The Story of My 18 Cisco Certifications
I graduated as an Electronic Systems Engineer (ISE) from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies (ITESM), in Mexico, in December 1995.
My first job was at Hewlett Packard (HP) as a support engineer. Back then, HP was selling networks, and they were promoting 100VG-AnyLAN technology very hard, which was competing with the Fast Ethernet standard. For those who know and those who do not know what it is, 100VG-AnyLAN will realize that HP did not win, and the Fast Ethernet standard won. What things are - Today, HP is a Cisco partner, and of course 100VG-AnyLAN technology is more obsolete than Token Ring.
I left HP in 1997 and went to the ITESM Campus Monterrey to the Department of Telecommunications and Networks. That was my "first contact" with Cisco. The Director of Telecommunications was married to Cisco (in fact he works for Cisco today), and all the networking team we had there was Cisco. That was the first time I heard about certifications; that was the first time I heard the words "CCNA" and "CCIE."
My boss told us that a CCIE certificate could make a lot of money. So three colleagues and I decided to go for the CCIE - we were ignorant young people, but yes, with a lot of courage. We did not imagine that it was a CCIE. We knew that we had to take two exams, one written and one practical. So we each bought the CCIE prep book on Amazon (my first purchase on Amazon was that book). Of course we had neither the experience nor the knowledge, and we gave up after one semester. Here I can give you an advice that I lived: Follow the path of the stones, first the CCNA, then the CCNP and finally the CCIE of Routing & Switching (if you decide to go for the R&S track). To this day, out of the four, only I managed to be CCIE, at least until today.
In 1999, I left ITESM and went to Avantel (an ISP that no longer exists, was bought by Axtel). Avantel was a Cisco Silver Partner so it had several certificates, including four CCIEs. There were several CCNAs, so I "decided" to get the CCNA. Again, I got on Amazon.com and I bought the book for the CCNA. I started reading it, and I had it in my cubicle. My classmates came and told me that I would never take it out because it was a very difficult exam, so little by little I gave up, until the book was just an ornament in my cubicle. When I gave up I had already read the entire book, practiced in simulators (there was no Dynamips back then), but I was just scared of the exam because I believed what everyone was telling me. On September 11, 2001, the terrorist attacks in NY happened, the US economy went down, and a few months later, Mexico's too. Avantel made a massive cut and among them I went (in case you were wondering, the certificates in Cisco were not touched).
I started my own business, which was by no means a success, and after about 6 months I started looking for work. Of course I wanted a job in networks so I applied to the few jobs that I could apply, in all they asked me at least the CCNA. It was very frustrating to have the experience, and to see that recent graduates who had taken the academy at the University and taken their exam were chosen even without experience in the area. So I decided to take the exam.
I wasn't working at the time, so I dedicated myself 100% to that, plus I didn't have much money to be able to take the exam multiple times. It was exactly 30 days, and from the time I woke up until I fell asleep, it was studying the CCNA. At least 16 hours a day for 30 days. I went to present, I passed it to the first! (The truth is that I did not reach 900 points, I got less, but enough to pass). He was SUPER excited, he was the king of the world, he had already done it the first time. That was on July 22, 2002.
Now, as he was the king of the world, I went back to look for work. Sure, I hoped at least to earn what I was earning when they fired me from Avantel. Or disappointment, they didn't offer me much! (That much is relative). What I wanted to earn was what was offered to the CCNPs, and believe me, back then, I didn't even have the money to buy the CCNP books, much less to pay for four exams of $ 150 each. So, I did something that I had promised myself never to do, I went back to Avantel. (They called me; at least that is a consolation for me) And I did it, not because they offered me the same thing as when I worked before, but because they were the ones who offered me the most and I saw it as a necessary step to obtain the CCNP get out of there.
My first day of work (March 15, 2004), I put in my credit card (they still didn't pay me) to buy the four Cisco Press books for the CCNP. I passed my first CCNP exam on April 16, 2004, the last on July 2, 2004. So strictly speaking, I spent about four months studying all day, focused on the CCNP. I passed the four exams the first time, although one of them got the minimum grade to pass it. At that time, I felt like the king of the world again, my God - that was not the same for them! - You must be proud of this type of achievement, but definitely not more than that. The CCIE saw it as something impossible, because everyone said that was the exam, and at that time, there were less than 50 certificates in Mexico! (As of today, there are over 100 and growing.)
