Hi Ben, These are purely my thoughts and they may be quite different from other people that will reply to you, I'm cool with that and I haven't looked at changing roles since I got my digits, so I'm interested in hearing other peoples opinions are too, particularly if they're different to mine.
When it comes to your remuneration negotiations I'm not sure I would discuss the time and cost it got to achieve the CCIE. I think the time for that is in earlier negotiations where you talk about your drive and passion for network technologies made you go that extra mile and pay for it yourself. I understand that there is extra tangible benefits in some instances to organisations linking to your CCIE number but I'm not sure if I would directly spell out the use of the number as a negotiating tactic unless you were aware that other job candidates didn't have a CCIE and you were trying to enhance your value (and therefore provide more justification to your compensation request) I'm a self funded CCIE myself and if a potential employer wanted to make use my the number to their advantage, I would hope to see some indirect advantage of that myself through interesting work, knowing that you are helping your organisation be more successful in the competitive landscape by not having to take as big a hit on services to win a complete deal on goods and services and therefore win more business and keep you gainfully employed. Not taking such a beating on services should also hopefully mean you can be offered a better compensation package anyway. As a rather poor analogy if you were to buy a house, do you really care how much it cost to build or how hard the builder worked on it? In the end, it's the end product that matters. A future employer that requested CCIEs for a position may not be directly interested in the cost of getting there because that is all absorbed into your asking price as well as your years of experience in technology and potentially any business domain knowledge you have too. While you sacrificed a lot to get your CCIE, part of the reward is the personal achievement as well as demonstration to the world you have the goods to become a CCIE. The financial recognition should also reflect your capabilities and expertise with the CCIE number being should be an extra level of recognition of your technical expertise. Cheers, Adam On Mon, Oct 8, 2012 at 4:35 PM, Ben Shaw <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi All, > > > > I was wondering what peoples thoughts are on the use of ones CCIE number as > a negotiation tool with a potential employer? I recently passed my CCIE > after taking a year off work to study. During that time not only did I > forgo an income I also paid for all elements of my study including the > following: > > > > - Complete rack equipment > > - Books > > - IPExpert Bootcamp and Workbooks > > - Three written exam attempts > > - Two lab exam attempts > > - Two flights from Australia to San Jose (one for bootcamp/exam, one for > exam) > > - Three weeks accommodation while in the USA > > > > I am now returning to the workforce and am negotiating with potential > employers and wanted some feedback on what may be the best approach to > attempt to recuperate some of these costs. > > > > I feel that the weekly income I earn from my employer is in exchange for my > services and does not automatically entitle them to use my CCIE number for > improved partner status when they did not contribute towards me obtaining > this certification. I feel that if my number is going to be used towards my > employer being able to buy equipment at greater discount from Cisco then > the costs incurred by me while achieving that number should be shared, if > not covered, by the employer. > > > > Disregarding any lost income over the last year I have spent around $25,000 > on equipment, exams, books, bootcamps, flights etc to achieve this > certification and would ideally like my next employer to agree to cover > some of these costs. I think the most reasonable ones to negotiate on are > the exams, flights and accommodation costs considering I don’t plan to give > them any books, equipment or training materials I purchased. > > > > Can anyone share their thoughts on if they believe my stance is reasonable > and if so what may be a good approach when bringing this up during > negotiations? I realise that while this may all be reasonable in theory it > may not be the best way to begin employment with a new company so should be > dealt with carefully. Does anyone have an experience in dealing with such > situations? > > > > Thanks > > Ben > _______________________________________________ > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please > visit www.ipexpert.com > > Are you a CCNP or CCIE and looking for a job? Check out > www.PlatinumPlacement.com > > http://onlinestudylist.com/mailman/listinfo/ccie_rs > _______________________________________________ For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please visit www.ipexpert.com Are you a CCNP or CCIE and looking for a job? Check out www.PlatinumPlacement.com http://onlinestudylist.com/mailman/listinfo/ccie_rs
