From Scratch CCIEs

If I were to study my butt off and pass the written and lab, with no other Cisco certs, would this be praised or scrutinized by employers and the IT community alike?

P.S.
I do expect the "Get your CCNA first before attempting this!". This is a speculative question.

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Iristheangel

Without complementary certifications and experience, probably be scrutinized.

However, if you have 5+ years of solid networking experience, it would probably be praised.

Certifications complement experience. They don't replace it.

NetworkVeteran

kanecain wrote: »

If I were to study my butt off and pass the written and lab, with no other Cisco certs, would this be praised or scrutinized by employers and the IT community alike?

My expectation is that most employers wouldn't care whether you took your CCNA/CCNP before your CCIE. Similarly, I'm more often asked about my college than my high school. More to the point, a no-experience CCIE isn't in demand, at least in my neck of the woods.

kanecain

First of all, thanks for the reply.

I would rather go for the most difficult cert, because for some reason, that's the best way I learn. I do realize that experience is important, and would NOT rush to theLadders looking for a 100k job. I just rather dive in completely, than spoon feed myself over the next 10 years. I would still want to start with a CCNA level job, and build experience from there. How would one look for a job without over-qualifying his or herself with a CCIE on their resume?

NetworkVeteran

kanecain wrote: »

I just rather dive in completely, than spoon feed myself over the next 10 years.

You won't get far as an engineer with that approach. Any particular CCIE certification only covers a limited scope, technical knowledge obsoletes quickly, and new technology is always coming out. If you want to be sharp, you will be eating spoonfuls of knowledge daily your whole career.

How would one look for a job without over-qualifying his or herself with a CCIE on their resume?

Simple. Don't put it on your resume.

kanecain

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

You won't get far as an engineer with that approach. Any particular CCIE certification only covers a limited scope, technical knowledge obsoletes quickly, and new technology is always coming out. If you want to be sharp, you will be eating spoonfuls of knowledge daily your whole career.

Simple. Don't put it on your resume.

Great answers! Thanks for your help dude.

Mrock4

I understand your desire to go for the top- that's a good thing. But, just consider this...

From zero to CCIE..maybe what, 18 months to 2 yrs? And that's DEDICATED studying..and a lot of it..if you do it part-time (20 hrs/wk or less), that's like 3 yrs..

So let's say 1 year in, you decide you want to get a networking job. You're at a CCNP'ish level, but what do you have to show for it? Nothing, except you can TELL your prospective employer you're "about a CCNP-level"...

Alternately, you can study the CCNA, take, pass the test, study the CCNP- take and pass those tests..then hit the CCIE. Along the way you have milestones and something tangible that shows the progress you have made.

If you think for some reason that studying the CCNA/CCNP is not going to help you with the CCIE, that's absolutely wrong. Having those under your belt will be nothing but beneficial.

Just my $.02 at least.

tprice5

I know nothing about the content of the CCIE exams. I do know that certifications tend to build on themselves as the level of cert progresses. I would think you would have an extremely difficult time diving into CCIE study material as you will likely not understand a good portion of what they are saying i.e. you don't seem to have the knowledge base that most of the study material will assume you know and thus, base lessons off of.

Mrock4

Basically, you're going to study the CCNA/CCNP whether you want to or not if you try to become a CCIE.

QHalo

Yup, might as well have something to show for it while studying for the 'big one'. At least at the CCNA level you can get an idea if networking is what you truly want to do. Nothing like spending a ton of time on something to find out you hate it.

uyen_nguyen

I am giving this solution based on the best endurance a man can have.

From zero knowledge about networking to CCIE-written, it would take you up to 6 weeks.
week 1: CCENT 1
week 2: CCENT 2 => CCNA
week 3: CCNP-Switch
week 4: CCNP-Routing
week 5: CCNP-TShooting
week 6: CCIE R&S Written exam.

Cost: $10 each books (CCNA, CCNP R&S&TS) by Paul W Browning (Author), Farai Tafa (Author), Stuart Juggins (Author) => 40 Dollars. (I bought the Kindle version)
$50 I think for CCIE R&S Cisco study guide.

=> Total cost: $90

You don't have to take CCENT 1,2, CCNP, only need to pass CCIE R&S written exam.
(The author of the book CCNA Study Guide Sybex offers this type of course and course's fee is up to $20,000)
You cannot do anything during the day except reading and watching training videos. 10 hours/day for 42 days. But this is a warning, probably you can pass the CCIE Written exam but when it comes to the CCIE lab, then you better have weeks to hone your skills with CCIE lab. Using INE.com training material is the best for CCIE level.

For CCIE-lab:
1. CCNA lab: 101 labs for the Cisco CCNA exam by
Paul W Browning (Author), Farai Tafa (Author), Stuart Juggins (Author)
10 labs per day => 10 days to finish this task. Be generous to yourself, put 14 days to finish.
=> week 7, 8: CCNA labs

2. CCNP lab: 101 labs for Cisco CCNP exam by same CCNA labs authors.
5 labs for day => 20 days to finish this task.
=> week 9, 10, 11: CCNP labs

3. CCIE lab: use INE.com lab workbooks Vol 1 and 2.
=> week 12,_______________

Cost: Again, $10 each CCNA and CCNP books from Paul W Browning (Author), Farai Tafa (Author), Stuart Juggins (Author) => $20
INE.com lab, around $600.

