I just passed my CCIE Voice?  What is next?

I always get this question from student?  Okay I passed CCIE Voice now what?   Well it all depends on you?  What would you like to do?  Are you happy with your current job? or do you have a job at all?  If no then your next course is to may be look for a better career (for all CCIE visit www.ccieflyer.com for better job opportunities).  

Often I come a cross few students who pass their CCIE Voice tells me, well okay I am not off to my next CCIE, may be I will do SP?  I personally don’t think that is a good idea.  Okay if you have good fundamental in Routing and Switching and hold CCIE VOICE certs I believe that is good enough for current market. 

Here are few suggestions that you may want to consider after doing CCIE Voice

• Look for a better job if not happy with the current situation
• Learn Enterprise related Contact Center like Cisco ICM Enterprise or Cisco Voice Portal – make your self market magnet.  Become part of Elite group
• Learn about Microsoft OCS 2007 Unified Communication
• Learn about Microsoft Exchange 2007 Voice Mail Solution
• Learn about Integration of Microsoft and Cisco Technologies specially in voice related field
• Dont ignor asterisk or open source voice technologies
• Learn about some customer relationship manage integration with Unified Communication technologoes
• Become a expert in Call Center scripting
• Focus on Business process and Unified Communication
• Unified Computing is another area to explore.

You want be a CCIE VOICE at the same time, have some skills that are hard to get.  These days or soon you will get 100s of CCIE VOICE who may have SP or R/S or Security.  But when you go for a job, you will either land a job in Voice, or R/S or Security.   Very rare case you will see a CCIE VOICE guy who is also doing Security stuff at the same time.

It is hard to find people who has CCIE VOICE at the same time Enterprise Call Center skills.  Focus on the area that are hot related to unified communication.  It can be a different vendor.  Remember Cisco does not have 100% of voice market. 

VoiceBootcamp Inc

Have you seen how some institute brag about their instructor for being Double, Triple, Quadruple CCIE or one of the ten who holds 5 CCIE certs or 6 CCIE certs?

Is it worth having all these?  as a instructor or as a candidate?

Let’s look at from different angle?

Being CCIE these days is not that difficult.  All you need is  Money and Time and dedication and some time not even that thanks to some institute that manufacture CCIE Voice.

Instructor who held’s Multiple CCIE

If you are an instructor who has 5 CCIE in your hand, can you honestly say you are focus?  I mean if you held 5 CCIE – R/S, Voice, Security, Storage, SP and only teach CCIE R/S 2 weeks a month, when you work on the other IEs.   If you teach 1 week CCIE Voice, 1 week R/S, 1 week security and 1 week of Storage, aren;t you only expert 25% of each topic?  What I know about being an expert is when you are 80% to 100% focus on one area.  

Truths about most instructors who are full time with an institute often teach they don’t do any outside work.  Few does but not all.  Now being 4 extra CCIE does it really make you an expert in all 4 or 5 area of the technologies?  Very hard to believe?  One has to wonder when the instructor gets time to study Voice, when he has been teaching for 8 years in R/S.  Even if he does get time to study voice when in the world did he do any project on it for real word experience?

We as a human being can handle so much plus age becomes a factor as we grow.    Few guys who have been around for 5 to 10 years may have exposure to more technologies then other instructors and often may have many different skill sets.   Even then, if you don’t focus on any particular area on 80% of the time then you are longer consider expert

Based on Wikipedia Experts have a prolonged or intense experience through practice and education in a particular field. In specific fields, the definition of expert is well established by consensus and therefore it is not necessary for an individual to have a professional or academic qualification for them to be accepted as an expert.

So by having 5 CCIE does it make you an expert?

Which area are you focusing on?

What is your particular choice of field that makes you an expert in?

These are the questions you should ask when choosing an institute.  Often institute will tell you well our instructors are 5 x CCIE and only ten of them in the world who has this, you are in good hand?  Well are you?  Well that is up to you to figure it out.

