How realistic is this?

msteinhilber

I wasn't sure which forum to stick this in, since it overlaps a couple of Cisco certs. Basically, I am looking at a job where the employer brings on several employees which they basically spend 6 months or so training 8 hours a day through book study, CBT, and real equipment in house. The next 6 months you work with applying the skills hands-on for real projects with a mentor.

During the training period (~6 months) you are basically paid to study for the CCNA, CCNP and CCVP certifications. The CCNA I'm not worried about since I have been studying on and off for that, with some fairly extensive training for a few months in the classroom hands-on as well as at home on my own lab - just would need to brush up on the new exam criteria and review a bit and I should be ok. The CCNP and CCVP would likely be the bulk of my study time if I applied and was accepted for this position. Is approximately 6 months a realistic time frame to cover these certifications? Sounds like a lot of exams to cover in a short amount of time, but perhaps the fact that your fulltime job is essentially studying and practicing for those 6 months might make it easier. Just curious what the thoughts of those who have gone through some of these exams is on the time frame.

-Mike

Slowhand

Eight hours of study a day, five days a week, for six months is very rigorous. I'm fairly sure the company designed this type of curriculum to ensure that their candidates are up to the type of stressful work environment you're going to be dropped into. Still, having that much support, plus a mentor to help you practice and train on real equipment to give you hands-on work right out of the cert-gate is a hell of an opportunity. It's exactly the type of opportunity most of us want: certifications and practice, then hands-on work to turn theory and labs into real-world experience. Don't pass it up, and give it your all. It's very doable, but it's also going to be very difficult.

Who knows, maybe the next time-period of training will be for the CCIE? Good luck!

Daniel333

That is awesome. Where do I sign up?

nel

Thats hardcore.

I dont approve of things like these to be honest. There's a difference between getting the certs because you have the hands on experiance or getting a cert because you want to learn the technology but i think this is OTT.

The NP is big task in itself never mind the VP. Will you actually retain the knowledge afterwards? remember that these are qualifications and if you dont have the experiance to back em up they wont mean no where near as much as they should.

mamono

CCNA and CCNP, I think is doable. CCVP to top it off... That's a bit much, IMHO. Though, I agree with nel, yet I also agree that its an awesome opportunity in itself as others have stated. I'd sign up if I had the opportunity. That's something that I would love to do just because I enjoy studying anyways. Best of luck to you!

msteinhilber

I'm not so much worried about retaining the material, since after the material is learned it will be used hands-on from then on. The job will utilize the knowledge daily, I was just more concerned that the amount of information I would need to study for during the time frame would be feasible. From the sounds of things though, it might be possible to squeeze it all in during that time period but as pointed out retention might be problematic, hopefully working in the field using the knowledge gained would strengthen the material.

I agree though, it sounds like an excellent opportunity, I just want to make sure I don't turn myself into one of the "certified idiots" who doesn't really understand the material - I know some people like that and it's often times painful to hear them speak.

Crunchyhippo

I was approached by a large company, also saying that they wanted to train me (for 12 months no less), at which time I would be *at least* a CCVP or higher, and at a guaranteed $80k/yr. I would then go to one of their business locations anywhere in the country and commit to work for them for at least 2 years (a fair trade). I learned from others that during that 12 month process, if you didn't pass or didn't do too well, you were out of the program. That's a lot of pressure for a whole year (in my case), especially if you're relocating.

You might want to check into their training program and get some more specifics.

msteinhilber

Thanks for all the input everybody. I have the first phone interview setup for next week and I obtained a bit more information on the program. For the first six months approximately, you work towards the CCNA and CCNP, the next six months you work towards the CCVP. Not as condensed as I originally thought based on the job description, but still I'm sure will be a lot of hard work to achieve in a year - something I'm very excited about and hopefully I will be fortunate enough to have such an opportunity!

empc4000xl

sounds like CDW

Didn't want to throw any names outthere, but expect to do a lot of beeeyitch work for a while, but they can be a rewarding company

mamono

Sounds rewarding for a jump-start career. Go for it if its something that you want to do!