Is it just my imagination

Is it just my imagination or are there loads of people doing CCIE and even CCNP who are not really cut out for it?

Okay so I do not claim to be the best candidate in the world I do not work with Cisco that much at work mainly MS Servers and writing policies and planning network upgrades is my job. All my Cisco skills come from my home lab.

Hoever in the last few days I have been reading quite a few other forums and I have been getting quite depressed. Firstly I found a forum where people were posting that they were getting 1000 in their CCNP exams and were openly posting that they used (a practice test vendor who Microsoft has sued). They were feeling really happy with them selves and yet there were other posts where they were asking really simple questions. I also saw a whole bunch of posts about people who had passed CCIE written using the same vendor.

Then yesterday as the September deal was about to end I bought the IE Expert Workbook 1 which is just about the core technologies. Not aiming for CCIE as I do not have the time at the moment to really study for CCNP but since I do not work with Cisco on a daily basis I have forgotten a lot of the little things I learnt for BSCI so I want to do some labs to nail down the foundation topics. Anyhow so since I bought the workbook I have access to the IE forums and there are people on there who are going for their CCIE who cannot figure out things that are explained in the Dynagen tutorial like how to link two Windows XP pc's.

Argh someone please tell me that the world is not all bad and there is still a point to working hard and earning your certs the honest way.

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Comments

networker050184

Certifications are just like anything else in life. There will always be people willing to **** to get what they want. Sure there are people out there who ****, but that doesn't mean I'm going to. I like to gain the knowledge that comes with studying for the certifications. If you **** you won't have all the knowledge expected of someone who is "certified." I think most of the people who **** for there certs get stuck doing helpdesk or other low level positions anyway. That is why experience is so big in IT. If you have a CCNP and zero experince you probably will not get a network engineer position. You can't let what other people do get to you, do what you think is right. If I cheated I don't think I could sleep at night......

LOkrasa

Tons of ppl are gonna ****... just like ppl **** in College to get their degrees. They THINK that they can do all of this to impress their future employer who will hire them based on the nice resume they have. Once on the job they HOPE to learn what they think they will need to succeed in their position but usually fail to do so. Most companies will weed these ppl out with a technical interview but some companies that are hiring their first guru wont have someone to ask these questions to begin with so some douchebag slips in. Too many companies out in the world to worry about the idiots that dont know what is going on... every profession has these ppl, not just you... I am sure their is tons of lawyers saying the same thing right now regarding the BAR/LSAT etc...

kafifi13

Your right Employeers will ask technical questions. I went through the same thing and you really had to know your stuff to answer the question. I was actually given a trick question which through me off a bit.

Ferret999

You guys are right I guess there are plenty of cheats out there and hopefully they will get caught on the technical interviews. The problem is that a lot of the time that small companies do not have a technical interview and so they get through and then people say I hired a CCNP and he knew nothing so it devalues the cert for everyone else. Or as you say they end up on a helpdesk job and then they are advertising themselves as CCNP for second or third line roles only wanting a small salary because they have been used to help desk.

Anyhow you made me feel better worry about myself and hope the cheats get caught out.

networker050184

Anyhow you made me feel better worry about myself and hope the cheats get caught out.

Thats all you can do. As long as you know your stuff you don't have to worry about competition from people that don't.

aueddonline

Ferret999 wrote:

You guys are right I guess there are plenty of cheats out there and hopefully they will get caught on the technical interviews. The problem is that a lot of the time that small companies do not have a technical interview and so they get through and then people say I hired a CCNP and he knew nothing so it devalues the cert for everyone else. Or as you say they end up on a helpdesk job and then they are advertising themselves as CCNP for second or third line roles only wanting a small salary because they have been used to help desk.

When you say the guy knew nothing, how bad was it?

I'm looking for a job as a CCNA at the moment and finding it quite hard not having any experience with Cisco eqipment, apparently spending hours with routers and switches at home, doesn't count, which is far enough to an extent.

I study like 2.5 hours a day, I think I know a bit, but without the experience and being around the eqipment in 24 7 in a job, doesn't seem to count for much, how did you get into your first cisco role?

To anyone who does hiring,!!!!!! what do you think when a CV has CCNA on it but currently working in a microsoft networking enviroment, is it don't phone this guy he won't know anything?

LOkrasa

aueddonline wrote:

Ferret999 wrote:

You guys are right I guess there are plenty of cheats out there and hopefully they will get caught on the technical interviews. The problem is that a lot of the time that small companies do not have a technical interview and so they get through and then people say I hired a CCNP and he knew nothing so it devalues the cert for everyone else. Or as you say they end up on a helpdesk job and then they are advertising themselves as CCNP for second or third line roles only wanting a small salary because they have been used to help desk.

When you say the guy knew nothing, how bad was it?

I'm looking for a job as a CCNA at the moment and finding it quite hard not having any experience with Cisco eqipment, apparently spending hours with routers and switches at home, doesn't count, which is far enough to an extent.

I study like 2.5 hours a day, I think I know a bit, but without the experience and being around the eqipment in 24 7 in a job, doesn't seem to count for much, how did you get into your first cisco role?

To anyone who does hiring,!!!!!! what do you think when a CV has CCNA on it but currently working in a Microsoft networking environment, is it don't phone this guy he won't know anything?

What do you mean Microsoft Networking Enviroment? Microsoft does not make switches or routers. If you are working in a all MS environment with Cisco routers and switches then you are getting CCNA exp. No matter what OS is being used, its the hardware that matters... If you are working in a all Juniper environment, well for sure the CCNA exp you are seeking wont be there.

