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PurpleButterfly posted:Fellow Cisco goons, I ask for your experiences and advice. (My apologies if any of this has been asked before.) Passing any of the Professional level exams will extend your CCNA again. You can take an NP exam every year for 3 years and still get the cert.
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Sep 16, 2013 22:39
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MrBigglesworth posted:Really? It's not that they weren't aware of their existence, it's that a good chunk of the students didn't bother to use one except when told to do so, which meant less practice, fewer educational mistakes where you inadvertently cut off your ability to access a section of the network, that kind of thing. Most people won't notice the lack of verbose output over vty until they're actually trying to debug something over one. It probably didn't help that our classroom had patch panels by the lab equipment with 1 console and 1 ethernet port from each classroom PC- so unlike a real network, regardless of whether you were using console or vty you still sat there at the same PC running the same terminal emulator. I think that made it hard for some students to internalize the difference. You might get a similar urge yourself doing packet tracer labs- the lab is focused on this or that, and unless it's specifically about using Telnet or SSH there's no advantage gradewise to using a "realistic" method of configuring the devices. Many people will just double-click on the device (which is an instant console connection), rather than plopping down a virtual laptop w/console cable, or setting up the devices through layer 3 so you can use Telnet or taking it a step further and generating keys, configuring domain names so you can use SSH to move among them.
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Sep 16, 2013 23:44
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routenull0 posted:Passing any of the Professional level exams will extend your CCNA again. You can take an NP exam every year for 3 years and still get the cert. You just reduced my stress over this situation quite a bit. Thank you! 
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Sep 17, 2013 03:28
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So. gently caress tests and gently caress testing. I don't know what the fick is wrong with me on this network essentials. Got 87% on practice test. 77% on the real one in this class. Some questions were worded in weird ways that didn't follow the format of any chapter quizzes tests or practice test. gently caress THIS SHIBIN THE LEFT BALLSACK AREA. Christ I must be retarded. I've killed my overall average from a 98% to mid 80s now. Frustrated and confidence destroyed yet again. Starting to think chasing a degree and certs may have been the largest mistake of my life.
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Sep 17, 2013 04:06
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Taking SWITCH cold on Wednesday right before I deploy because YOLO. Going to try to finish the book before then; giving no fucks about the simulators even though they're like 75% of your actual score. If I pass, I'll take TSHOOT during my 4 day pass prior to entering Afghanistan.
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Sep 17, 2013 04:07
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insidius posted:I have not completed nor am I near completing my CCNA as my employer wanted by October. After some posts in this thread I decided to slow my pace regardless of what my employer wanted as I actually want to LEARN the content, not just cram a bunch of crap in. I'm in the same boat. I don't believe I'll be passing my test for the 640-816 on Saturday and that I'll have to take the 200-101 to pass it but it's triggered to need for me to catch up in IT since I left college. I know want to find out how to build off the CCNA in order to get a better career.
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Sep 17, 2013 14:58
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MrBigglesworth posted:So. gently caress tests and gently caress testing. I don't know what the fick is wrong with me on this network essentials. Got 87% on practice test. 77% on the real one in this class. Some questions were worded in weird ways that didn't follow the format of any chapter quizzes tests or practice test. gently caress THIS SHIBIN THE LEFT BALLSACK AREA. Christ I must be retarded. I've killed my overall average from a 98% to mid 80s now. There's a point where focusing on grades and metrics becomes counterproducive, and you're at it- you're throwing a fit, rethinking your future and calling yourself a retard over a test taking you down to a 'B' average. Try to put that in the proper perspective. You're there to learn, to make mistakes, including on the tests, to witness those mistakes and react to them in a way that is productive- not by blaming the text, not by blaming the instructor, not by berating yourself, but by moving forward, learning what went wrong and doing your best to correct or work around them in the future. Nowhere in this process are negative thoughts or feelings adaptive. Spot the errors, spot the weak spots of people or texts, absolutely. You can do this without the rage. This means getting over the fact that technical writers frequently can't write for poo poo, that instructors can be disorganized or useless, that vital facts frequently won't be placed in front of you, that your study habits (notice I did not say innate ability) might need to be changed or ramped up, possibly to a a new level of sacrifice that makes you rethink your priorities. I sympathize with your posts complaining