What did you give up to get certified?

drrouter

What did you give up to get certified? Staying up with technology takes a lot of time, so surely something had to go.

Gaming?

Hobbies?

Kuroki

Nothing, I'm only 19 and in University

It's just been a matter between juggling between certifications and getting high grades at University

I don't really have a social life so...

Kuroki

drrouter wrote: »

What did you give up to get certified? Staying up with technology takes a lot of time, so surely something had to go.

Gaming?

Hobbies?

How about you? What did you give up?

cyberguypr

Sleep. That's what I've given up.

NOC-Ninja

1. sleep
2. social life and parties (I study while my friends party on the weekends)
3. I didn't go to my parents birthdays and father/mother days on my ccie studying days.
4. money - i spend my own money on my certs, labs, hotels, and etc.
5. BJJ training. I stopped training BJJ everyday.

anoeljr

Maybe a little gaming, but that's it. I usually go to sleep late in the morning anyway. I always study after I get off from work in the evenings. I usually go out with friends on the weekends or do whatever I want to do. I've never really been one to go out during the weekdays so I'm not really giving up anything there. I usually study harder during the week so I don't have to study on the weekend.

PJ_Sneakers

Sleep and hobbies. There is no such thing as free time anymore.

[Deleted User]

Social Life mostly. Similar to what Kuroki is in right now. I'm not anti-social or anything or have social anxiety just don't really care about it and I am somewhat shy in general. I'm not a very outspoken individual or the center of the party just quiet and reserved. Do my own thing mostly. That is what makes someone an individual. Would it be nice, yes. But that will come in time. While I am in school/college, its about getting good grades and getting certs to get a job. Once you have a stable job, the social life comes. Yes your not getting drunk and grinding, but it is more relaxed. Think about it. Most people you meet in college all go away and you most likely won't talk to them again not even on Facebook. People get busy and move on. It is all superficial anyways. I think that some people here go a bit overboard with certs (I almost fell for that trap also). Yes I do agree that they are important and have a lot of weight. But in the end, giving up events such as parent's birthdays is a bit to extreme in my opinion. Once your parent's pass away, you wont see them ever again It's over no turning the clock back. Just the memory of studying for a piece of paper (sorry didn't mean to offend anyone). I think you can have a proper balance between certs and social life and everything else. Spending $15,000 for a CCIE exam plus hours studying and lab material is just crazy.

It is a great achievement and shows dedication and motivation and true passion. But it can become an obsession. When you are young and in school/college, grades and certs I say are important and priority. You have the rest of your life to socialize, but one chance to get a good education and get some quality knowledge to get a good paying job. When you are working, I say lay off the certs. Pursue ones that are worth it and ones you want to obtain and find balance (2 certs a year I say is good). Stick with that over a time frame of a 20 year career and you have a damn impressive resume. This will not only continue your education, but you can still enjoy life at the same time. Somewhat immature on my part but YOLO! Haha. Catch my drift? In the end, certs do expire then what do you have? Nothing. Enjoy the ride. My little saying I made up is this. "Life is not a static route but more like a dynamic routing protocol" I had an eye opening experience this past year which opened my eyes to this. You may go down one route or another based on life circumstances. Let life takes its course. Enjoy doing certs! Don't make it a dreadful experience or your life. Once you make certs dreadful, you won't enjoy doing them plus lose your interest and possibly end up losing your job or possibly BURNOUT. I hit burnout and it is not fun trust me. Wanted to end it all (not kidding). Went for help, set some goals, got sleep and I now have a clear mind and perspective on life. One goal I have set for myself is to not be the "typical IT guy" (No offense to anyone here). Being overweight and playing D&D and watching LOTR and stuff like that etc. Yes I do enjoy LOTR and video games, but at some point, doesn't it get a bit old? This may be a bit perverted but I want to have a gf and "have fun". My parents told me one thing and I have lived with it for most of my life, "Balance." It really is the answer to anything in life. Sorry for my rant, just a good thread to discuss this.

NOC-Ninja

kMastaFlash wrote: »

But in the end, giving up events such as parent's birthdays is a bit to extreme in my opinion. Once your parent's pass away, you wont see them ever again It's over no turning the clock back. Just the memory of studying for a piece of paper (sorry didn't mean to offend anyone). I think you can have a proper balance between certs and social life and everything else. Spending $15,000 for a CCIE exam plus hours studying and lab material is just crazy.

