Today is day two of taking the CCNP BCMSN exam simulator, published by Cisco Press, which I assume is somehow related to Cisco, the company who makes the hardware and software against which I am being tested for certification.
This particular question simulates a switch that needs to have a particular port set as a trunk with an encapsulation mode of 802.1Q. Here’s my simulation session:
Hm, that’s interesting. The encapsulation isn’t auto because I set it to be 802.1q in the previous command. I know that to be true because I’ve been configuring switch trunks for years now, and the simulator didn’t object..
What does the Show Me Mode of the test have to say?
Whaddya know… It says to do exactly what I just did! Without the error message.
So how did the simulator grade this particular question? After all, the simulated switch says I don’t have the encapsulation set right, but the Show Me Mode says I do.
The question was graded as correct.
I ask again… Does anyone test this stuff before they sell it? Obviously something is broken. Additionally, the simulator can’t keep up with my typing for some reason. It skips and jumbles characters I’ve entered all the time. I literally have to type at hunt-and-peck speeds so the simulator can keep up. That’s bullshit. I purchased this book and the CD to provide a learning experience and test preparation, not a pain in my ass with broken simulators and questions with answers that don’t make sense. And I’m only through chapter 5.
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February 7th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Does it ‘work’ if you type encapsulation, not just encap? I wonder if their little simulator app didn’t convert that command correctly.
February 7th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Certification is a collossal scam Aaron. The point is not to actually *teach* you something useful (as plainly evidenced by your examples of their testing process above!) the point is to extract as much cash from your wallet as possible. Notice how certifications require constant refreshing? Every upgrade cycle also begets a fresh certification course, and required fees.
Certification is not a substitute for experience. If you REALLY want to learn the in/outs of networking, get a NOC job with a good mentor, read the ORA networking books, attend a NANOG conference… anything other than feeding the money-suck that is the certification industry.
As a hiring manager in a networking company, I will honestly tell you that the more certs a candidate has, the faster I round-file their resume.
–chuck
February 7th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
I understand that certification is questionable at best, and I know, as I’m sure you do, plenty of people who are certified on paper but can’t do squat when you place them in front of a machine. In fact, I once worked for a public school that, in the evenings, conducted a certification program (”diploma mill”, as some would call it) in conjunction with the local community college, and it was my job (as a non-certified employee) to configure and maintain the labs where these paper MCPs and MCSEs were trained. Many times I’ve dealt with some Microsoft jockey that has a ream of certifications who didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground, and who was trumped by the knowledge of the 25 year-old (non-certified) lab monkey he felt entitled to talk down to. But anyway…
I’m currently a CCNA and my cert expires in July. And yes, I’m taking this particular test to renew my current cert and start towards the next one up. My employer is compensating me for study time and the cost of the test, and when I pass, I get a bonus. I certainly did learn some things from my CCNA certification process, and I have no doubt I’ll learn something from this one as well. In my position as the network infrastructure guy, I have some chances to accumulate some book learning and apply it in the real world. Admittedly I don’t get to do a whole lot of either, but like my days in the MS cert labs, I’ve learned a lot by the seat of my pants, and certifications are a good supplement to that. Certification is not a substitute for experience. Almost nothing is.
The company I work for is willing to feed Cisco’s money-suck, and I feel I gain something from the certification process.
I’d love to have a NOC job with a good mentor, however I don’t see too many job ads that use the words “NOC” or “mentor”, and I have (maybe incorrectly) come to the conclusion that most places hiring here want the fresh-out-of-college, inexpensive kind of admin who doesn’t expect professional-level money and something to compensate him for the five weeks of PTO per year he’d lose switching jobs. I think the kind of job you describe, Chuck, is something that a person lucks into, not something that can be actively sought and found.
What I do see in job advertisements is, “must have“, or “must be certified in
“, or the most ridiculous, “must have x number of years experience with
” when that technology has been around x-5 years.
Is Dayton, Ohio, the greatest place on Earth to find a tech job? No. But it is somewhere I enjoy living, and certain parts of life are about trade-offs. Right now I’m content to trade a little professional experience for a personal life I really like.
February 9th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Note to self…
It’s interesting that the Cisco command implies that 802.1Q is an encapsulation when it’s really a protocol in the form of a 4-byte tag added to the frame header. ISL is an encapsulation because it surrounds the frame with a header and a trailer, but 802.1Q is not.