You're correct that Cisco hasn't been in a big hurry to add lab
facilities. But, I'm not sure that I want additional facilities.
Part of the problem with the CCIE certification process is that there are
only two tests and successful candidates are (usually) paid quite
well. Let's say that a candidate has to take the written 4 times to pass
($1200) and the lab 4 times to pass ($5000). For a net investment of
$6200, the newly minted CCIE, even with EXTREMELY limited experience,
should be able to increase his annual compensation by at least
$10,000. The long-term return on investment is, frankly,
astounding. Would only morons pass tests? Of course not. There will
always be truly talented individuals who seek the CCIE cert. Yet, how many
times would a company have to hire a CCIE who passed via persistance rather
than knowledge, before the company decided CCIEs weren't very
knowledgeable? I've seen this very situation happen with any number of
certs, including CNE, MCSE, and CCNA. I, for one, don't wish this to
happen to the CCIE.
The solution to the problem is to limit the number of people allowed to
take the lab. One fair way to do this is to make the qualifications more
stringent and to increase the waiting period between lab attempts. My lab
is coming up faster than I would like, but if I don't pass on the first
attempt, I think it would be quite reasonable for Cisco to require a 6
month wait before I could attempt the lab again. Would it be frustrating,
especially if I narrowly failed? You bet. But then again, it'd make it
that much sweeter when I finally passed.
Just my $0.02...
Craig
At 01:40 PM 6/3/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>"By reducing the number of people who are authorized to take the lab, the
>waiting list for the lab will shrink"
>
>I can't argue with this statement. However, as explained below, I don't
>think reducing the number of people authorized to take the lab is the
>solution.
>
>I'll say this once more, since no one has given me any feedback about this
>opinion (which I've posted before):
>
>The waiting list for the lab is longer now for 2 reasons:
>1) More people are attempting the CCIE than a year ago or before.....
>2) Cisco, in large part, is responsible for this backlog for the lab
>because they have not created more lab exam locations to meet the rising
>demand. If anything, they have somewhat created this backlog because they
>reduced the number of lab testing locations in North America from 3 to 2.
>The act of reducing the number of testing locations by 33% (assuming demand
>were constant, which I believe it has actually risen) would explain why the
>2 remaining locations are overrun with applicants.
>
>Given these two reasons, I'd like to hear feedback on whether or not people
>agree that this explains the backlog. Furthermore, I'd like to hear
>comments on my assertion that, because these 2 things are mainly responsible
>for the backlog, that the CCIE written and lab do not need modification
>because their difficulty (or lack of on some people's opinion) is *not* the
>cause of the backlog to begin with.
>
>Comments are welcomed..... (begged for actually =) Priscilla, Chuck,
>Louie..... speak up =)
>
>Mike W.
>
>PS: I think that making CCNA -> CCNP a prerequisite for even taking the
>CCIE written would relieve some of the congestion in the waiting line for
>the lab and create a more rounded CCIE candidate. I knew from the beginning
>that going for CCIE without CCNA/CCNP was an option, but I wanted a fuller
>understanding of networking, so I chose to do CCNA/CCDA/CCNP/CCDP before
>even attempting CCIE lab, so I could be a CCIE worthy the title.
Message Posted at:
http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=6998&t=6735
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