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WWRMD -- question about Professional Training ( CCNA )

splat

Nam I am
So this week I'm taking a 5 Day Professional course , Cisco ICDN1 ( the first half of the CCNA ) . well I get to my class on the first day , and they are short one set of Books ( Text , Lab,s CD,s Notes , etc ) . they tell me they will have one Fed-exd , for Tuesday. I'm OK , First day was some new stuf , some review I'm Ok. Tuesday Comes , the Books are stuck in Customs , and don't show, I email my Sales rep , and he Garuentee's I'll have them By Noon On Wednesday. Nope Still Stuck in Customs , I Finally get them today on Day 4 of a 5 day Course. I complain to the Sales rep that this is unacceptable, he agrees and Says they will make it up to me. The course was Billed to my American Express , a Partial Refund would confuse y companies expense reporting mechanism , especially since they are rolling out a new system next week.

The Instructor of the Class is BS over it all , and has told me I have far too calm with them.

So I guess What Should I ask for , would asking for a Complimetry ICDN2 course be asking too Much ?


BV I'm very interested in your input.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,943
13,135
Portland, OR
Did you get enough out of the class to move on? If so, I would ask for level 2 and be done with it. You're right about the partial, but they should be willing to give you at least a healthy discount on the next course.

But make sure you got enough out of the first one. You could retake the first one for free, also.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Ask for level 2. Cisco's a racket anyway.
Why do you say that?

In any event, ask for the second half of the course free.

Unfortunately, it may have screwed your timing up if you didn't learn enough out of the first half. Definitely make sure you have a grasp of the basics before moving to the second half, since the second half uses the first half as a foundation (i.e. it's not all new concepts, it's a lot of usage of your old concepts).
 
Why do you say that?

In any event, ask for the second half of the course free.

Unfortunately, it may have screwed your timing up if you didn't learn enough out of the first half. Definitely make sure you have a grasp of the basics before moving to the second half, since the second half uses the first half as a foundation (i.e. it's not all new concepts, it's a lot of usage of your old concepts).
The whole premise that you can't download IOS or firmware updates unless you're certified is idiotic.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,943
13,135
Portland, OR
Why do you say that?
I have worked with a lot of Cisco Certified professionals. Not saying all of them were complete jackasses, but like any certification (ASE mechanic, Microsoft Professional :rofl:) there are, in my experience a large majority of them that were able to BS through the courses and get certified without knowing jack.

If you get to the level of CCIE, then it's far from just paper.

My brother-in-law works for Cisco (he founded a start-up that was purchased for entirely too much money and was assimilated) and has validated my experience through his own as well.

Granted, Cisco is far better than just about anything Microsoft does, but you still have to take it with a grain of salt. Plus, I'm bitter because I don't have any cool acronyms to plaster my resume with in my line of work. :D
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
The whole premise that you can't download IOS or firmware updates unless you're certified is idiotic.
Never heard that before... interesting.

jimmydean; really doesn't have anything to do with Cisco, though. More like, "certifications don't automatically equate to knowledge." All certs are like that; you will always have people who study to the test.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,943
13,135
Portland, OR
jimmydean; really doesn't have anything to do with Cisco, though. More like, "certifications don't automatically equate to knowledge." All certs are like that; you will always have people who study to the test.
That was sort of my point.

My friend Aaron (at the ripe age of 19) blew 4 CCNA's out of the water in an interview process for a company here many many years ago. Shortly after being hired, the company made him go through the entire course to justify to the board that he was able to do it.

It wasn't until later that he found out his $45k salary was less than HALF of what the other candidates were asking. He got a HUGE raise after that.
 

splat

Nam I am
More like, "certifications don't automatically equate to knowledge." All certs are like that; you will always have people who study to the test.

I agree , Its why I am going to take the courses I'm not sure if I am going to bother with taking the exams , be cause quite frankly I could care less about it , and I have meet too many people with Perts who couldn't trouble shoot them selvs out of a paper bag. I take the classes to learn , to make my job easier. etc , not so I can add a few lines on my Buisness card.

and I do have one cert , because the company sent the whole dept to a boot camp with tests included and you had to get certified ,

ITIL -- and I remember nothing from it , shows how useful that is to me .