As of last week there are 279,000 MCSE's worldwide. I don't know what the CCNP numbers which is probably the comparable certification to the MCSE.
Everything else you said I completely agree with. John Kaberna CCIE #7146 NETCG Inc. Cisco Premier Partner www.netcginc.com (415) 750-3800 __________________ CCIE Security Training www.netcginc.com/training.htm ""nrf"" wrote in message [EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > Comments inline: > > > wrote in message > [EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > > > When I lost my job last year due to downsizing I weighed my options; > MCSE or > > CCIE...finished CCNP on April 30th so I guess that tells you my choice... > > HOWEVER, after getting the CCNP I began doing some job hunting, EVERY > > potential employer wanted MCSE/MCP and didn't care one way or the other > > about > > Cisco certs. I'm 48 yrs. old and really didn't care much about the MCSE > > because of the perceptions you stated (an MCSE on every corner), however I > > read several Microsoft books this summer (NT, W2K Pro, Exchange 5.5 & > 2000) > > but haven't attempted any exams. On a whim I took the CCIE written this > past Saturday. Didn't pass but I do > > believe the exam is far to easy. YES, to easy!! I came up a couple > answers > > short but really put no effort into preparing for the exam!! > > > Anyway back to CCIE, aside from the CCNP studies, which I finished in the > > spring, I read mostly from the Cisco CD (Internetworking Technology > > Overview, > > Case Studies, Design etc) and Lou's Token Ring paper (Thank You Dennis for > > the TR quizzes) but DID NOT read any of the popular books i.e. Halibi, > > Caslow, Doyle endorsed here. I didn't read them for a reason and that was > > to > > see if I could pass WITHOUT their input and if I hadn't scr*&^ewed up a > > couple security questions I would have passed AND THEN I would really have > > been PISSED....having a qualification to THE LAB and basically only > > theoretical knowledge base. I chose the CCIE route BECAUSE it was > supposed > > to be the crown jewel of networking!!! > > > > my .02 worth > > > > Rick > > > > > I'm not sure, but I think that you may have fallen into one of the most > common traps in the IT cert world - which is believing that the CCIE written > exam is comparable to the lab. I can assure you that the difficulty of the > written is perhaps 5% as difficult as the lab exam, and perhaps less than > 1%. Simply put, the difference between the written and the lab is like > night and day, and anybody who has tried both would agree, I'm sure (does > anybody out there who has tried both exams disagree?). > > About those books that you mentioned - Caslow, Doyle, Halabi, etc. I > believe that when people recommended them, they were doing so for the lab > exam. I can recall nothing in those books that was useful for the written. > But I doubt that there is a single person who has passed the lab lately who > has not read them. > > About your notion that the written is too easy, I agree completely. This > has actually been well-known within the CCIE community - that the written > exam was simply not getting the job done. Hence, Cisco is now rewriting the > written and it is expected that it will be much harder and more > representative of what the CCIE program will be all about. > > > You also stated that the Microsoft certs are more useful in getting work > than Cisco certs, implying that Microsoft certs are more useful than Cisco > certs. I believe that it all comes down to the interactions of supply and > demand that determines the value of anything in this world. It is most > certainly true that there are more positions available for Microsoft trained > people (higher demand), as a typical organization needs many more Microsoft > admins than Cisco admins. But that's not the whole side of the story, > because you have neglected the supply side of the equation. I would > certainly agree that if there were an equal number of Cisco-certified people > in the world as there are Microsoft-certified people, than the Microsoft > cert would be more valuable. I don't recall the exact numbers, but I do > know there this is not the case - there are many many more > Microsoft-certified people than there are Cisco people. The proof of the > pudding is in the eating. CCIE's tend to have better jobs than MCSE's do, > and this is because of the disproportionately low supply of CCIE's vs. the > supply of MCSE' that easily compensates for the lower demand. > > I'll give you an extreme analogy. My favorite spectator sport is NFL > football. We all know that star NFL quarterbacks make millions. But is > that due to some huge demand for QB's? Not really - there are only 32 NFL > teams, so there is a worldwide demand of only 32 starting quarterbacks. So > how is it that these guys, especially the stars, can make so much money? > Simple - there are at most 50 or maybe 75 people in the world who can be > legitimate NFL starting quarterbacks. Of that, maybe only 5-10 of them can > legitimately be considered to be star players. The point is even if demand > is low for something, the value of that thing can still be high if supply is > disproporionately low. Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=21642&t=3485 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