I am not saying those who have Triple CCIE or 6 x CCIE are not good instructor.  Some of them the best instructor that I know of but one has to ask how well are those CCIE who held 6 of them?

Multple CCIE for individual

Individual should also be careful of becoming multiple CCIE.   Often these days Managers are looking for expert, will ask where is your focus?  Are you a security guy, or a voice guy, or a SP.  what do you really like to do?  Manager may see you out of focus

CCIE vs Doctors

There are many catagory of doctors.  General specialized etc.

You have Doctors who are 100% focus

1.Brain Surgeon
2.Heart
3.Some are expertise in skin, while others are focus on spinal cord
4.Dental
So what is the most common think about them they are all consider to be a doctor.  Doctor who specializes in Heart, may know bit about Brain or How teeth works but that is not his area of expertise.  You will hardly ever find a doctor who is expert in Brain at the same time a heart.   Atleast I won’t go to that doctor.

So CCIE’s are not difference either.  Stick to one or two technology and focus on them 100%.  If technology is dying then move to the other one and start all over again.  But it is often difficult for majority of us to focus on 4 to 6 area and still consider us to be expert in that field.

Just some thoughts.  Plan your career properly, make the right decission.

VoiceBootcamp Inc

Often student will come and ask me, can we Guaranteed any one passing? While few companies around the world, specially one in UK and Canada often Guaranteed on their website. Pass CCIE VOICE Guaranteed or pass on 1st attempt. There are many school promissing so many things to get student’s business. While we as a institute wish that every single student who take our training courses, pass the CCIE lab but there is no majic. No two student are same? Each individual has different level of knowledge, experience in the field. Some student may have issues with taking test under stress while others ace it.

So it is not possible for one to guarantee 100% passing for the following reason

1.We can teach you what you need to pass the exam (as most school who guaranteed does so). Usually they dont teach one to do the job, but rather pass the exam but what is the guaranteed that during the lab, you will not fell a sleep because you did not sleep properly the night before?

2.What if you are extremely nervous in the lab room?

3.What if your hardware is not working during the lab? I think you got the point? Many things can go wrong? and student can come back to the institute saying you know what I did not pass so I want my refund and/or guaranteed policy to be invoked. For institute this could effect its bottom line.

One company in UK offers Guaranteed pass or they will refund your ticket cost and hotel. They will give you one retake option? Do a google and you will figure out the school name Lets take a look at some of the terms and condition based on their website After the bootcamp if you fail the exam, you are entitle for the following.

Cost of the bootcamp is 3995 British Pound which is around $6455.92 USD .

 •Ticket cost is refunded – 600 GB max. ($900 USD dollar max) (comment – this is already included in the price so really does not hurt them)

•Hotel cost is refunded – 150 GB max ($250 USD dollar max)

•1 Re-take off the bootcamp but no rack access. You can either provide your own rack or rent it from them. (thus opportunity for them to make more money from you)

So how is that a guaranteed of passing? they should refund 100% of the money if you dont pass or if not atleast 50% if their program is that good

Like this, many school will offer so much with guaranteed but often the terms and condition are so restrictive that may be 2 out of 10 students will actually take the time to go through all these process. Remaining 8 will forget about it. Thats where they make their money out of those 8 candidate.

Some school has investment protection plan and this and that. Most of these are like buying insurance when you buy a Laptop at the Best Buy or Futureshop in Canada or Target etc. For extra $20 they will replace this, and that, give you loaner laptop if your laptop has to go the tech depot etc. But ask those who went through the process, it was hell for most of them. Sometime $20 is not that important compare to your time and the hassle.

 So when you shop for any bootcamp, and they offer you all the sugar coated marketing line, just step back and ask few questions regarding those terms and conditions. Be a devil’s advocate and find out what is really there. Is it worth it? THOSE WHO ARE SERIOUS ABOUT CCIE VOICE, – WILL PASS IT 100% sooner or later that is our guaranteed. As long as you stay on the course.

Faisal H. Khan VoiceBootcamp Inc.