From: Guyler, Rik (rguyler@shp-dayton.org)
Date: Thu Sep 15 2005 - 10:20:04 GMT-3
Vijay, I think we've talked about this before. While most/all of us here
know that while you don't have a lot of the needed hands-on experience (for
Cisco gear), you do have a very solid foundation to build upon. If nothing
else I believe passing your lab proves this much. I am certain that there
is an employer somewhere in your area that will be happy to take you under
his/her wing and be willing to accept your downside with the potential huge
upside you bring to the table. Experience should not be summed up just as
"Cisco" experience for a CCIE. You have five years experience in IT (if I
remember correctly) so you still posses some of the intangibles that these
potential employers are looking for. For example, you know to have a
healthy fear for changing production equipment. It doesn't matter if you
are changing a router setting or a server setting...the potential for
downtime is the same. You only develop this healthy fear through
experience.
Vijay, have you considered looking at smaller networks? While you may not
be working on BGP, MPLS, etc. technologies in these smaller environments,
the small to medium sized employers are probably more willing to hire you on
faith. Also, another great place to look is contractors. Most Cisco
partners would be overjoyed to have a CCIE on staff. The marketing value
alone is worth a ton to them as they can advertise you to their customers.
In addition, contractors need bodies and usually have a higher turnover rate
so opportunities present themselves pretty frequently. The best thing I can
tell you about contractors is that you will get exactly what you want -
experience and tons of it. You could be in a new environment nearly every
day of the week. Of course it depends on the contractor, project type,
clientele, etc. but in any case, you will get the experience you need. You
might even find you like this type of work. I know a lot of people that do.
I worked in this environment for several years before I decided to settle
into a large corporate environment. Contractors also usually value
certifications so you should also expect ongoing training and certification
support.
Vijay, you are well spoken (at least written ;-) and I am sure you will
land on your feet. In the meantime, keep up with GS, read all that you can
to stay current and keep your chin up. Remember to always accentuate your
strengths whether they be technical or not.
BTW - I checked out those links and the arrogant a$$ in the longer one would
have been eating with a straw for weeks if he had treated me that way! I
would have walked out within five minutes of that and taken some of his
blood with me. I won't let anybody treat me that way. Remember, these
people don't own you in any way and the worst thing that will happen is you
won't get that job. But really...would you want to work for people like
that anyway? ;-)
Good luck and stay in touch with us!
Rik
-----Original Message-----
From: Vijay Ramcharan [mailto:vramcharan@thedeal.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 6:41 PM
To: Cisco certification
Subject: Newly minted CCIE travelling the well-beaten path of inexperience
I've been searching for an active networking role since July and I'm slowly
despairing of ever finding something. Seeking some encouragement, I began
searching the GroupStudy archives and found this thread:
http://www.groupstudy.com/archives/ccielab/200404/msg00115.html
This message in the thread sums it up nicely.
http://www.groupstudy.com/archives/ccielab/200404/msg00265.html
If I had taken a better look at my situation and gone searching the archives
2 months ago, I'd be less disappointed than I am now. Since I posted my
resume on Monster and Dice this July, I've been on a number of interviews
but my lack of "large network" experience has been my Achilles heel. That's
not to say that I'm inept or anything like that.
My most recent round of interviews resulted in this, "Everyone that
interviewed you came away very impressed with your knowledge and
presentation abilities. We have however, identified a candidate that has
more practical experience, and are going to pursue him."
Before that it was something along the lines of "we feel you are technically
sound for a level 2 position but you have no practical experience in large
networks so we cannot go forward with you"
And so it has been for pretty much all of the in-person and phone interviews
that I've had.
I'm not even concerned about pay rate as job satisfaction is much more
important to me. Being a great network engineer is my long-term goal but
it's impossible to be great without day-to-day experience. I find that's
what helps to solidify the theory and lab work and keeps what I've learnt on
the journey to CCIE from becoming ephemeral.
I'm willing to put in the time to learn and do more and I've proven that I'm
technically capable but it seems that even with the CCIE, getting a foot in
the door is not that easy. Maybe it's because I live in NY and there's a bit
of a competition for junior level spots but I sure was hoping that my cert
would put me near the top half of a candidate list.
I know there are others on this list in the same plight that I'm in so as a
word of encouragement to myself and those, "hang in there, somewhere,
someone, is willing to give you a chance".
I'm still searching...
Vijay Ramcharan, CCIE #14824, CCDP, MCSE
P.S.
I'm currently employed and have been at the same employer for almost 5 years
now. I don't do much day-to-day networking duties nor is there any future
opportunity for that here or I'd be glad to stay.
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