I got my first Network Admin job after being a Help Desk Analyst for 2.5 years and I got it solely bc of my CCNA. I was EXTREMELY lucky to get it and I think most ppl wont be so lucky but then again I am no veteran to this industry. You may want to start off as a Jr. Network Engineer which is what I was looking for when I first got my CCNA but I wasnt really able to find anything. Most companies were looking for a MCSA at the very least along with a CCNA.

aueddonline

What do you mean Microsoft Networking Enviroment? [quote/]

sorry I know that doesn't really make sense, it's a small company only about 50 client computers running XP and a couple of servers running server 2003/Exchange and the networking eqipment is HP but no real configuration is done on the routers and switches and there isn't any cisco in site

Turgon

Ferret999 wrote:

Is it just my imagination or are there loads of people doing CCIE and even CCNP who are not really cut out for it?

Okay so I do not claim to be the best candidate in the world I do not work with Cisco that much at work mainly MS Servers and writing policies and planning network upgrades is my job. All my Cisco skills come from my home lab.

Hoever in the last few days I have been reading quite a few other forums and I have been getting quite depressed. Firstly I found a forum where people were posting that they were getting 1000 in their CCNP exams and were openly posting that they used (a practice test vendor who Microsoft has sued). They were feeling really happy with them selves and yet there were other posts where they were asking really simple questions. I also saw a whole bunch of posts about people who had passed CCIE written using the same vendor.

Then yesterday as the September deal was about to end I bought the IE Expert Workbook 1 which is just about the core technologies. Not aiming for CCIE as I do not have the time at the moment to really study for CCNP but since I do not work with Cisco on a daily basis I have forgotten a lot of the little things I learnt for BSCI so I want to do some labs to nail down the foundation topics. Anyhow so since I bought the workbook I have access to the IE forums and there are people on there who are going for their CCIE who cannot figure out things that are explained in the Dynagen tutorial like how to link two Windows XP pc's.

Argh someone please tell me that the world is not all bad and there is still a point to working hard and earning your certs the honest way.

You must be talking about the sadman forum for the 'I used a braindump and got 1000' type of posts. Yes it is rather futile that sort of behavior particularly as these types eventually get interviewed by and work alongside people like me. Then they get owned.

Don't worry about the cheaters, they do not prosper in the networking industry. Work hard, read your books, practice on labs, get as much exposure to real networking installations, migrations, designs, relocations as you can. The industry has moved on the last 10 years, many of the network professionals you aspire to work with or indeed become have been through a lot in the industry and have learned a great deal and have a great deal of experience. They know a lemon when they see one. Work hard. Impress people like me and you can have a great career.

Good luck with your studies!

mikearama

aueddonline wrote:

To anyone who does hiring,!!!!!! what do you think when a CV has CCNA on it but currently working in a microsoft networking enviroment, is it don't phone this guy he won't know anything?

This was exactly my experience. I worked for 6 years in an MS office... doing AD / Exchange / SQL / ISA / IIS / and Citrix.

I decided to start studying the cisco side of the equation, and landed my ccna in '03. I immediately started looking for network gigs, and I have to tell you that the combination of strong MS skills AS WELL as cisco education/cert has only helped.

Case in point, I'm now a Network Admin for Toyota... in the interview, the four-person panel grilled me on cisco switching/routing, but then switched into a few MS topics. The manager that I answer to, who was present, said that having a network admin who had strong windows skills would be a huge benefit. And it has proven to be a bonus on dozens of occasions.

So don't consider having your ccna in an MS environment to be a hindrance... view it as a competitive edge.

Mike

ilcram19

Argh someone please tell me that the world is not all bad and there is still a point to working hard and earning your certs the honest way.

oh man i know wut u mean some job i almost move in too some CCNP dude didnt know wut snmp was and wut was an smnp trap u know i looked at like wtf, then they told me he had cheated on the ccnp test...dude come on there is actually people that work hard for a test may be we dont get a perfect score but we know that is our score and that we didnt **** and we actually know somethin u know lol,

good thing alot of the interviews i had i had alot of technical question, and they are the only ones being played by themselfs, cheating doesnt give u a good job unless u r really really lucky lol

Ferret999

I'm looking for a job as a CCNA at the moment and finding it quite hard not having any experience with Cisco eqipment, apparently spending hours with routers and switches at home, doesn't count, which is far enough to an extent.

I study like 2.5 hours a day, I think I know a bit, but without the experience and being around the eqipment in 24 7 in a job, doesn't seem to count for much, how did you get into your first cisco role?

aueddonline I worry a bit like you that because I have been doing MS for a few years and we do not have any Cisco routers any more that when I go for a Cisco job they will say well how big was your enviroment and I will say well pretty small. Then I fear they will say well you do not have enough experience. My thoughts on this are the main problem is getting the interview people get so many CV's they bin loads of them without really looking at them. However if you do get the interview and they raise the fact that you lack Cisco experience point out to them that you have probably seen more problems and done more practice in your lab enviroment then many people in really big enviroments have ever done. Do not forget the benefit of a small enviroment is that there is no place to hide, in big companies well especially over here people end up doing a small job. So when you have a new internet connection put in here a guy turns up and configures a router but it is not a config he has ever done it is one he has been given by someone else he just pastes it in the router. If the interviewer does not believe that you can do the job then challenge them to give you a practical test.

Anyhow that is my plan I will let you know how it goes

networker050184

If you have MS experience try and get something working with both Cisco and MS. This way you can put your MS certs and experience on the table with more pull. You will also be able to gain Cisco experience. No offense, but I wouldn't hire someone with zero real world experience for a strictly Cisco enviroment no matter how much time they have in a home lab. There are way to many issues that high user traffic cause on a network that you really don't get in a home lab. Don't give up though!!!!!