You win or you learn. I learned today.

I had a screening interview today for an architect position. It sounded perfect for me. It required 10 years of experience in multiple IT disciplines, advanced security knowledge, and the ability to collaborate with other technical people at a high level. All of which I have in spades. (I am not nearly as prideful as that sounds.) I wasn't super interested in the job before the call, but after the description of the work I was way amped about it.

Why I didn't win:

I have been doing an administrative role for a year. They wanted some one with a lot of technical skill, and didn't seem too impressed that in that time I've been 80/20 admin/engineer. They also wanted lots of Cisco network/security skill, and I explained that at one point in time I was certified as a CCSP(Now CCNP-Security), but it had expired. He marked that on his interview notes and said he would forward that on to the technical team for review. At the beginning of the interview he seemed very engaged but at the end he seemed disinterested. I will followup in a week and at least ask for feedback.

What I learned:

Really good jobs are out there. I need to complement my managerial certs with a high-end technical equivalent in order to be in contention for them. Oh well, so begins the long quest to become a CCNP/MCSE. I missed on this one, but I don't have to miss on the next one.

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Comments

volfkhat

meh,
half these clowns out here don't know What they are looking for.

my 2 cents:
Chase after What "you" want; Not for positions that others want.
The certs might help... but then again, how many Network Architects out there really have a MCSE??
Sounds unlikely to me.

random tangent:
I interviewed in May for a Network Support Technician spot.
The FIRST line in the job details was literally:
"The successful candidate will assist the Network Administrator with the full range of network responsibilities".

Cools, right?
Nope.
The reality was that they wanted someone with Experience supporting Office365, Desktops, and SQLServer 2012 (seriously).

idiots.

People have No clue what they are looking for; Just make sure that YOU KNOW :]

OctalDump

Yeah, I am getting a similar feeling that something like the CISSP really needs something else to back it up, and the technical security roles seem to be where the actual shortage is. I'm not sure if that's a real shortage, or just caused by poor hiring practices (we want one person who can do everything).

CCNP or MCSE doesn't seem like it would be a bad choice. The MCSE road might be a long one, though. It's currently 5 exams, and without fairly serious hands on experience in the real world, they can be tough. At the moment, I'd be happy just to finish my MCSA

Danielm7

Were they looking for 1 architect to oversee everything? I work with network, voice, security, systems, etc, architects. Each of them know something about the other technologies, but none are really an expert in all of them, nor would I expect them to be.

Kreken

Ertaz wrote: »

Oh well, so begins the long quest to become a CCNP/MCSE. I missed on this one, but I don't have to miss on the next one.

I think you will have to go deeper than CCNP. I have yet to see an architect who is not a CCIE or on at least a CCIE level of knowledge.

DatabaseHead

From what I read from the OP sounds like a security Cisco certification along with additional knowledge is in order!

Ertaz

Danielm7 wrote: »

Were they looking for 1 architect to oversee everything? I work with network, voice, security, systems, etc, architects. Each of them know something about the other technologies, but none are really an expert in all of them, nor would I expect them to be.

This was a position on a team of architects and senior engineers deploying secure software. Travel 25-50%. Eh, I just missed. The good news is I have time in front of me to cert up.