On 5/24/03 6:53 PM, in article [EMAIL PROTECTED], ""Jack Nalbandian"" wrote:
> My opinion on the matter remains the same: a bachelors is > functionally overrated by the typical manager. It depends on what you think the degree says. It doesn't say "I know the Cisco CLI like the back of my hand." But to me it does say that the person knows how to follow things through, has to have some fundamental planning and time management skills, and knows how to approach problems in a creative way. The majority of certifications out there don't really focus on problem solving - and I don't mean just troubleshooting. I remember a friend of mine who was reading the Cisco BGP book and asked me about the BGP FSM. He could figure it out, but had never seen a FSM or digraph before. It's a small example, but I had a couple of classes that went in to graphing theory and wow, it was used in real life. > The CCNP or other forms of > certification ARE known to the IT managers from my experience, but the > reason that they are waning in influence is precisely due to the "paper > whatever" myth that is being perpetuated, by of all people, techies! All myths have a foundation in reality. There are PLENTY of paper CCNPs and MCSEs. The CCNA is pretty much an all paper certification. I've met a bunch of them. A 1 or 2 week "academy" and then a few tests isn't the same thing as 4 years of study. To me if I was choosing between someone with just a cert and just a BS, same experience, then I'd pick the BS. > The point is that you do not have to knock down one in order to praise the > other. Certifications, especially those earned by individuals due to actual > need for knowledge in their career, should also be rewarded with > acknowlegement. And they are. You can put CCNP, MCSE+I and a whole bunch of alphabet soup on your resume and business cards. And many managers and HR departments like to see them, just as they like to see a BS. Most would like to see you have both of them. > I repeat, it aids in the > perpetuation of a myth that "all certs are earned through braindump > memorization." It is certainly not the case for a good many in the field. Yes, but it is the case for enough folks that it has started to cheapen the certs, just as grade inflation has damaged many universities. (For example, Stanford may be more prestigious than Berkeley, but at Stanford you can drop a class up to the day of the final. At Berkeley the deadline is 2 weeks. And the median grades at Berkeley are much lower. So I'd give more value to a degree from there.) This sort of thinking is why I've decided to skip the CCNP and just work on the CCIE. As long as Cisco keeps it insanely difficult with the lab exam being the majority of the work required it will be valuable. -- John A. Kilpatrick [EMAIL PROTECTED] Email| http://www.hypergeek.net/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Text pages| ICQ: 19147504 remember: no obstacles/only challenges Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=69600&t=69483 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]