My parents understood what I was doing. The truth is getting to the top is very rough. It will mentally and emotionally destroy you if you let it. You have to give up a lot to get there unless your parents are rich and they have made some calls to get you a great job. If you dont give up some things then believe me when I say that there are people who are willing to give up things to pass you . Its just the way it is. Its not for everybody to get to the top. Its how bad you want it and how much sacrifice you are willing to do.

To get to the top, you have to do things that other people are not willing to do. This means giving up sleep, parties and some family time. It is up to you to draw the line.

The more you get to the top. The more you will hang out with successful people. The more you will find out how tough they are with their time and how much they sacrifice to get there.

IMO, I would be there if **** goes down, accidents or deaths. However, on the CCIE studies, you have to spend a lot of time and concentration to get it. Its not like that anymore since I got my CCIE. lol

Also, I spend more than 15k on my ccie.

[Deleted User]

My sincere apologies NOC-Ninja. I didn't want or mean to offend you. I understand that the CCIE is a great achievement that few have obtained (like 1% of the world or something like that) But hey, at least your family is understanding and has unconditional love for you and what you are pursuing and you are willing to be there for your family and friends so hey god bless man and congrats on CCIE! I think getting to the top will take time also. You don't really see students leaving college and becoming CEOs of billion dollar corporations either or running Fortune 500 firms. Now I'm not a "jock" by any means or a "o let the gov't take care of it." I believe the people need to take action in their lives to obtain what they want. But don't become a workaholic and make it your life. I learned that from my ITRP interview at Google, the network engineer told me that. That is why when you are young, do these certs. You have all the time in the world to do certs and then get a good paying job once you leave. I have one lined up making about $65k out of school and I don't graduate for another 6 months. If I get my CCNA before then, instant 8k raise so I will be sitting pretty damn pretty out of school. That's what I have lived and believed in and I'm making it pretty good so far. The saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks is in place for a reason. Haha. People don't climb Mt. Everest in one day. And then what happens when you "reach the top"? You would want more I assume out of life.

Nafe92014

I have given up some family time in my studies. I do meet with some old friends the odd time to catch up on things. Once I go back to tech college in September, people will realize that I'm willing to sacrifice my free time to get my degree/certifications.

instant000

I also feel that somethings have to give, and you have to be willing to go that extra mile.

It doesn't mean that you're becoming a hermit. In my case, it just means that I choose to cut back on entertainment.

I mean, think about it. If I don't watch 3 hours of LOL CATs on You-tube a day, and skip out on the weekend TV binges during the football season, that's a ton of time that I might be able to use towards studies.

Of course, not all of it, but even just a couple hours a day, over time, makes a big difference.

Also, not all of us have great study skills, and we kind of work at this stuff via trial-and-error. I don't know why it took so long, but I've just now started looking into different methods to make my studies more efficient. I can catch on to stuff easily, but the issue that I have is retention, which I have to ingrain via repetition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI

Warning: Don't have too much leisure time on YouTube!

Hope this helps!

N2IT

Honestly, too much IMO.

Money not so much, but the time you can't get back. I neglected my family for a few years off and on studying for certifications. While I do believe certifications can give an individual an added advantage in the market place, those situations are few and far between. Most IT professional can get away with getting 1 - 2 certifications and having a very productive career. I know quite a few actually from being in the industry and networking at local events.

***There are always exceptions such as networking and security.

My advice is to make sure you really think about it before you pull the trigger. Jumping into the world of certs with no direction is really naive.

Magmadragoon

I think I have gave up some family time and sleep for studying for certifications. Do not really have a social life so that is already out of the picure. I like to learn new things and implement them so that is why I enjoy studying for certifications.