=> total cost: $620.

For Cisco routers and switches:
Solution 1: GN3 , GN3Vault offers tons of wonderful labtutorials. Go googling for more information about GN3.
Solution 2: go ebay.com and find your suitable rack.

Prerequisites:
1. Have strong health
2. Good brain neutrons and wires.
3. Only focus on Cisco
4. No hand out, party or AMC.

Good luck.

Vik210

This is a fancy though, just make sure it doesn't go beyond this!
Do CCIE when you have years of experience and try to do CCNA CCNP till then.

sieff

This is doable. I have a colleague that did this. He went from CCNA to CCIE Voice. Now he passed the IE-Voice lab on the fifth attempt, not sure if having the CCNP Voice before would have been a factor on the number attempts or not. but then again when you have the IE no one cares how many attempts it took. this same guy is also now studying for IE R&S without doing the CCNP R&S either.

Legacy User

@sieff Did you colleague have experience already in the field?

Sett

If it's at all possible to get CCIE without experience, there isn't even one good reason to do so. Quite the opposite. It's just nonsense.

sieff

@dmarcisco He did have some cisco experience, but it was working for a commercial company as a CCNA - in my opinion this is not really enough alone to pass the IE-Voice. he purchased MCS servers and invested in a home voice lab. I think that's what really got him through it, home lab and the shear thousands of dollars spent on the gear.

Legacy User

Well did it pay off for him?

sieff

i would say so. we both work for a Cisco Gold Partner and honestly i think that's the best job to get experience. we obviously took different paths to get there. the nature of working for a partner means new environments, delivering projects and doing tons of design work. multi-tasking studying, project delivery and oftentimes travel.

sieff

dmarcisco wrote: »

Well did it pay off for him?

pay off ... hope i answered that question correctly. in terms of salary, i don't know ... i have about 12 years experience in IT/Networking, and the cherry on top would be getting the CCIE V or CCIE R&S for me. at this point in my career i can't bear to do another interview. i'd like my resume to be summarized in my cert as well as the companies i've worked for and the designs i've delivered. my ultimate goal is to do CCIE and have a PMP cert, and work for a global enterprise doing work that really matters.

i think from scratch CCIE's definitely have ease getting their foot in the door. if a person is disciplined enough to go at from scratch i'm all for it. i work with another guy who only has his CCNA, but as tons of telco experience with TDM PBX's, he's preparing to skip CCNP V and go straight CCIE V. he definitely has skills in telephony and a great understanding of how things work, he feels CCNP V is a waste of time. everyone is entitled to their own approach. i went CCNP/CCNP-V because i'm a fan of process.

Legacy User

I'm sure its doable and appreciated working at a partner. But bringing it back to the OP that person doesn't have any real world experience and was asking if employers would frown on him if he got his ccie without any real world experience. Not a matter of its doable because I keep reading about unemployed ccie's that can't find work that did the exam without the required experience.

So in turn it is doable but I feel if its going to make finding a job that much more difficult why go through the hassle. Just get your ccna learn it in and out read network warrior to see the other technology thats out there. Learn how to do vpns, firewalls, and practice your interview skills. Surely overtime you will catch the big break.

sides14

I don't think it will be an issue. I will probably get blasted for this comment, but here it goes. Why would anyone list a CCNA or CCNP (whatever version) if they have a CCIE in the respective track. It would be like putting that you have a Associates degree in Mathematics when you have a Bachelors degree in Mathematics. You list you highest level. I have found that the people stacking their resume with too much information are trying to mask the lack of experience (IMHO). If you have a solid background in networking and just have the CCIE, then you should be fine.

Kelkin

I dont think its masking the lack of experience but rather getting passed the automated resume reviewers that alot of the HR departments / head hunters use. They ding on keywords and/or phrases.. But remember.. as resume only gets you in the door for an interview.. still gotta pass the Q/A.

tigerplug

In my experience this is not a problem.
You can listent o everyone else telling you about how it will be of no benefit / have negative impact.

Or - you can go ahead and just do it.
Most of them are enterprise engineers working on small scale networks - maybe max 300 - 400 routers.

In bigger environments, people are not concerned because they understand that scalability and understanding how to execute flawless change is more important. You will get this during your preparation and practice.

The issue is that people see CCIE as the end point. CCIE is the starting point, treat it as that and you'll do fine.

Best of luck!

tigerplug

Sett wrote: »

If it's at all possible to get CCIE without experience, there isn't even one good reason to do so. Quite the opposite. It's just nonsense.

Do you have one?

nerdydad

tigerplug wrote: »

Most of them are enterprise engineers working on small scale networks - maybe max 300 - 400 routers.

400 routers, small network, really?

In the end, it's up to you what you want to do, I only have 2 years of networking experience, but I have completely immersed myself, hopefully by the time I'm done, I will only have 3.5 years experience, which is low, but I do 40 hours of solid enterprise networking during the week and an additional 20 + hours of reading and lab on top of that, so if you added up all my hours, based on a standard 40 hour work week and I will have over 5 years experience.

Regardless, good luck.

tigerplug

I should say - "traditional" enterprise networks.