Jan 1 2009 12:32AM GMT
Posted by: Raj Perumal
ccnp,
Cisco,
exams,
certifications
Hi folks, as some of you may know, I’ve been studying a lot of Cisco lately and been working with it more and more in my daily work. I recently got my CCNA and now have set my sights higher.
For this new year I am going to start preparing for the CCNP certification from Cisco. This certification consists of 4 separate exams and is extremely hard from what I’ve heard. Also based on the difficulty level of the CCNA I can assume they are correct.
Over the next year I will be preparing for this and then writing the exams as time allows. I will keep you guys posted as to my progress. Why do I have a feeling that I am going to be a heavy contributor to Red Bull’s profits over the coming year? 
If anyone has any suggestions as to great study material for these exams please let me know. I hear that the Boson material is really good and I am thinking of attending their boot camp for the CCNP.
-RP
Dec 1 2008 1:26AM GMT
Posted by: Raj Perumal
training,
standards,
certifications,
university,
governance,
mcse,
CCNA,
education,
IT Industry Certifications and Standards,
governing body,
high school
Hi folks, this is going to be a bit of a rant. Over the years I’ve written many exams and certifications and the one thing that is common amongst them is that they have almost nothing in common in terms of quality and standards.
I have written many an exam and done quite well on them in my IT career but I still feel that there needs to be some sort of governing body that should manage quality control and insure consistent testing standards across the board just like we do for Universities and High Schools.
All to often I find exams full of spelling and grammatical errors, or just plain wrong answers that would make the beginner test taker panic out right if they were dipping their toe into the waters of certification for the first time. By having a governing body to ensure that these certifications are created and done properly, I think we would eliminate a lot of the crappy tests out there and also eliminate a lot of the “paper” certified people out there as well.
Also all to often companies use certifications not as a point of learning but as a point of marketing instead. Hoping to prod the people who have the certifications into becoming drones of pushing their product just because they have the certifications.
-RP
Oct 11 2008 7:13PM GMT
Posted by: Raj Perumal
certifications,
university,
mcse,
Information Technology,
CCNA,
ccie,
ccnp,
mcp,
mcts,
college,
certify,
vendor certifications,
experience,
work placement,
co-op programs,
post secondary education,
volunteer work,
paper MCSE,
IT employment
So you’ve graduated from university or college and you’re ready to go out into the world and nail that first awesome IT job. You and your family and friends all know how good you are. You’re the resident computer whiz and you think to yourself “People would be crazy not to hire me!”. So you go out into the world and you find that you get little to no bites on your resumes.
One of the reasons is because everyone and their dog thinks they know IT but unfortunately it’s getting increasingly harder for employers to tell the difference between a wannabe and the real deal. As someone who has been regularly engaged in the hiring process over the course of my career, I can tell you about two things that stand out on a resume for an IT prospect - experience, and certifications.
One without the other just doesn’t cut it. You can have all the experience in the world but if you don’t have the certs then people will wonder how good that experience actually is. You can have a billion and one certs, but if you don’t have the experience with actual projects people are going to think you’re all flash and no substance. The “paper MCSE” comes to mind here.
So how do you get both of these? Well if you are having problems finding work, what you should do is during your education get enrolled in a good co-op program (combination of study and work) where your school places you in a company to learn the trade for a few months of the year. This way you graduate with both experience and theory.
The other way is to volunteer at many organizations that need volunteer IT help. This is a great way to get experience and do something good for your community. This also looks great on resumes. This will also help you when you go to write your certification exams because some experience in the real world will always help you pass those exams.
I always hear people make fun of certifications, but those are usually the people who don’t have the kahonas to go and write them and feel like they have to put them down to legitimize themselves. Instead ignore those naysayers and go out and get that experience and those certifications. Together that will put you a cut above the rest!
-RP
