""Howard C. Berkowitz"" wrote in message [EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > At 3:57 PM +0000 1/1/03, Peter van Oene wrote: > > >I would just like to reiterate that the graduate degree (master's or PhD) > >>provides you a whole lot more flexibility than the CCIE ever can. With a > >>graduate degree, you can branch out far and beyond network engineering. > > > >That this thread subsists continues to amaze me. The CCIE, challenging > >though it may be, is just a vendor test.
typical of internet news groups. the most unlikely threads just seem to go on forever. > > > > I'll admit it. I was waiting for an academic to notice that "degree" > was not spelled correctly. > > :-) > > Seriously, there's a lot of emotion tied to certification, and I > don't mean as a simple way to make cash fast. The society has > overemphasized formal education, undervalued practical skills, and > has massively undervalued pure logic. > > I can certainly remember, in the early seventies, when I started to > use certifications to get around HRdroids. But, before long, I had a > sufficient resume that it became a non-issue. > > My job-hunting skills improved as well -- since about 1976, my jobs > didn't correspond to a published job description, or, at best, > reflected a general need of the employer and we tailored my specific > job. One of the best strategies is to get ahead of the commodity > curve, and also to focus on the "niches" between complementary > technologies, niches where enterprises don't even know they need > specialists. Network management was like that for years. you missed your calling and your opportunity, Howard. you coulda been the first Nick Corcodilos. You coulda written the first Knock 'Em Dead or Parachute books :-> > > Studying the target enterprise, even to the point of recognizing > problems and figuring out solutions, can also be a big help -- "hire > me and I'll fix this." Now, some unethical managers may just take > your idea and run, so don't give away every idea. If you are a > consultant, there is a very fine line between demonstrating your > competence and giving free consulting. now this topic might make an interesting thread, if not entirely appropriate to this newsgroup. back in the days when I didn't know anything, it used to tick me off that it was so difficult to find anything written in English about networking or computers or programming. I was convinced that there were simple answers to the questions I was asking. Years later, I still don't know anything, and I am still convinced that there are simple answers to the questions I am asking. Call it progress. But you see the mentality here on this newsgroup, and on many other technical newsgroups. The question comes in the form of "I work at a company, and we want to do X so how do I do it?" I see the problem as stemming from the fact that someone was hired to be "the computer guy" and his boss expects that the computer guy he hired automatically knows everything there is to know about computers. Poor employee, afraid of losing his job, afraid of being replaced by someone who kows more, seeks out free help, mainly so the boss doesn't find out said employee's limitations. It never helps when the management you work for seems to believe that all you have to do is flip a couple of disks and the job is done. call it the curse of Microsoft, who made computing easy enough that most dummies could do most things, like install software. setting up a PC is no different than setting up a live streaming video over the internet for that technology stock conference we are going to have in three weeks at the hotel up there on the hill six blocks away - the one with the wiring infrastructure circa 1940. free consulting is something that tends to be part of the game, particularly with the higher end of the scale, so it seems to me. I generally don't have problems with smaller companies. of course their needs are usually simpler, and their management understands that they have hired on the cheap for their staff, and they consider bringing an integrator in once in a while as the more economical course of operations. The larger entities I have dealt with always throw some ridiculous clause into their RFP's requiring a "qualified" engineer to be on site for X number of weeks after installation at "no cost" Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=60067&t=59481 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