I continued with the CCDA, CCDP and started the CCSP. It was then that I met a CCIE, and of course I expected him to be an eminence - that he would know everything that I didn't know, that there was no wiser person (in the world of networks). And, my God, on various subjects I knew more than he did. It was when I realized that the CCIE was possible, that it was not as difficult as everyone said, it was not true that there was a great difference between the CCNP and the CCIE. So I went back to investing, and incidentally, the material to study for the CCIE is not cheap at all.
While in Avantel, on May 25, 2005, I passed my written exam. The following month, I left Avantel and went with another partner, Migesa (back then, he was a Cisco Silver Partner; now he's Gold.) Why did I leave Avantel? Very simple, they would pay for the labs and the exam.
The road to CCIE is not easy, no. I am not saying that it is a difficult exam or impossible to pass, but difficult because you have to dedicate a lot of time to it. Every Saturday and Sunday, from writing to October 2005, I was setting up teams. Practicing, practicing, practicing. He didn't go to parties, he didn't go to weddings, he had no social life.
One month before my exam on November 25, 2005, at my job they gave me the opportunity to not go to work to continue studying. Why did Migesa do that? Why should you have another CCIE? It was the only way to get Gold certification. So I went to introduce myself to RTP (North Carolina). I did not pass. I felt like rubbish. After all the support from my company, I did not pass. I didn't know how I was going to introduce myself to work and say it hadn't happened. I felt like a roach, or worse than that. I arrived, and I was surprised by the encouragement they gave me to try again. So, without resting for a weekend, I continued studying on Saturdays and Sundays. Two weeks before my second attempt, I was again given the opportunity to study without going to work. I went to my second attempt at RTP again ... and this time I did! It was April 11, 2006. I was very happy, but this time, I didn't feel like the king of the world, just proud that I had finally become CCIE # 16048. And, still, I feel proud, but I'm not jokingly king of the world.
After that, I finished the CCSP, and I leaned for security. I started studying for the CCIE Security Written Exam; I passed it the first time. I went to RTP for the third time, this time to present the CCIE Security, and I also passed it on the first time. That was on July 19, 2007. It goes without saying that, once again, I had to sacrifice my social life, and it goes without saying that my wife, at first, was not very happy to present another CCIE, but finally I support myself with everything.
In summary, I recommend:
Step by step, don't expect to have the CCIE in a short time; think first of the CCNA, then of the CCNP (or CCVP, or CCSP or CCIP, depending on the track that catches your attention) and then the CCIE.
Enjoy the process. If you don't like networks, the preparation will be a real ordeal.
Do not believe them who tell you they cannot. Rather, remember who they told you and when they do, you can go back to them and say, "Yes, I could!"
Have something that motivates you. Sure, the salary you can expect is very high and it is a very good motivator (today, I earn more than five times what I did when I was CCNA), but also look for something else to motivate you.
Don't go to their heads. Having a certification should not make you feel like the king of the world; there will always be someone else who knows more than you.
Look for a Silver or Gold Partner. They are interested in having certified people and almost everyone will be willing to pay for the certifications. Of course, to enter, you must at least have the CCNA (and I would recommend having at least one passed exam from the CCNP or CCSP or CCVP).
Do not give up. Failing an exam happens to everyone; you have to know how to get up from those failures.
Monetarily speaking, being Cisco certified gives you many advantages, and those who are always going to pay the best are those who "strongly" need certificates, that is, Partners.
Also remember that for the CCNA and CCNP I did not take a single course clear or had experience, but someone without experience can also pass the exam without a course - it will just take a little longer.
How I wish someone had told me this just after I graduated, or maybe even before I graduated.
I remind you that a course is not necessary to become certified - so don't worry if you can't afford it - a course will simply help make the process faster.
And finally, if you are married or have a boyfriend (a), believe me, you will need the support of your partner.