""adrian jones"" wrote in message [EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > All, > > I am happy to report that my luck has changed for the better. > > Yesterday (Saturday), I had an interview with a manager of a tech consulting > > company which I find kinda strange; however, I was told that the company > > has contracts with other companies that they work mostly on weekends > > to upgrade the system infrastructure. So I went. > > At the interview the manager told me that they are a consulting company > > which requires the employees to have a broad knowledge with both > > networking skills, database and programming background. Instead of throwing > > technical questions at me, the manager asks me to show him the skill > > so that I can convince him that I am the right person for the job. He also > > told me that he interviewed five other CCIEs ealier during the week and > > he wasn't impressed will all of them because they don't have the > > database and programming skills. > > Well, I told the manager that besides what I am doing at my current job > > (which I told him that I will be layoff from the job due to the downsizing > > of the company) as a network engineer, I also know Oracle. Furthermore, > > I also have a lab at home which includes a few "franken" pix firewalls that > > I build to prepare for my CCIE Security lab that function just like a Pix525 > > that I built with "cheap" hardware. I also told him that I have experiences > > with setting and configuring TACACS and RADIUS using Cisco Freeware > > TACACS and FreeRadius and that my experience with Pix firewall is > > rock solid. The TACACS and RADIUS logging is imported to an Oracle9i > > database for auditing purposes. Last but not least, I also told him that > > I have experience with Wireless LAN using Extensible Authentication > > Protocol with Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS) using FreeRadius and > > Public Key Infracstructure and Smart Certificate. To make the wirless > > network to be extremely secure, I implement IPSec over EAP-TLS. > > I gave him a demonstration by logging back to my home network and > > show him my skill. The manager was very impressed with my skills > > especially with the wireless, TACACS and RADIUS that he offers me a > > job on the spot. He is even more impressed that I learn these skills > > on Unix/Linux platforms which the cost of the software is essentially > > free and that since I have the programming skill, I know how to customize > > the source code. Needless to say, I get the job with a pay of $100k/year. > > My responsibility at the new company is to train other employees what > > I know about Pix Firewalls, Wireless security (EAP-TLS, LEAP, PEAP), > > building TACACS and free RADIUS on Solaris, BSD and linux platform, > > perl programming and Oracle9i and MySQL database. Two of the people > > whom I will train are CCIEs. Now, I can really concentrate on my R&S > > lab in Dec and Security in Jan. > > I would like to thank eveyone in this group for encouraging me with your > > wisdom in the past few days. Hopefully, I will pass the lab in my first > > try.
First, let me say congratulations on your new job. Second, you should note that what got you the job was not your routing/switching skills, but all the other things that you brought to the table. Heck, you managed to beat out a host of other CCIE's precisely because you had a set of unique skills that they didn't have. This speaks to the point I made earlier about saturation of skills. Let's face it, these days, if all you know is routing and switching, even at an advanced level, you really don't know much - not in this economy. If you want to be and remain employable, you will have to bring unusual skills to the table. Why bother killing yourself to learn a skill that is saturated? Which ties into my third point - ROI. Like I said before when you asked whether you should pursue your studies, my response was that everybody should invest their time into whatever they think will produce them the best yield on their return. In your case, you defeated a bunch of CCIE's precisely because you had a set of special skills that they didn't have. Sure, they probably had a set of skills you didn't have, but your set was deemed to be better. Therefore, one seemingly very lucrative avenue of attack is to continue building on your special skills. After all, if the CCIE's lost out, then that speaks to a possibility that their skillset really isn't as valuable as yours, so should you really spend time in getting their skills rather than building on what made you special? Again, that's not to say that you should or should not spend time/resources on the lab. Only you can make that determination. What I'm saying is that you should assess what worked and what didn't work for you and adjust accordingly. If it's the CCIE skillset that will provide you with success, then go for it. But if it's other skills that make you succeed, then perhaps that's the avenue you should take. > > Adrian > > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=58015&t=58015 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
