

For the upcoming Fall Edition of Certification Magazine, we're diving into the realm of networking certifications. Networking is a thriving field and our survey features more than 110 certifications in all. If you hold one or more of those credentials, then please pull up a chair.

For this survey we've added a dash of incentive to participate. If you take the survey all the way to the end, we'll thank you with either (or both!) of two incentives. You can get a free digital copy of the next issue of Certification Magazine. Or get a one-year print subscription at 40 percent off the normal cost. (Hate making decisions? Get 'em both! We don't mind.)

You can see the results in October, when our fall edition arrives. (Why not subscribe? No really, we promise you'll love it.) Also, in keeping with our recent custom, we've added a handful of questions at the end of the survey whose answers lie outside the realm of networking certification. Please humor us. We like sharing the slightly nutty stuff with you. And now, to the survey!

‍BIG THANKS to everyone who participated in our Networking certification survey! Watch for the results to appear the forthcoming 2016 Fall Edition of Certification Magazine.