[Deleted User]

There are some certs that are out there that just want your money (hint most vendors want your money). But in reality, once your cert expires, you can't get that time back. Just "O I passed yeah!!" which is a great feeling yes. But also, once it expires, you can't get it back. Also, some vendors such as VCP and CEH require you attend a $3,000+ instructor lead course to take the exam. With CEH for example, self study: $500 for the voucher, $100 app fee and O if we think you don't have enough experience, we keep you money and deny you the right to self study. And the training material for the cert also (books CBT etc. easy $200-300). In reality, it is all about research and knowing the ones to obtain that are worth it, and the ones that are money grabbers. Finding a strategy to renew your previous certs by taking a more advance one is the best way. Ex: Renew Securitry+ by taking the CCNA Security. Take the CCENT then CCNA Security. You not only renew your Security+, but you renew your CCENT as well. That is the plan/strategy you need to have when taking certs. That is what I have learned at least and I think some of you can agree with me. Going half cocked and taking a cert because it is a cert is cool, but the real question is, is it worth it in the long run? I say after Security+ from CompTIA, stay away. I'm doing Server+ because I was off by 20 points so I really want it. But from there, develop a plan on take certs that are worth it. Spending $15,000 for a CCIE + labs + other materials is not worth it. You are making your job your life and not enjoying the cert. Ultimately it can become a (SH*T storm). You stay up late after work studying. You then go to bed at 2am, get up at 6am, go to work, do bad at your job, get fired, unemployment line, etc. It is a vicious cycle all because you didn't research this before hand. Research and critical thinking can save you so much time and aggravation. Glad to learned this now and not have this affect me later on in life.

Jon_Cisco

kMastaFlash wrote: »

Spending $15,000 for a CCIE exam plus hours studying and lab material is just crazy.

I think you bring up some good points and it's good your thinking about this stuff.

I do however think that if you save this post and reread it in ten years your perspective will change. Life will shape you and you will realize that when still in school you really have very little idea what directions your life will take. You may feel you needed to do even less or possibly the complete opposite. I only suggest that when you have these life altering moments you realize they too will be altered again at the next turn your life takes.

In the bigger picture $15,000 is not much and if you can spend 4 years in college for a degree you can certainly spend 4 years studying for one of the top networking certifications and find justification in it. Unless of course it's not something you wanted in the first place. Then well you shouldn't have done it.

I give up lots of things with every choice I make in life. The good thing is there is no right path. I enjoy studying and I have spent a lot more money partying then I ever have on education! I hope to earn a new certification every year. I'm sure some years it just won't happen. That does not bother me at all.

shawnie66

stopped diploma 10 years ago.
worked as technician for 5 years.
working as networking engineer for 4 years, dealing with firewalls of just 1 brand, zyxel. never had real work related to severs.
tried n failed mcitp 2008 70-640 twice.
passed itil v3 foundation in 2012, mta 98-366 this month.
scheduled mcsa 70-410 tomorrow. gud luck to myself.
in 6th semester of my bachelor's degree in business information systems, 4 more semesters left.
that's a brief summary of my stagnant career lol

[Deleted User]

I think the CCIE is cool yes. But is it realistic for me, no. Is it obtainable in general, yes. I couldn't see myself studying all that time for a cert. I enjoy IT yes, but I have other interests such as guitar, swimming, listening to music, concerts etc and I want to see the world like going on vacations and exploring the world around me. I would rather enjoy myself along the way. I hit burnout this past summer and learned a lot from it about myself and my life. I took on too many certs in a shot amount of time along with being in school and my goals were unattainable and unrealistic. Lost interest, sleep, along with other things in my life. Certs are important yes, but my dad told me one great piece of advice. Certs don't make a man, it is what is within that makes him one. For me, certs will come with time. Doing 2 certs a year will be good enough for me. Nothing too crazy where I get overwhelmed, but enough to continue my learning curve, and still enjoy life and my interests while developing a strategy to renew previous certs I have done.

Kuroki

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

My parents understood what I was doing. The truth is getting to the top is very rough. It will mentally and emotionally destroy you if you let it. You have to give up a lot to get there unless your parents are rich and they have made some calls to get you a great job. If you dont give up some things then believe me when I say that there are people who are willing to give up things to pass you . Its just the way it is. Its not for everybody to get to the top. Its how bad you want it and how much sacrifice you are willing to do.

To get to the top, you have to do things that other people are not willing to do. This means giving up sleep, parties and some family time. It is up to you to draw the line.

The more you get to the top. The more you will hang out with successful people. The more you will find out how tough they are with their time and how much they sacrifice to get there.

IMO, I would be there if **** goes down, accidents or deaths. However, on the CCIE studies, you have to spend a lot of time and concentration to get it. Its not like that anymore since I got my CCIE. lol

Also, I spend more than 15k on my ccie.

I thought the CCIE was $1400 (roughly £1000) per attempt? Or is that just because it's wireless?