about various materials because I am a pedantic rear end sometimes, and my first run at college I spent a ton of energy railing on bad course materials and lovely instructors. In hindsight, this was a way for me to stay smug in the face of challenging content- it was always much easier for me to poke holes in the course quality than to actually get around those obstacles and learn the material in spite of them. This attitude I had actually proved fatal to my run at a BS in Computer Science. Looking back I was dumb, but not because I needed 3 runs at Calc before I "got" it, not because of the scattered C's (I'd always been a straight A student! Oh no). I was dumb because in the end I dropped out over an instructor I didn't like and a book I couldn't understand. And I don't think I tried remotely as hard as I could've, because to me it was the materials' fault. Anyway if format changes affected your performance drastically, I can think of a few possible causes. 1- An actually badly written test, particularly if it was a homegrown one by your instructor. Good news is, that means he should be able to give you access to your test so you can see just what went wrong. 2- Overreliance on memorization of study objectives, rather than understanding them to where you could put these things in your own words. 3- Leaning on the test format. For example Cisco multiple choice tests are very consistent in their design; usually by elimination and spotting something that rings a bell I can get one right even if I wouldn't bet my life on it. That doesn't mean I knew the answer as well as I should. For me it's a red flag if I can't answer a multiple choice question without the multiple choice options. Remy Marathe fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Sep 18, 2013 |
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Sep 17, 2013 23:18
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A friend of mine and I were having a conversation earlier where I brought up going for the Cisco certs to break into networking, and he mentioned that age discrimination starts to show up for people in their 30s. He had it explained to him that people younger than that are more likely to get promotions and a bigger salary. I think he's full of poo poo. Thoughts? Is age really that much of a determining factor, especially over experience and certifications?
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Sep 18, 2013 05:52
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I imagine that if he's 35 and applying for an entry level networking gig, they're going to ask what he did for the last 15 years, but as long as he has a good answer, it shouldn't have a negative impact. Best case scenario, he has experience with non-networking poo poo that the younger guys might not know. Anecdotally, there are Linux L1s where I work who are anywhere from early 20s to mid 30s. Some of the (relatively) older admins started off doing something non-technical at this company, some don't care to put the effort in to level, and others switched from completely different careers. All 3 types can easily do their job as well as or better than anyone else, depending on other factors. E: Promotion-wise, I imagine it's the same deal. Are there companies out there who are still looking for lifelong employees? I don't really think that's a thing that exists for this generation, especially not in IT. Were I hiring somebody, I'd hire for the employee they can be in 6 months - not the employee they can be in 10 years. Odds are, in 10 years they'll work somewhere else. Comradephate fucked around with this message at 06:47 on Sep 18, 2013 |
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Sep 18, 2013 06:44
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Charles Martel posted:A friend of mine and I were having a conversation earlier where I brought up going for the Cisco certs to break into networking, and he mentioned that age discrimination starts to show up for people in their 30s. He had it explained to him that people younger than that are more likely to get promotions and a bigger salary. I think he's full of poo poo. In my experience thus far, age doesn't play into poo poo when looking at experience and certifications. What it boils down to essentially when you are looking for a new job is a) how well do you know your poo poo, not just cert'd it but know your poo poo and b) who you know and how well you are networking with other people. I recently jump positions after 13 years at one company as well as completely changing industries (enterprise to VAR) and the entire process was done over a weekend. I know my poo poo around networking/virtualization/security and am appropriately cert'd up (section a) and I had been building a good base of people that I knew over the years to reach out to when I was looking for a job that knew me and what I was capable of (section b). I interviewed on a Friday, negotiated salary over the weekend, and signed my offer letter on Monday and promptly turned in my two weeks. I was 36 when I jumped poo poo and couldn't be happier.
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Sep 18, 2013 14:58
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attempt #2 scheduled tomorrow for ccna. Gives me time for a 3rd attempt if I don't pass. Been labbing out what I missed on the test and re-reading things. Think my theory will be great again, just gotta not got a 33% on device configurations.
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Sep 18, 2013 16:56
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I got a low score on of the config questions...am I allowed to post the general topic of the question? Because I think once I do it will be clear why...
