After completing the EC-Council Essentials Series, learners can ideally progress to further certifications to deepen their expertise in specific areas of cybersecurity and rise to the
ranks. One recommended path is to pursue the Certified Network Defender (C|ND) certification to gain a comprehensive understanding of network security and polish their skills in this domain. This certification covers topics such as network security controls, protocols, perimeter defenses, and securing network infrastructures. Another option is to pursue the Certified Ethical Hacker (C|EH) certification, which provides a broad overview of core cybersecurity domains, including ethical hacking techniques, penetration testing, and security analysis.