Hate failure

jemison

I passed my CCNA exam in late June and have been enforcing my studies with CBT and "Network Warrior." I have been asked by my net admin. to join his shop, because they are in need of help. I know i probably should have jumped to the opportunity, but I just want to make sure that I have what it takes. Having devices on my desk for labs is definitely different compared to the real thing. At the same time, I spent a lot of time studying to switch my job. Am I wrong for feeling nervous? I am not a fraud, I just hate failure. Thanks in advance.

MentholMoose

Just go for it. You are bound to make mistakes, just like everyone else, so accept it and try to learn from any mistake that you do make.

tdean

same here, i've been asked to interview for a couple jobs requiring "strong Cisco skills". i have my CCNA, but i have no clue what someone else considers strong skills, and i have no clue what a "Cisco" job actually entails.

steve13ad

Go for it! The best way to fix something is to mess it up, and then fix it.

phantasm

It's normal to be apprehensive. You should've seen me the first day I took down an OC48 card in one of our most populated markets. I was shaking like a damn leaf. One way to look at it is like this, if the net admin asked you to join, then he has some faith in you.

Conversely, as long as you didn't over inflate your skill set you should be fine. Remember, saying "I don't know" is better than jacking something up.

powerfool

Well, look at the self-quote in my signature. If you are to grow, you need to take opportunities that are out of your comfort zone. If you have already done it, then you are growing. Reach.

Michael.J.Palmer

I'm with everyone else, just go for it. I myself am a little timid as well about jumping into certain jobs but I also know that what I don't know I could probably learn on the fly.

Another thing I've realized as I've gotten some projects here and there is that I'm actually more prepared than I had originally thought. So you never know, you might be nervous and get there and find out that it's a piece of cake compared to what you thought it would be.

JamesRF

You can't sit and think about failing or else you will be too timid and perform poorly at work. I have failed before, it happens and its the best way to learn. Is it fun? Hell no, but I tell you what you will never forget...

earweed

Go for it. You'll learn a lot and it's obvious the net admin has faith in you so have some faith in yourself. If you don't reach higher you'll never get the jobs you've been studying and working for up until now. If you look at a mistake or setback as a failure then it will not be as valuable as if you look at it as something to overcome and learn from.
The only way you can really "fail" is to either not try or to give up.

erpadmin

Why pass your CCNA if you're not going to use the skills needed to pass the exam?

Take the job, shadow your net admin guy, make him let you drive on tasks he wants you to work on, and call it a day. You want the experience, the chance is right there.

To quote sneaker ad..."Just Do It!"

apr911

I work at a company where the closest our customer oriented (not internal) network guys get to the equipment is the closest datacenter 400 miles away, the farthest datacenter is over 5000 miles away.

They do everything remote. Granted you can get into a lot more trouble with full access with all commands available on the device than the sims/labs allow but most of the sims and labs Ive seen recently are spot on.

So I say go for it.

-APR911

ipconfig.all

at least you got a job.

apena7

What everyone else said.

And if you still aren't feeling confident while on the job, remember to under-promise and over-deliver results. Also, don't forget to document EVERYTHING.