Ask YC: Any network gurus want a paid holiday? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask YC: Any network gurus want a paid holiday?

#31

Post by gsiener » Thu, Oct 01, 2009, 8:49 PM UTC

smaher wrote: post #24

I volunteered at the Island School 4 years ago. I can attest that it is a beautiful remote spot. I was there helping out with their summer camp for middle schoolers and also working on some construction projects around the campus. I'd go back if I had the networking experience. Depending on my mood I found it peaceful or lonely as it is very isolated and I saw only 50 people total in the 1 month I was there. Other th…

Glad you enjoyed your time, thanks for those insights. We actually have hot water via solar water heaters. To be honest, most days you wish your shower was a little colder!

A metropolis this is not, but it's worth it when you have your pick of several deserted beaches :)

PS Where'd you get that aerial shot? Was that a Twin Air flight?

Re: Ask YC: Any network gurus want a paid holiday?

#32

Post by gsiener » Thu, Oct 01, 2009, 8:52 PM UTC

count wrote: post #26

markessien wrote: post #2

The question is - can a network guru leave whatever company he is working at for a few months, and then come back with no problems?

I doubt they need a couple months of work? It sounds more like a week or so to get them pointed in the right direction.

My thoughts exactly.

Re: Ask YC: Any network gurus want a paid holiday?

#33

Post by brk » Thu, Oct 01, 2009, 9:15 PM UTC

jeremymcanally wrote: post #28

brk wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grok your point, but will make a mild counter argument. Networking classes alone would not give you any value in this case. In fact, they'd give you negative value because the real world never works like the text book, and offering advice that you yourself have not applied in practice is bad form. I never finished Cisco networking classes either. I never really started them in the first place. I did however help de…

If you take the official network classes from Cisco then you do spend a lot more time on real equipment than buried in a book. // finished 4 semesters of CCNA instruction only to be too poor to afford the testing. :)

And where does that equipment live?

Unless things have changed since I last looked, it's all labware. Sure, that's better than pure textbook, but still a far cry from reality.

Re: Ask YC: Any network gurus want a paid holiday?

#34

Post by smaher » Thu, Oct 01, 2009, 9:59 PM UTC

gsiener wrote: post #31

smaher wrote: post #24

I volunteered at the Island School 4 years ago. I can attest that it is a beautiful remote spot. I was there helping out with their summer camp for middle schoolers and also working on some construction projects around the campus. I'd go back if I had the networking experience. Depending on my mood I found it peaceful or lonely as it is very isolated and I saw only 50 people total in the 1 month I was there. Other th…

Glad you enjoyed your time, thanks for those insights. We actually have hot water via solar water heaters. To be honest, most days you wish your shower was a little colder! A metropolis this is not, but it's worth it when you have your pick of several deserted beaches :) PS Where'd you get that aerial shot? Was that a Twin Air flight?

Yes, I took it on a Twin Air flight back to Fort Lauderdale. You guys have made a lot of progress, since I was there. Congrats!

Re: Ask YC: Any network gurus want a paid holiday?

#35

Post by lil_cain » Thu, Oct 01, 2009, 11:01 PM UTC

brk wrote: post #20

sree_nair wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Appreciate your reply. But wasn't that too heavy for just a jovial comment?. so, you ready for the vacation?. :)

I didn't mean for it to be so heavy ;) Part of the reason for my response is a bit of a personal nit, I guess. I come across a lot of talented and capable people who seem to feel that they need someone else to verify their skills. Schools and training programs and certs are all well and good for some people, but those things take time and money. Time and money that might be better invested on self-learning, or taking…

When you're the guy with a B.A. and work experience in ISP call centres, Cisco certs are a handy way of not getting your C.V. thrown out by H.R. drones :-)

(Not that I got any in the end, someone who didn't care employed me first. But they make sense for a reasonably large group of people)

Re: Ask YC: Any network gurus want a paid holiday?

#36

Post by lil_cain » Thu, Oct 01, 2009, 11:02 PM UTC

borism wrote: post #16

jsz0 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've taken a bunch of Cisco classes but never actually finished them and took the tests. My network of ~16,000 devices is at a pretty steady 99.99 uptime rate for the last 2 years. A big upward curve since taking over from my predecessor who was certified in half a dozen different ways.

yeah. and besides switches/PBX I don't see where would one need Cisco anyway.

"One neck to choke" is a powerful reason to deal with more than their switches.

Re: Ask YC: Any network gurus want a paid holiday?

#37

Post by mikeytown2 » Fri, Oct 02, 2009, 4:51 AM UTC

mikeytown2 wrote: post #29

tibbon wrote: post #4

Makes me wish for once I'd actually finished those Cisco networking classes.

CCIE is the only cert that is a sure thing. If someone has it you know they're good.

Anyone care to let me know why I got down-voted? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco_Career_Certifications#Cis...

Re: Ask YC: Any network gurus want a paid holiday?

#38

Post by jeremymcanally » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 12:10 AM UTC

brk wrote: post #33

jeremymcanally wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you take the official network classes from Cisco then you do spend a lot more time on real equipment than buried in a book. // finished 4 semesters of CCNA instruction only to be too poor to afford the testing. :)

And where does that equipment live? Unless things have changed since I last looked, it's all labware. Sure, that's better than pure textbook, but still a far cry from reality.

We had a full network setup where I took them, with a fair amount of real hardware (of varying manufacturers even [a few AdTran boxes]). Perhaps that is a rarity, I'm not sure. :)