From: William Nellis (nellis_iv@yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Nov 06 2007 - 02:33:12 ART
Most companies don't hire CCIE's. They hire people. Preferably people holding CCIE numbers.
Based on my experience, all that number will do in some instances is get your foot in the door. You have to seal the deal. No test or degree will "Get" you the job. (although, i would expect you to get more calls back if you applied for the right jobs within your skill sets... does your resume need refining?)
Most CCIE positions at the level companies need will be required to interface with "SOMEONE", whether that be a customer, peer, marketing group, whatever. In these instances your business or technical acumen matter more than what you did in a lab. Also, most interviewers don't smile upon someone doing a job search directly after obtaining a cert... (except contracting companies). Ever wonder, if you get a certification and are seeking employment, it means you got a certification and are leaving someone else? You do it to one company, you'll do it to others.
Rules of life
1) if it was easy,anyone would do it
2) Nobody's going to give you anything
3) CCIE number means what you put behind it. If you want that number to mean something you need to sell yourself. Companies dont hire numbers, they hire people... (then they give you a number :) )
-------------------------------------------------------
r/s
William Nellis IV
nellis_iv@yahoo.com
----- Original Message ----
From: Ahsan Mohiuddin <ahsan.mohiuddin@yahoo.com>
To: tom nohwa <tom.nohwa@gmail.com>
Cc: Cisco certification <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
Sent: Monday, November 5, 2007 10:07:12 PM
Subject: Re: CCIE Important Interview Quesition asked by Sunrise, Swiss
Hello Tom,
sad to hear your story. However, I do NOT think that every new CCIE is treated that way. The problem you faced is not ccie-specific. After having a number of difficult interviews/ failing to secure a post I have re-modeled my view of the corporate world in general, and the hiring process in particular. It is easy to feel like "a victim of the cruel world" after the kind of experience you've had but before you fall in that trap, ask yourself the following questions:
1) Did that company genuinely have a vacancy or were they just going through a formal, annual business process requirement?
2) If the vacancy did exist, had the interviewers already picked their man and were just hearing out the remaining ones?
NOTE: If the vacancy is not genuine or they've already picked their man, they are likely to give you a shoddy reason for rejecting you, such as "your french is poor" OR "I see, you nearly flunked the Artificial Intelligence course in college ! "
3) If they had NOT picked their man yet when you were interviewed, did your personality-type *clicked* with majority of the interviewers? In my experience, this is THE most important factor in determining whether or not you will be able to secure the job. The *clicking* happens when they like you as a person or would have made friends with you if you met at a party.
4) If they do *click* with you (or a majority of them does), do they think you can handle this job? They will consider both technical and non-technical skills, esp. communication skills in this era of service-orientation.
5) CCIE is a highly sought after certification in SOME parts of the world. You have much higher chances of securing a job based on ccie in growing telecom markets such as Australia and the Middle East. However, Its not a given that ccie will get you a job in your home country, home state and home town. What it will do is get you a job in most parts of the world.
Wish you luck in future.
- Ahsan
tom nohwa <tom.nohwa@gmail.com> wrote: Hi all,
This is to explain you my job search experience happened in Swiss after
acquiring my CCIE. I am not sure how many of you have come across similar
situation.
I started my CCIE journey in the beginning of last year and passed the lab a
few months ago. Later, I started contacting the ISPs, most of them never
responded. I got an interview from one ISP which is the second largest ISP
(Sunrise) in Swiss. During the interview, they did not ask any tech
questions, instead they asked whether I would be *able to lift the router
and fix it in the rack.* I was astonished to hear this question, but I said
I would do it during the emergency situation. Then, I was asked to wait
for few weeks. Few weeks later, I got the response that my French skill
was very poor.
I have now the following questions to my fellow experts:
1. I have seen only the English version of Cisco IOS. Do you know any
French version?
2. Having 10+ years experience in networking and holding a degree in
networking from the world famous university, I was never asked to answer any
tech question. Instead, question like lifting the router and fixing it in
the rack, always irritate me. Is this type of question asked to
irritate/insult the CCIE?
3. Is it normal that companies don't respond to an CCIE's job applications
(of course my nationality is mentioned in my CV)?
Please let me know your comments as I hear that CCIEs are highly respected
everywhere.
Best,
Joe.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Dec 01 2007 - 06:37:28 ART