I passed my exam ! (... but 4 more to go) (page 4)

termite 35

CONGRATULATIONS Simon, wow and well done- i'm so impressed I can't even work out the quote box properly -I have to re-type them !!! have a drink on me

Wow at Angharrad too; good to hear you're doing so well- keep it up

rem

UR,

Yeah, I didn't give myself enough study time. Thought I could cram for it in a few weeks (I had a free test, so I figured I'd go for it even though I wasn't ready).

I actually spoke to one of the guys at Cisco that writes the test at this function. He was like... "you know what the sad thing is? You just took the last hard test... starting next week it's only one hour instead of three and all that old switching crap is gone." Haha! Thanks a lot! He was a really cool guy, though. Some day I'll get motivated to go for it again.

My buddy has failed the lab twice now... and he's no slouch. Though I do think I have an advantage over him on the lab - I'm better at the hands-on troubleshooting stuff and he's better with memorizing the protocol subtleties. If only we could take it together!

It's sad, though, because there are a lot of certified people out there who don't deserve to even have an IT job. My gf is a network engineer too at another company and she just told me a story about a CCNP who asked her what Radius was. WTF??? LOL

rem

Utopiano Reformato

Wow. What a weird coincidence! To this day, I have never passed a "free or beta" exam. Because they were free, I guess I slacked off and took the voucher for granted and I always regretted it after the fact.

I am glad that the vendors eliminate useless information from the courses, but some of it should stay. I think the switching information is necessary and is a good review for everyone, but useless outdated legacy stuff like "DECNET, Banyan Vines, ArcNET & IPX" is just a waste of time.

Then again, there are those folks with photographic memories who I call "CTM" and "MasterCTM". There are certified technology memorizers working all over the industry. A fews years ago, a lexicon of buzz words made anyone sound credible.

Nowadays, with Fibre Channel SANS, filtering and security, remote control, desktop imaging, and wireless, having the OSI memorized will not be enough.

I have seen a few poseurs fall by the wayside. And there are still thousands of microsoft mouse monkeys out there with paper certifications and have never built a box from scratch, recover a failed drive, setup a token ring or ISDN link for video conferencing.

One reason I continue supporting Novell is because their courses always met ISO criteria and received college credit, which you couldn't get with MS unless MS had bought the school new computers to be included in a degree program. Even now, they can't get themselves certified as secure because their products are like swiss cheese.

But,back to the point. I hope you pass the CCIE next time. I have never met any CCIE's and I would be proud to be acquainted with one. I have about a dozen certifications of which 5 need upgrading. I will finish three upgrades before the end of the year and finish the rest before spring.

My new goal is to earn that CISSP and CTT before the end of 2004. In order to get new business and focus on security, I will need a few more acronyms. I guess CCIE is like becoming Eagle Scout and some of are still cubs and weebloes.

Prudence

Congratulations Simon - I'm so happy for you!

Prudence

think41self

Congrats Simon!

Now....if only Angharad could think of some way to celebrate with you.....

Tracy

Simon

It is a lot of time and effort (and money of course) doing and keeping up with the qualifications. I don't think many people realise how much work is involved in this in the IT field. I literally am using totally different tools and so on than I was just 18 months / 2 years ago and this is not unusual (thankfully, some bits stay constant though !).

Some qualifications tend to become devalued when too many people get them (the old MCSE for instance) because they are either about for a long time or are too easy but if you can get something that relates to in-demand skills where the certification itself is rare then it can help with recruitment and salary.

All the .Net stuff is still relatively new so that's what I'm going for. From contract agents I've spoken too, it looks like it's quite in-demand right now and hopefully this will grow.

If nothing else, having some good acronyms to put on a CV / Resume may get you shortlisted for an interview.

I do hate people who just get qualifications but can't actually do the job. It's one thing that has always put me off doing them a bit (that, and being lazy) as so many times I've worked with certified people who were useless. I think things are changing though and it matters what they certification actually is.

I'm not well up on the Cisco cert. but it sounds like something well worth getting ... go for it !

Thanks everyone for your encouragement, I really appreciate it.

Nathan Natas

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has always - ALWAYS - encouraged it's adherents to find employment having to do with WINDOWS.

If SOME BROTHERS misunderstood and relied upon their own understanding and concluded that the Society was NOT talking about software, you cn hardly blame the Society for that, can you?

Simon, you have done well indeed following the WTB&TS' admonition and developing your Windows Programming skills. May Jehovah richly reward you as you walk the cramped and narrow path to full C# and .NET certification.

No, I' not too #, am I?

ESTEE

Simon, now you know what the Society says about getting a higher education. You should be spending your time out in the service, preaching the good news of the kingdom. This old world won't be around for much longer. Would it be wise to spend your time persuing an education rather than doing the work that Jehovah God has specifically given to us through his earthly channel The Faithful and Discreet slave? Anyway, congradulations & good luck on the remaining four!

LOL @ Nos!!!! Too funneeee!!! Congratulations, Simon!!! I'm reeeeeeeally prouda yew!!! Visit Smiley Central! ... You're smmmmmart like....anything!!!! ESTEE

Country_Woman

Most of it is just adacadabra for me.

But - CONGRATULATIONS -

Does this mean that you can tell me why I can't use Internet Explorer on this forum (just Navigator) ?

Hope you pass the next 4 too.

Panda

Congrats Simon!!! I know you must be brilliant and I'm just so glad you've been able to realise your talents. This is wonderful news.

I passed my exam ! (... but 4 more to go)

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