A wee poll

Ahriakin

Well seeing the great lull since the Xmas SND rush I figured we could liven the old CCSP board up a bit. These questions are for those who are finished with it and those still slogging through (like me).

1. Why did you pick the CCSP?
2. Did you achieve what you were aiming for in/while getting it?
3. What was your toughest exam?
4. What was your favourite device/topic?
5. What topic do you take most pride in being certified in?
6. Did your employer appreciate the work you put in?
7. What was the single best bit of advice you received along the way (studywise)?
8. What single bit of advice would you give anyone else following in your footsteps?
9. Are you planning (or in the progress of) moving on to the CCIE Security or parallel studies into other pro leve certs?

Ahriakin

My own:

1. Why did you pick the CCSP?
I love infosec, and there seemed to be good opportunities to apply the knowledge (and get paid for it...) in the Cisco world.

2. Did you achieve what you were aiming for in/while getting it?
Yup (so far). It's challenging but the knowledge is very satisfying.

3. What was your toughest exam?
Not the toughest in hindsight but at the time the SNRS was a killer for me. Not much in the way of hands-on experience and nothing to practice on, oh and I had 6 days to study for it before a job interview. Scraped by. The toughest content wise was the PIX/ASA.

4. What was your favourite device/topic?
PIX/ASA

5. What topic do you take most pride in being certified in?
PIX/ASA

6. Did your employer appreciate the work you put in?
Yup, it'd be nice if that translated into some extra cash though

7. What was the single best bit of advice you received along the way (studywise)?
Get hands on for the Pro level certs, by hook or crook.

8. What single bit of advice would you give anyone else following in your footsteps?
The letters (cert) are nice but worthless if you don't appreciate the knowledge itself.

9. Are you planning (or in the progress of) moving on to the CCIE Security or parallel studies into other pro leve certs?
Depending on an upcoming work project. Ideally I'd like to go for the CCIE, but I may need to branch out into CCIP/CCNP territory first.