New Certification

I just passed my Cisco 642-533 Implementing Cisco Intrusion Prevention Systems test today (with a 930 in case your wondering).

I'm working on transferring careers formally into security related networking and that brings up the certification angst that I've developed over the last 17 years in IT.  I've been a Novell CNE, Microsoft MCP/MCSE, and a Cisco CCNA.  I started taking these certification tests when both Novell and Microsoft started their certification programs.  I thought they were a good idea when I was young and foolish back then.  I learned to hate them when dealing with 'paper CNEs' who couldn't hold a candle to the guys in the trenches.  They had learned how the server actually worked and who dealt with the 65 or so 5 1/4" floppy installs for v2.15 that always seemed to crap out on the BTRIEVE disk.  Add to that the later frustration of certs that expire or just plain loose their relevance due to age and you couldn't get me to re-certify after M retired my NT4.0/Win95 MCSE.

Having been at the Manager and Director level in business has also gotten me involved with HR and the direct hiring process.  Some HR groups have been great and others, well, lets just say they weren't so helpful.  I've always been able to forgive HR for hiring from the cert list.  It's a safe bet and they are not going to loose their job if they hire a moron with paper credentials that destroys operations.  It's Microsoft, Lucent, or Cisco's fault.  It's also what drives the outsourcing problems in large business.  It's also why my wife won't let me fix anything around the house.  If anything goes wrong, someone else is on the hook for it.  I'm always cheaper materials and labor, but outsourced quotes always seem lower (except they have to do it 3 times and later charge you for the things they forgot about).  Low price, someone else is responsible, sounds like a win/win.

sigh.

At 40 I now certify for only one reason.  While I'm job hunting, it gives headhunters, HR managers and hiring managers a label.  They can put me in the CCNA-SEC pile.  I've found that if they couldn't put me in one of their piles, they don't start a new pile.  They just throw it away.  It's sad and it explains why a lot of people in Tech have no idea how to program in 3 languages AND install servers AND build racks AND pull cable AND do application support AND install telecommunications equipment and program them AND do all the work we used to do.  Some of us still do but we rarely get the opportunity to anymore.

Well, I'm happy I passed.  Now to get back to really learning something.....

My Wheat Patch

First a word about the blog name.

It's shamelessly lifted from my favorite newspaper-syndicated comic when I was 11 years old.  Doonesbury by G.B. Trudeau was my first connection with a personality that I was not familiar with in my local neighborhood, namely Zonker Harris.  A free spirit, connected with the earth, insightful of (his) human character, swinging wildly from poetic philosophy one minute to abject reality the next, he reflected the part of me that longed to live in the now.

This was my first brush with Zonker.  Quoting Thoreau, explaining the human connection to our toils and 'curious labor' and proclaiming 'This is my Day's work!'.

This blogs intent is to capture and document my curious labor.  To be my wheat patch that can be shared as a guide or a warning to anyone reading.  I find myself never being satisfied learning new things.  I have worked very hard to be a technological generalist and I think this will be better explained as more posts are added.

So, to sum up, the subjects that I talk about are my interests, passions, projects, and work.  In short, 'This is my Day's work.'