Kinet1c

Gaming - used to have an Xbox 360 and PC, both have been sold.
Sports - used to be heavily involved with a local sports club (coaching and playing)
Reading - I read a few chapters/week now but would like to read more books that aren't related to work

Having started a family recently, my time management has ramped up so I value every second of the day, whether it be spending time with my family or learning.

gorebrush

Time, time and more time. The money I've put into CCIE or any other certification I've got I couldn't care less about because it's all an investment. An investment in me. My wife will be the first to state that she will have missed out on family time - and yes that's true - I've spent a LOT of time going at the CCIE - and for good reason. You can't just walk in and ace the CCIE without years and years of experience or training.

However - to that point I will offer a counter argument - the time and money you invest in any certification is going to result in a better quality of life afterwards. Sure, 2 years of hard graft is a long time when you've only been married for 4 years (as I have) and together for 6 years, but being able to get higher jobs and more money is only going to help long term and can be enjoyed more afterwards. I could stay donig my 2nd line role for the next 10 years and be happy - but I want more out of life and certifications is how I will get it. They show how good you are as an engineer and I believe strongly that if you have a talent and passion for something - then go do it! If you want to settle and do the same thing day in day out - hey that's your call. It just isn't mine.

If you want something bad enough - you'll make it happen, no matter what the constraints - be they time, money, or whatever. Anything is possible - it's just down to you to go and make it happen - it ain't going to fall in your lap!

fredrikjj

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

1. sleep
2. social life and parties (I study while my friends party on the weekends)
3. I didn't go to my parents birthdays and father/mother days on my ccie studying days.
4. money - i spend my own money on my certs, labs, hotels, and etc.
5. BJJ training. I stopped training BJJ everyday.

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

My parents understood what I was doing. The truth is getting to the top is very rough. It will mentally and emotionally destroy you if you let it. You have to give up a lot to get there unless your parents are rich and they have made some calls to get you a great job. If you dont give up some things then believe me when I say that there are people who are willing to give up things to pass you . Its just the way it is. Its not for everybody to get to the top. Its how bad you want it and how much sacrifice you are willing to do.

To get to the top, you have to do things that other people are not willing to do. This means giving up sleep, parties and some family time. It is up to you to draw the line.

The more you get to the top. The more you will hang out with successful people. The more you will find out how tough they are with their time and how much they sacrifice to get there.

IMO, I would be there if **** goes down, accidents or deaths. However, on the CCIE studies, you have to spend a lot of time and concentration to get it. Its not like that anymore since I got my CCIE. lol

Also, I spend more than 15k on my ccie.

The thread asked about what you had to give up to get certified, and you answered that in the first post, but what you are doing in the second post is taking that personal experience and extrapolating that this is what it takes for everyone. Not sleeping properly for example is not what anyone with a clue would recommend if you want to learn something properly. I'm also skeptical that someone can consistently sleep very little without occasionally having days where the sleep deficit is recovered, say on the weekends.

Furthermore, will a person be more or less likely to pass for example the CCIE if they lose their friendships because the only thing they do is grind the Cisco CLI? You could argue yes, that's what it takes to get good enough to pass, you can't be at any social events and you must spend all time studying. You could also argue that a person that becomes unbalanced to that degree will not be in a good mental state, will feel like ****, and be more likely to give up. Giving up physical training completely seems like a moronic thing to do as well considering that being a good physical state can only help your focus.

I understand that you need to justify your own behavior, and the fact that you did pass does validate that it "worked", but that doesn't mean that it is the optimal route to take for everyone, or even the optimal route for you. What if another CCIE comes in here and says "yeah I studied 3 hours Monday through Friday by staying at the office until 8 PM, then I went home and hung with my wife, saw friends, trained and then on weekends I went back to the office like it was a normal work day and studied 8 hours. I made sure to get proper sleep, nutrition and exercise. Not much changed besides having to give up video games and essentially having a 7 day work week". It seems extremely likely to me that many CCIEs have done it just like that.

lrb

I studies on average 25 hours a week for my CCIE for about 9 months; which is approximately 900 hours. Some weeks were more than others and other weeks were less. If you throw in Narbik's 10-day bootcamp I would say thats about 1000 hours of time for my CCIE. 25 hours a week leaves enough room to have a good time with friends/family on the weekend, go the gym, etc. Certification is very important especially in a competitive market but it is possible to enjoy your life in addition to studying.

