Do you ever get the feeling....

GoodBishop

that folks here on Techexams are super geniuses? I do. I'm no slouch in the knowledge or certification department, but it seems to me that almost everywhere I turn there's folks with such deep knowledge on stuff and so many certifications that I think to myself, whoa.

Almost to the point I feel slightly inadequate. Almost.

It's like there should be business cards that say: Member, Techexams.net, Super Genius

Repo Man

The CCIE forum is a real eye-opener. I'm not into networking but the time and effort they spend towards studying for it is very motivational.

Essendon

I agree wholeheartedly with your comment. There are folks on here that never cease to amaze me, I could reel off so many names.

In no order - Forsaken_GA, NOC-Ninja, mikej412 (dont know where the heck he is these days), Mrock, mcgeorge, blargoe, dave330i, jibbajabba, meadIT, royal, RobertKaucher, all the mods and the Webmaster for sure. To the others - dont take offense I've missed you. There are so many others with their own motivational stories, themagicone is the latest.

I've gone from a lowly ISP tech support guy on the graveyard shift to a Systems Engineer for a company with one of the most complex networks in Australia - largely due to the inspiration, motivation and envy () this forum provides. Like you I still feel like a total n00b when comparing myself to the likes of the guys I just mentioned.

This forum and its members rock!

Iristheangel

I get nerd envy sometimes

NetworkVeteran

GoodBishop, A+, Network+, Security+, MCP, MCP+I, MCDST, MCSA, MCSE, MOS, CISA, CISM, CRISC, CGEIT, CISSP, CIPP/US, CIPP/IT wrote:

and so many certifications that I think to myself, whoa.

"IrisTheAngel, wrote:

I get nerd envy sometimes

I've thought that myself sometimes.

Although, my role model at work, has simply four letters to his name!

Iristheangel

Knowledge and experience is better than fancy letters after your name

joehalford01

Heck yea, its great seeing some of the labs out there people put together, it's good knowing you're not crazy for investing in yourself. I was going to stop at A+, then I found this place, now I'm working towards my MCITP. Enough said!

undomiel

I agree, I do find the level of knowledge here pretty impressive. It makes me wonder what it would be like to have some coworkers that are equally as knowledgeable.

Essendon

undomiel wrote: »

It makes me wonder what it would be like to have some coworkers that are equally as knowledgeable.

You are not wrong there!!

P.S. Dunno know how I missed you in that list I mentioned, you are up there too!

dontstop

Iristheangel wrote: »

Knowledge and experience is better than fancy letters after your name

Unless they are "CCIE"

santaowns

To be honest i found this place years ago, but signed up and never used it. I found it again by looking for information on WGU and now I am so motivated to finish my bachelors and even more based upon the stories of some of the members here. SWILD being one of the threads I read from start to finish.

Thank you TE for everything I have learned and for the motivation to move on.

it_consultant

GoodBishop wrote: »

that folks here on Techexams are super geniuses? I do. I'm no slouch in the knowledge or certification department, but it seems to me that almost everywhere I turn there's folks with such deep knowledge on stuff and so many certifications that I think to myself, whoa.

Almost to the point I feel slightly inadequate. Almost.

It's like there should be business cards that say: Member, Techexams.net, Super Genius

I have had pretty good luck with my technical questions in the Off Topic forums. I have learned quite a lot about how other networks work by watching a lot of these threads. In my estimation, if the technology is Cisco, Microsoft, Juniper, maybe VMWare, then this is the place to be. For things like Brocade, Hitachi or NetApp SANs, some HP products, Avaya, Palo Alto, Watchguard, Ad Tran,and some other commonly deployed technologies, there isn't much here. I would like it to expand into those areas in the Off Topic area like we see with the big three I mentioned before. Of course, this is a certification board and the certifications for those technologies are far less popular than Cisco/MS/vMWare so I understand why they are minimized.

Zartanasaurus

Essendon wrote: »

In no order - Forsaken_GA, NOC-Ninja, mikej412 (dont know where the heck he is these days), Mrock, mcgeorge, blargoe, dave330i, jibbajabba, meadIT, royal, RobertKaucher, all the mods and the Webmaster for sure. To the others - dont take offense I've missed you.

I TAKE OFFENSE!!!

j/k

TE is certainly a wake up call if you think you know it all, or if you even think you know half of it all.

NetworkVeteran

dontstop wrote: »

Unless they are "CCIE"

There are plenty of CCIEs who have trouble finding good positions. Those letters imply a certain level of knowledge and experience, and if those are lacking, you fall into that annoying overqualified/underqualified category, like a no-experience CCNP.

Perhaps some of these people obtained their CCIE before their experience supported it, and perhaps others allowed the forgetting process to rob them of their knowledge. And, of course, sometimes elitness gets to your head and worsens your attitude.

But yes, the 4-letters my co-worker has are C, C, I, and E.

the_Grinch

I have to totally agree with this thread! But I'd also like to add something else as well. This forum has been invaluable in not only the technical aspect, but in career and life in general. Kudos TE members!

drkat

Ya know we could use more ADTRAN people

it_consultant

I had to google "ATSA-IN" - and I love ad tran routers.

shodown

I think that this board attracts people who want to do well and come online for support, as well as a few "bitchers". My thoughts are why would you go down a path alone, when you can meet people who are like minded and can either help you along the path, or even tell you what to expect as they have walked that road before.

Hypntick

Couldn't agree more with this thread. Just in seeing some of the responses and topics, I know how little I actually know. Which is humbling, yet exciting at the same time, gives me a nice goal to shoot for.

Jackace

This forum has been a GREAT resource for me. It has provided motivation and clarification on multiple occasions. The people here give out very solid advice and are very experienced.

Mrock4

There's a reason I've been around TE for almost EIGHT years....it's awesome, lots of smart people here.

I truly feel there's two types in IT: Those born with it (ie: they study 2 hours and remember EVERYTHING), and then those who aren't. Those who aren't (like myself) can do whatever they want, they just might have to study 8 hours to learn the same thing. Essentially they make up for it with pure determination and motivation. I don't see one as better than the other, just different. I think we have a good mix of these two types here.

dave330i

Always fun to come to TE to realize how little I know. Lots of really smart people on this board. Great source of information to leverage. Like Newton said, "If I have seen further it is by standing on shoulders of giants."

ptilsen

I definitely like to maintain an active presence here to keep motivated and to keep my head from getting too big. I'm doing pretty well, but I see a lot of successful people here, some with more/better certifications and educating, some making more money, some who really work in different sectors that I still respect a lot and feel I can learn from.

There's a lot of good advice on careers, specific technology, and study habits to be found here. I would say that regular TE members tend to be well ahead of the average IT pro, which means we're bound to have a few true geniuses. I'm not into pure networking for my career and don't want to be, but it's impossible not to look on those four letters with awe. A lot of effort, smarts, and talent go into getting a CCIE, and it's hard not to respect someone more for even attempting it.

If anything, it really is a good reminder that you can't know everything, and that even if you think you know more than most others, there are lots of people who know more than you. It keeps the goals lofty and the egos in check, and those are good things in my book.