[65143] in North American Network Operators' Group
re: This may be stupid but
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Don Mills)
Thu Nov 13 09:42:18 2003
From: Don Mills <don.mills@dss.virginia.gov>
Reply-To: drm2@dss.state.va.us
To: nanog@merit.edu
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 09:38:29 -0500
Errors-To: owner-nanog-outgoing@merit.edu
I just had to respond to this thread and throw my 2 cents in. I can cert=
ainly=20
see the frustration of hiring managers (having done so myself) that recei=
ve a=20
load of resumes full of "certified" individuals who don't know squat. Th=
at=20
is what a tech interview is for, though isn't it? Unfortunately to get t=
o=20
that interview you need a bit of flash to get your foot in the door. The=
=20
world is as full of people claiming to be a linux guru as it is of MCSE's=
=2E I=20
think some certs at least show that you are capable of learning, and some=
of=20
the higher level ones show that you are capable of understanding/using=20
concepts as well.
Now I freely admit to being a cert collector/whore - I just do it for fun=
=20
nowadays but I am willing to back every bit of it up in a tech interview =
- in=20
fact I normally ask to tech interview with the heads of the unix, securit=
y,=20
AND networking groups to prove I know what I claim to know (and I'm prett=
y=20
sure I could pass as a high-level Microsoft guy if I desired). But it wo=
uld=20
be a tragic mistake on anyone's behalf to pre-assume that all those lette=
rs=20
means I don't know what I am talking about. That's stereotyping, isn't i=
t?
--=20
Don Mills
SCSA SCNA CCNP CCDP
CISSP CQS-VPN CQS-PIX
Chief Network Security/WAN Architect
VA Dept. of Social Services
don.mills@dss.virginia.gov