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Sep 18, 2013 17:05
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Charles Martel posted:A friend of mine and I were having a conversation earlier where I brought up going for the Cisco certs to break into networking, and he mentioned that age discrimination starts to show up for people in their 30s. He had it explained to him that people younger than that are more likely to get promotions and a bigger salary. I think he's full of poo poo. While his observation may be somewhat correct, the underlying age factor probably doesn't have much to do with it. What happens is younger folks are closer to the current edge of technology and therefore have more relevant skills. Why? People let their skills stagnate, and then when they try to find a new job they find their skills are no longer up to date. For example: I work with some very nice people, we're all dependable and have been here for a pretty long time (at least 6+ years each), the problem is a couple of them are not staying up to date on their skills. If something happens to their job there isn't a big demand for Windows 2000/2003 era knowledge right now. They don't know powershell, don't know newer versions of Exchange, haven't figured out how to automate Win7 deployments, unfamiliar with Windows 2K8+ features and administration, etc. You get the point. So you end up with a guy in his mid 30's that doesn't have a current skill set, while a guy in his early/mid 20's who just finished 2008/2012 training is going to be a better fit since he's up to date. Now a guy in his 30's/40's that can bring years of business experience, who can ALSO stay current on his knowledge, now that dude can write his own ticket. The Third Man posted:I got a low score on of the config questions...am I allowed to post the general topic of the question? Because I think once I do it will be clear why... Absolutely, as long as it isn't THE test question there shouldn't be a problem with it.
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Sep 18, 2013 17:17
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skipdogg posted:Absolutely, as long as it isn't THE test question there shouldn't be a problem with it. Three words: VLAN database mode. That thing I didn't bother to study because every thing I read about it told me that it was deprecated and not to use it. I almost lost my poo poo in the testing room. I loving had VTP down-pat and that is how they tested me on it. If I hadn't passed, and I nearly didn't, I would have been loving livid.
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Sep 18, 2013 17:30
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Protip: It's not depreciated till they stop talking about it in the guides/books/training. I full expect microsoft to ask about exchange CALs even though the book states they're not asked about on the exam.
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Sep 18, 2013 17:37
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The Third Man posted:Three words: VLAN database mode. I lucked out in that I accidentally bought some old gear when I was setting up my home lab. I think one switch was still running 11.something, so I had to use VLAN database mode to configure stuff. I was pissed for like a week, thinking that my new (to me) switch wasn't able to work with VLANs, because there was no "vlan" command in global config mode  But in other news, I've finally gotten my CCNP ROUTE lab all set up  This is what you CCNA kids have to look forward to   I'm crossposting in the Home Lab thread in case anyone has any specific questions.
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Sep 18, 2013 17:58
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incoherent posted:Protip: It's not depreciated till they stop talking about it in the guides/books/training. I full expect microsoft to ask about exchange CALs even though the book states they're not asked about on the exam. Several of the Windows 2008 networking questions deal with IPV6. They're still teaching that FEC0::/10 is a valid site-local addressing scheme even though it was deprecated in Sept 2004. I'm sure the actual test has been updated, but the training materials still have it in there.
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Sep 18, 2013 18:13
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How many of you are actually using Server 2012 on a daily-basis?
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Sep 18, 2013 18:32
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We have zero plans to even touch 2012 in probably the next 18 months. We're moving everything to 2008R2 for now. It's support cycle is good until 2020.
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Sep 18, 2013 18:38
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Tab8715 posted:How many of you are actually using Server 2012 on a daily-basis? Fully on 2012, actually upgrading to 2012 R2 with the new MSDN seed in the next week or so.
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Sep 18, 2013 18:45
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madsushi posted:Fully on 2012, actually upgrading to 2012 R2 with the new MSDN seed in the next week or so. How is it in the future?
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Sep 18, 2013 18:54
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Tab8715 posted:How many of you are actually using Server 2012 on a daily-basis? I use it for AD and hyper-v... in my home. 
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Sep 18, 2013 19:44
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Failed SWITCH, but still did pretty damned well considering I spent maybe 3 hours studying for it. I agree with whoever said the questions are terribly written.
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Sep 18, 2013 20:55
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madsushi posted:Fully on 2012, actually upgrading to 2012 R2 with the new MSDN seed in the next week or so. What kind of environment? We have business apps that we're just barely getting vendor support for 2008R2 on. I can't picture any kind of large production environment that can go to 2012R2 so fast.
