CCIE Lab qualified.

pujan96

Hi all.

Got a question regarding it networking jobs and expetince level.

Hypothetically if one is ccie qualified (lab) would it be possible for one to attain a job with no commercial experince.

If one passes the lab test surely it must mean one can demonstrate practical skills even without commercial experince.

And also would study experince with home labs help in counting as experience.

Thanks

joelsfood

It's going to be very hard to get a job with no real world experience, CCIE or not. Potential employers are just going to assume that the applicant bought the answer online (yes, you can buy answers to the lab, and no, I don't suggest it). You might get a job at a company just looking to fill a CCIE spot for partner requirements, but you're unlikely to get a real job.

Danielm7

Completely agree with joelsfood, a CCIE with no experience is worse in my eyes than someone who goes straight to the doctorate level of education in IT without any sort of hands on / practical experience.

Get your CCNA, get a job in networking, eventually get your CCNP. When you've mastered all that and have enough years under your belt then you can go for the CCIE. A CCIE with 0 work experience sets of a lot of alarms for people.

kohr-ah

Can you get a job? Absolutely. I have no doubt you will be able to land a job somewhere. However, the CCIE doesn't mean you understand practical world experience. It means you are dedicated to learning a craft the way a vendor sees fit to meet their quality of standards of testing. The Cisco way doesn't mean it is the right way.

As other said will it raise a red flag. Somewhat yes. Because you have no experience it comes up as you have found a way around the system or possibly cheated to a lot of people. I dont see it as this way, as I stated above, because it is nothing more than a test showing you are able to remember practices and procedures set by a standard. Experience trumps all in the end.

You most likely will not end up at a company at a high level position but you should be able to land a mid-level. In all fairness remember if you hold that certification during technical interviews you will also get asked technological questions that are CCIE level so keep up on your material.

I have met plenty of CCIEs who are very intelligent people. I have met multiple held CCIEs who learned how the system works and was able to pass the other IEs easily. I have met CCIEs who couldn't route their way out of a cardboard box.

hurricane1091

There's a lot of real world things you won't understand without experience. You need experience to really see how things work in the real world. Like, there's so much basic stuff I had never even done before getting my current job and things I did not understand. Do you know what an HWIC is? Do you really understand how the interface numbers work? Have you ever seen a NID or "biscuit" or know what they are for? These are just extremely basic things too. Because of my job, the CCNP is going to make a lot more sense and be a lot easier, I can tell you that. I did well on both my CCNAs but the real world has taught me a lot. You can configure an interface, but what if it's a backup circuit? Do you really understand MPLS? Did you ever read in a book "reload in [x minutes]" and know why you need to do that?

Joel can speak way more from the advanced level, but I'm just saying these basic things as examples of things you won't really ever understand until you get a job doing it.

OctalDump

This is a variation on the theme of "I have x qualifications/education/certification but no work experience".

Yes, likely someone will hire you. It is far less likely that someone wanting a CCIE will hire you, unless they are really just after having someone with the certification rather than someone to do CCIE type work - this would be extremely rare but there are some odd arrangements with Cisco partners needing staff with Cisco certs.

So, what options are open to you to improve your chances? Get some experience at a volunteer level. Take an entry, or maybe a mid level job, and work your way up internally as quickly as they will allow. The problem with that route is that the kinds of organisation big enough to promote you reasonably quickly are likely to have better HR and might be more difficult to get into.

Another option would be to get into a Master's program where they will credit you for the CCIE. It might round out your skills a bit and you can then apply for graduate entry level positions.

Blackout

The first thing you learn when you get into IT is that Book Knowledge does not = Work Knowledge. Actual live environment is very different then a testing/lab environment. My mentor at Cisco who is a Technical Lead told me to remember foundation and forget everything else, he was right, live environment is completely different then anything else I had dealt with. CCIE Knowledge does not mean you will be good at your job it just means you have book knowledge. I have met CCIE's that cannot troubleshoot at all. They are great at Design, configs, but fail at troubleshooting.

TheProf

I have to admit, if the person can pass their CCIE certification without experience and without ****.. that's an achievement in itself, regardless if the person is book smart or not. Of course it's not a substitute for having experience, but the dedication and commitment alone is a good step forward.

I remember doing the CCNA and even having some experience, can prove to be challenging.

Either way, I think the best approach is to start at the beginning like CCENT/CCNA, get some experience then on to CCNP, get some more serious experience and start looking at CCIE, either way, you need to work in the industry before getting the CCIE.

Regarding certification prerequisites from Cisco:

There are no formal prerequisites for CCIE certification. Other professional certifications or training courses are not required. Instead, candidates must first pass a written qualification exam and then the corresponding hands-on lab exam. You are expected to have an in-depth understanding of the topics in the exam blueprints and strongly encouraged to have three to five years of job experience before attempting certification.

As you can see from the text highlighted, experience is very important, I am sure the type of experience required for CCIE takes many years to obtain.