Re: eBay is looking for network heavies...

[Stephen Satchell <list () satchell net>]

On 06/07/2015 01:10 AM, Joshua Riesenweber wrote:
> Now from what I understand of the CCIE lab exam (which I haven't
> attempted yet), it is a practical exam and you need to know your
> stuff to pass. I'm sure people think up ways to cheat and devalue it,
> that's bound to happen. I've sat on both sides of the interview
> table, and I've had plenty of both certified an uncertified people
> come through that don't know their stuff.I've also had plenty of both
> certified and uncertified people who have been great. When I see
> someone who has a certification, and they can follow it up with
> actual skills, it indicates they have a certain level of dedication
> to improving themselves and their education. (In my experience it
> takes more time to study a certification track than to learn just
> what you need to get a job done.)

The R&S CCIE lab exame is a timed practical exam, and as certification 
tests goes it does a fair job measuring the ability of the candidate to 
implement routers and switches to obtain certain results, ON CISCO 
EQUIPMENT.  (This is also true of the other Cisco certification tracks.) 
 The companies that sell preparation services coach the customers and 
provide hands-on instruction on how to streamline the prep for the 
actual setting up of the equipment -- that pesky time limit.

(By the way, don't get me started on CompTIA.  I used to belong to that 
organization.  Talk about sausage being made...)

One can learn how to do almost anything.  The real trick is being able 
to finish tasks quickly, and that's damn hard to do without practice, 
practice, practice.  Also, how to approach understanding the lab 
exercises so you *can* finish each task quickly and demonstrability 
correctly (taking into consideration automated grading of your work, by 
the way) is a big part of it.

That said, certifications show that the candidate can turn a wrench.  It 
shows nothing about the candidate's ability to handle ARIN, to 
troubleshoot political snafus, how to deal with management that is 
severely clue-deficient, and most important play nice with colleagues at 
other network operator centers.  Not to mention one's own customers, and 
even sometimes co-workers.  And all the other (arguably) non-technical 
parts of being a member of a network operations team.