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Sep 18, 2013 21:00
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psydude posted:Failed SWITCH, but still did pretty damned well considering I spent maybe 3 hours studying for it. I agree with whoever said the questions are terribly written. When VLAN is 3817, what is speed of interface? a) watermelon b) orange c) banana d) all of the above Did you get any of the questions that weren't questions but statements? Those were my favorite.
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Sep 18, 2013 21:07
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I got a coupon in my email to take the VCAP510 exam for free, so... 20 minutes later I'm a VCA-DCV. Neat.
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Sep 18, 2013 21:38
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psydude posted:Failed SWITCH, but still did pretty damned well considering I spent maybe 3 hours studying for it. I agree with whoever said the questions are terribly written. Of the 3 CCNP tests, Switch was by far the worst for esoteric crap. I think it has to do with all of the crazy poo poo that has been carried over from the early years of networking that we still use today.
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Sep 18, 2013 21:51
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QPZIL posted:I got a coupon in my email to take the VCAP510 exam for free, so... Nice let me know if you need any help on the VCAP
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Sep 18, 2013 21:53
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Fatal posted:Of the 3 CCNP tests, Switch was by far the worst for esoteric crap. Now I can't wait to take it. I'm fully expecting questions like this 16) A SWITCH can bring Harmony to workplace. A) Krshna B) Seventeen C) Orange D) Router
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Sep 18, 2013 21:54
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Welp, I now don't feel as bad as I did. There are 12 of us in the class, and everyone did terrible as compared to the practice exam. A question was asked as to what the highest score was and the instructor mentioned my score without naming me, so I got a out of that. A bit of good news comparatively.Still have quite a ways to go with study though. R&S Essentials has started. MrBigglesworth fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Sep 19, 2013 |
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Sep 19, 2013 01:42
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Psssssst, hey... hey you... yeah, you... come over here for a second... You didn't hear it from me, but if one were so inclined, one could use the promo code 'VCA501' at PearsonVUE sometime before September 30th to take any single VCA- exam for free. It's free, it's web based, the training is free, and the training is only like 2 hours long. There's literally no reason NOT to do it, aside from the website not working, so I had to call customer support. Hell I might see if the code will work for me to do VCA-Cloud, VCA-WM, and VCA-NV if they're that straightforward that I could knock it all out in a day.
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Sep 19, 2013 02:03
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QPZIL posted:I lucked out in that I accidentally bought some old gear when I was setting up my home lab. I think one switch was still running 11.something, so I had to use VLAN database mode to configure stuff. I was pissed for like a week, thinking that my new (to me) switch wasn't able to work with VLANs, because there was no "vlan" command in global config mode I spy a virtual link! Redistribution almost kicked my rear end.
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Sep 19, 2013 02:20
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Test is updated for Exchange 2010 SP1 Book is obviously ctrl-F and replace to add references Exchange 2010 SP2 Book states office 2007 filter pack to be installed as a pre-req Fresh Exchange 2010 SP1 install requires office 2010 filter pack 
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Sep 19, 2013 02:50
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QPZIL posted:Psssssst, hey... hey you... yeah, you... come over here for a second... Thanks for this. I have my CCNA tomorrow but I will definitely do one of these before month end.
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Sep 19, 2013 02:56
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QPZIL posted:Psssssst, hey... hey you... yeah, you... come over here for a second... Amazing! Now if I only could find my candidate number edit: it works Alctel fucked around with this message at 04:02 on Sep 19, 2013 |
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Sep 19, 2013 03:09
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Alctel posted:edit: I can't seem to sign up on the site :< Do you get an application error? That's what I got and had to sign up over the phone.
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Sep 19, 2013 03:47
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Tab8715 posted:How many of you are actually using Server 2012 on a daily-basis? Only on new installations because we can't be dinged in a few years for installing a 5 year old OS, when we could have gone 2012, even though it is an absolute dumpster fire. Exchange 2013.... don't even loving get me started. Zimbra is better than exchange 2013, if you can imagine that. Edit: Taking 640-802 next week because I can, gently caress the haters.
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Sep 19, 2013 04:28
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I got signed up but that promo code only takes 50% off sadly 
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Sep 19, 2013 04:37
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QPZIL posted:Do you get an application error? That's what I got and had to sign up over the phone.
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Sep 19, 2013 12:54
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"[oMa posted:Whackster" post="419640119"] Yep.
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Sep 19, 2013 13:15
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