What did I give up? Procrastinating when I actually got down to studying - no IRC, skype, phone, etc

Node Man

I gave up:
1) music as a hobby
2) gaming
3) sleep
4) a social life
5) reading fiction

but ive also picked up:
1) a real career
2) a much higher income
3) a job i love and never get tired of

stlsmoore

kMastaFlash wrote: »

I think the CCIE is cool yes. But is it realistic for me, no. Is it obtainable in general, yes. I couldn't see myself studying all that time for a cert. I enjoy IT yes, but I have other interests such as guitar, swimming, listening to music, concerts etc and I want to see the world like going on vacations and exploring the world around me. I would rather enjoy myself along the way. I hit burnout this past summer and learned a lot from it about myself and my life. I took on too many certs in a shot amount of time along with being in school and my goals were unattainable and unrealistic. Lost interest, sleep, along with other things in my life. Certs are important yes, but my dad told me one great piece of advice. Certs don't make a man, it is what is within that makes him one. For me, certs will come with time. Doing 2 certs a year will be good enough for me. Nothing too crazy where I get overwhelmed, but enough to continue my learning curve, and still enjoy life and my interests while developing a strategy to renew previous certs I have done.

You have to remember though that this is only temporary pain, suffer now to reap the rewards later. NOC-Ninja went through this and even documented his process and progress for all of us to see. If I remember right he didn't pass on his first attempt either; but failure is also part of the process to succeed.

Node Man

In addendum - Certs are the language of recruiters. Many people are IT wizards without any certs at all.

JoJoCal19

Sleep. During my bachelors degree I did give up a bit of family time, at least in the beginning during the first 2 terms. I then switched to only spending time away from family in the two weeks leading up to exams. I had started working from home so I gained study time before work, lunch break, and when things were slow. When I started down the cert path immediately after graduating, starting with the CISSP, I made the decision to only study when it would not take time away from my family. So I would get up 2 hours earlier than normal before work and study. I also did some studying during work hours when it was slow , and at night as well. That's the formula I still use today except I now work in an office so no longer have 2 full hours before work, more like 1.

dave330i

Didn't give up anything. I invested my free time to myself.

hurricane1091

I don't game as much (was only really big into FIFA and NHL) and I don't bet/watch sports as much. Simply do not have the time. During the week I'm in the office all day, then come home and eat and go to the gym for a couple hours, come home and get cleaned up and study. Then watch a little TV and surf the web before bed. I don't typically study during the weekend, sometimes Sunday (when I get closer to taking a test I seem to study more on frequently during weekends). Spend time with my GF/family and run errands and drink beers and go to soccer or hockey games to stay sane.

MrAgent

I also did not give up much as my last job was working from home, and I was sent to training.
Currently with the OSCP I am just working on the labs at night. So Ive given up some xbox time with friends, but that's it.
I still make time to play hockey and spend time with my family.

NOC-Ninja

kMastaFlash wrote: »

My sincere apologies NOC-Ninja. I didn't want or mean to offend you. I understand that the CCIE is a great achievement that few have obtained (like 1% of the world or something like that) But hey, at least your family is understanding and has unconditional love for you and what you are pursuing and you are willing to be there for your family and friends so hey god bless man and congrats on CCIE! I think getting to the top will take time also. You don't really see students leaving college and becoming CEOs of billion dollar corporations either or running Fortune 500 firms. Now I'm not a "jock" by any means or a "o let the gov't take care of it." I believe the people need to take action in their lives to obtain what they want. But don't become a workaholic and make it your life. I learned that from my ITRP interview at Google, the network engineer told me that. That is why when you are young, do these certs. You have all the time in the world to do certs and then get a good paying job once you leave. I have one lined up making about $65k out of school and I don't graduate for another 6 months. If I get my CCNA before then, instant 8k raise so I will be sitting pretty damn pretty out of school. That's what I have lived and believed in and I'm making it pretty good so far. The saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks is in place for a reason. Haha. People don't climb Mt. Everest in one day. And then what happens when you "reach the top"? You would want more I assume out of life.

im not offended. no worries. I am just saying what I have given up.
Like I said, it is up to the person where to draw the line.
You dream big then you will put the work. The work will be as big as your dream.