[rescue] Do you remember when? Security software.....

[Daniel de Young]

On Mon, 2003-08-11 at 13:16, Andrew Weiss wrote:
> On Monday, August 11, 2003, at 03:37 PM, Michael A. Turner wrote:

> I have been turned away because I didn't have an MCSE even though I had 
> Cisco certs, loads of experience, an MCP in the required area, and 
> other stuff.  They can be quite cruel for no reason and it makes no 
> difference if you explain the relevancy in a kind or informative 
> fashion.
> 
> Luckily this problem will go away some time this month as I will 
> finally have the MCSE... I am an MCSA.  This btw has been my longest 
> running cert to get and I have plenty of certs of greater relevance.

I got my MCSE back before the "mad rush".  I've actually never used it
so I let it slide... couldn't bare the thought of studying for that one
again.  The first time I busted my butt to really learn the material and
wound up getting a ton of questions like "which control panel applet is
used to control volume settings".  Damned discouraging.

I did the CCNA which was a breeze because it is mostly theory and I went
through that in school and during MCSE, but mostly because when you're
working on a huge campus LAN all day everyday, you can't help but get
that stuff ingrained in your head.

I obtained the GIAC/GSEC because I enjoy the work and it's governed by
an organization I happen to respect a lot.  It was enjoyable because
there is really no way to fake the practical assignment besides outright
plagiarism so it means a bit more than memorization tests.  I'll be
writing my CISSP on Sept.27th (the next time it's being given in my
city).  I'm doing it mostly because about 1/3rd of the GSEC material is
CBK stuff so I've been through it already and HR people seem to
recognize the cert more than GSEC.

I wrote the BSCI exam for CCNP last week.  I gave myself a week to
study.  I passed, but I feel like a cheat.  I don't have the cash to
setup a decent lab and my experience with routing protocols other than
eigrp is very limited (i've spent most of my career doing corporate
LAN/WAN with very little time at "the edge").  The test is *very*
heavily based on the time you have on the equipment and I just don't
have the equipment.

I figure the cheapest lab I could throw together would cost about
$1500.  I'm all the way through the Switching material, but hesitate to
take the test knowing that half the questions are related to commands
that I either haven't run in a couple years or have never used in the
case of the 1900 switch which I've never even seen.  I have plenty of
time on 6000/6500s, 4000s, and 3500s, but don't have a photographic
memory and it's been awhile at this point.

I was going to take the swithing exam on Wednesday, but I may just
forget the CCNP for now.  I can't stand the thought of continuing
knowing that I'm not really "learning" the material.

-Daniel