I have a feeling that I'm going to regret doing this. But anyway, inline. The bottom line is that these aren't 'myths', but actual facts as to how Cisco engineers are perceived by employers.
""Tom Monte"" wrote in message [EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > I want to write about all the posts that use the words "real" CCIE. I hope > we can beat this into the ground and never speak of it again. > > > 1.) I think people should spend more time on technical issues and career > opportunities and less on putting people into categories. "Yes, I have less > Cisco experience than most people on this list, oh my god crucify me now!" > > Lesson: Everyone starts knowing nothing. Look, I never said there was anything wrong with knowing less than the next guy. The real problem is knowing less than the next guy and still demanding the same respect and pay as that next guy simply because you have a piece of paper, and then when you don't get that same respect and pay, then whining incessantly about it. Again, the problem is not that lab-rats exist, but that they have delusions of grandeur. > > > 2.) I have been working on Cisco certifications since 1999 and I frequently > spend a month studying for a single test, while it took me a month to get my > MCSE and a month for my CNE. I also only spent about $1,000 on those > certifications and at least 8k on Cisco study materials. I also read alot > about how the CCIE is devalued, because of the new one day format. You have > less time and cover the same material that sounds harder to me. > > Lesson: It isn't easy and it isn't cheap. But on the other hand, while things may not be cheap or easy, things may have gotten cheaper or easier. I'm not referring to the one-day test for which it is still unclear whether it is easier or not (in fact I suspect probably not). But the fact is that when something gets easier, it inevitably gets devalued. > > > 3.) Jobs only want someone with experience, but how do you get it? I didn't > get lucky enough to end up in a job where I got Cisco experience early in my > career. > > Lesson: No matter how smart you are, luck had something to do with your > success today. But so do things like hard work and ambition. Luck indeed plays a role in everybody's life, I would be a fool to say otherwise. But I believe it is also true that you can 'make your own luck'. When two groups of people are presented the same set of opportunities, the first group may exploit them much more effectively than the second group. For example, I'll make a digresssion here, the history of United States immigration (and actually immigration around the world) is replete with such examples, where penniless immigrant ethnic groups were forced to take the worst possible job opportunities or the worst possible farming land (because they couldn't speak English or due to overt discrimination or whatever) that the native population could not or would not exploit, but after a few generations, those immigrants were earning incomes equal to or exceeding that of the native population. How's this possible if your success primarily is dictated primarily by whether you were provided opportunities or not? It's not so much whether you are exposed to lots of opportunities but what you do with the opportunities you are exposed to that really determines your success. Taking it back to the networking arena, I know lots of guys who weren't provided opportunities to run networks. Rather, they had to 'provide themselves' with opportunites by basically hanging around the network guys at night or on the weekends on their own time. Or when their companies were offering network training to only a certain group of employees, they immediately finagled their way and played the corporate political game into making sure they were included in that training. These are just some examples of guys 'making their own luck'. This is the kind of attitude that fosters greater success. > > > This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for > the person(s) to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended > recipient, please delete the message and all copies of it from > your system, destroy any hard copies of it and contact the sender > by return e-mail. Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=44353&t=44342 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
