From: nrf (noglikirf@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Oct 12 2007 - 05:37:48 ART
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Morris" <smorris@ipexpert.com>
To: "'nrf'" <noglikirf@hotmail.com>; "'Usankin, Andrew'"
<Andrew.Usankin@twtelecom.com>; "'Rahmlow, Howard F.'"
<Howard.F.Rahmlow@unisys.com>; <sheherezada@gmail.com>
Cc: "'Burkett, Michael'" <Michael.Burkett@c-a-m.com>; "'Brad Ellis'"
<brad@ccbootcamp.com>; "'Christopher M. Heffner'"
<cheffner@certified-labs.com>; "'Eric Dobyns'" <eric_dobyns@yahoo.com>;
"'Brian Dennis'" <bdennis@internetworkexpert.com>; <ccielab@groupstudy.com>;
<security@groupstudy.com>; <comserv@groupstudy.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 10:43 PM
Subject: RE: CCIE Lab Price Increase
> Some people simply don't test well.
>
> Other people are simply persistent.
>
> If it takes them 20 times to pass, I cannot imagine any reality in which
> they would not be (or grown to be) an excellent engineer.
What it would do is present an information signal that somebody has taken
the exam 20 times. What employers choose to do with that signal is up to
them. I'm not telling them what to do with the signal. Some employers will
surely ignore that signal, and that's fine. Just like some employers out
there won't care about your college GPA (or whether you even went to college
at all). To each his own.
Nevertheless, it is hard for me to imagine a scenario where more information
would be a BAD thing. It is a basic tenet of economics that more
information leads to more efficient markets. If some piece of information
is not relevent to a particular employer, then that employer will ignore it.
>
> Not everyone has the benefits that others may have going into the path of
> CCIE.
Well, how about the benefits of having enough financial largesse that you
can afford to fail the exam 20 times, or who happens to work for an employer
who will pay for you to fail the exam 20 times? Not everybody has that
luxury either. I'm quite certain that a lot of people here would be CCIE's
right now if they could afford to take the exam 20 times, as that basically
means getting 20 practice shots. These people are rightfully complaining
that they might lose out on a job to somebody who did get the CCIE just
because he could afford to take it 20 times.
Scott, as perhaps a case in point that might strike home more forcefully,
how about those people who just can't afford one of those bootcamps that you
work for? Let's be perfectly honest - at the end of the day, what the
bootcamps are selling is an enhanced chance of passing the exam. Nothing
more, nothing less. {Honestly - if they weren't selling that, then people
wouldn't go.} Yet I think we can all agree that these bootcamps are no
charities. They ain't cheap. Hence, not everybody can afford them. Those
who can afford them will have an edge over those who can't afford them.
Look, at the end of the day, those people who have more resources are going
to have an advantage over those with less resources. That's life. But
that doesn't mean that you should let people leverage their superior
resources willy-nilly over those who have inferior resources. Somebody who
has failed the exam 20 times (because he could afford to) should be made to
think twice before he goes for attempt #21.
Like I said, the worst aspect of this whole affair is that such a guy has
effectively delayed/prevented 20 other people the chance to take the exam.
Surely that would include some people who have limited resources and perhaps
could only take the exam on a certain day (as per their work schedule), but
couldn't get a seat on that day because somebody else was using the seat as
a "practice run". Like I said, a guy who takes the test 20 times is
imposing a cost on everybody else.
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