IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR CCIE INFORMATION CALL ME 302-438-1681....
Eman (Emmanuel Conde) has the destinction of being the only CCIE recruiter promoted by World Wide Channels of
Cisco Systems. Eman earned this
distinction because of his tireless efforts on behalf of CCIEs and developing
Cisco talent. He has spoken at Cisco
Academy events, developed an international CCIE mentor program, writes for
ITWorld magazine, has a very active blog focused on CCIE career concerns, and produces
the CCIE Flyer an online magazine published monthly. He has developed a unique approach to
recruitment which includes giving back to the CCIE community through his advice,
career columns and CCIE Mixers which are networking events he hosts
internationally. Unique to the industry
is his specialization in CCIE recruitment and the many ways he has created a
presence in the CCIE community. He is
featured in many CCIE blogs, supports live music in Second Life where he
advertises on two stages, created the CCIE Network in LinkedIn, has run the
only CCIE supported CCIE Salary Survey, has appeared on TV advising Hispanic
viewers about IT careers, works with CCIE training companies internationally to
provide career advice to students as they prepare for the CCIE Labs, and he is now
sponsoring schools in Delaware and NYC as part of the Cisco Network Academy
program and IT Rocks.
DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY
University Relations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carlos Holmes
(302)
857-6062
COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN DSU, CISCO SYSTEMS AND THE PADUA ACADEMY
GUIDES WOMEN TO COMPUTER SCIENCE CAREERS Will Work to Close the Gender Gap
whereas only 35% of the Information Technology Workforce is made up of Women.
WILMINGTON, Del. – Delaware State
University has joined academic forces with
the Cisco Networking Academy
in a collaboration to address the gender gap in the information technology
workforce.
DSU, Cisco
Systems – which includes the Cisco Networking Academy
– and the Padua Academy
(an all-girls Catholic school in Wilmington) will
collaborate on an initiative that will teach new IT skills to students at Padua. To help jump start this effort, Cisco has donated
more than $10,000 in networking equipment to fund the costs of becoming an
authorized Cisco training facility for the young woman of Padua.
In celebration of these efforts, an
event has been scheduled to take place on March 4th at Padua Academy, featuring
guest speaker Emmanuel Conde – the only Cisco Certified Internetwork
Expert (CCIE) recruiter promoted by World Wide Channels of Cisco Systems. Mr.
Conde has spoken at Cisco
Academy events, developed
an international CCIE mentor program, writes for ITWorld magazine and produces the CCIE Flyer (an online magazine published monthly). Eman will do a motivational presentation
focused on the need for more qualified individuals in technology called “IT
Rocks”.
Other guest speakers will include Eve Tahmincioglu - Columnist, Your Career, MSNBC.com,
Marie Zwickert – Business Development Manager, Cisco and Robert Morand –
Executive Director of Academic Computing, DSU.
The donation of the equipment
will be presented by Steve Bradley – Account Manager, Cisco and accepted by Sister
Ann Michele - Principle
Padua Academy.
DSU welcomes this collaboration as
a way to create opportunities for individuals to attain new skills and earn
industry-recognized credentials. Young people who successfully complete any
part of the Academy curriculum in high school will be granted equivalent
academic credit upon matriculating at DSU.
Padua Academy has been previously recognized as a National
School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education and was awarded the
Blue Ribbon Award. Schools honored in
the Blue Ribbon Schools Program represent the full diversity of American education.
Their message to the American people is that with the winning combination of
leadership, hard work, caring, vision, and common sense, excellence can be
achieved."
“Part of the challenge of getting girls interested in technology is showing
them how it is so relevant to their lives and interests," said Jacqueline
Wilson, technology coordinator at Padua Academy. “We’re very excited about this
endeavor with DSU and The Cisco Networking Academy”!
CCIEs need to learn from my recent experience in the Middle
East. I was asked, as often happens, by
a CCIE to help him find a job. I spoke
with him about his career goals and then found a role for him. The trouble was even though he was unemployed
in the UK his previous employer in the UAE would not release his number. Since the CCIE number was essential to the
channel partner he was not selected.
Instead my next candidate was given the position and my journey to
discovery about some of the complicated employment contracts began.
The CCIE had taken a job in the UAE and was relocated from his
country for the job. He worked two
months and then was put on unpaid leave.
Technically he was not released from the company but he was also not
getting paid any more. Think about the
horrible position the company had put him in.
How could that be an acceptable business practice? The company in question had passed their
Cisco audit to become a Silver Partner and as soon as that was done they
basically discarded the CCIE as if he was no more use to them. They had also built a contract that stated he
could not be employed in all of the UAE and if he did get a job in the UAE he
would not be allowed to release his CCIE number. What?
Banned from working from an entire country! So he left the country for the UK. In the UK he was still not allowed to have
his number back, even when I had asked for the release of his number. I actually called the company and spoke with
the person who signed the Intent to Release letter my candidate had. I was basically told he would get back to me
when he could. The old “Don’t call us we’ll
call you”, routine. So I called their HQ
and spoke with another person who would not even give me his name. What?
You call a company and say hello and the person in the company will not
identify themselves? At this point I
realized I needed to go to Cisco. Then another
CCIE who was also treated the same way contacted me. Yup, 2 CCIE hostages. The second CCIE was brought from another
country just like the first and he was similarly treated. He returned to his home and was still denied
the use of his own CCIE number. But he
was afraid to be put in jeopardy and asked if I could help without his
involvement. Seems he was bullied and
felt at risk if he made waves.
So with this new information I reached out to Cisco. I now have a new best friend. I was contacted by Cisco and my eyes were
opened to a new friend in the company.
Yes, they had received a complaint about the company before and yes,
they were very interested in what I had learned. While on the phone the two numbers were
disassociated from the company and in that one call I was able to release not
just one hostage but two! This series of
calls not only released the hostages but the company in question is now subject
to a new level of scrutiny which will probably result in the loss of Silver
status.
Damn I felt like a superhero, like Popeye, like Batman
(except not so glum), like Spiderman (except I would not hang upside down again
I get dizzy) kissing Bouncy!
But there is a serious message here and a lesson so listen
up. Be careful what you sign. Really there are contracts out there that can
cause you problems.
1.
Never sign an employment agreement that bans you
from working in your industry if you should leave the employer
2.
Never sign an agreement that would create a
geographic rule for working with a new employer
3.
Get a release clause for your CCIE number in the
case of separation should you be released by the company or choose to leave in
less than 6 months.
a.
If you and the employer don’t make it or if the promises
made are not kept
b.
Downsizing happens if the employer should have
to let you go leave with your number
4.
Make sure you turn to your network to find out
if anyone has heard of the company you are considering and what they think
5.
Employment offers and contracts that are too
brief can be just as much trouble as those that are volumes. Get the MBO, Bennies, Intent to release (yup
the number), and the actual offer
I learned that sometimes even a smart CCIE can be lured into
a bad situation. Don’t go in blind. Call me I don’t have to place you to
help. Ask my network I stand by them and
I have learned that they stand by me.
I did it again this New Year’s eve. I waited in line for an hour to get into
Saint John the Divine for the annual Concert for Peace. The idea for the Concert for Peace was originally
developed by Leonard Berstein. He chose
Copeland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”, as the opening piece and it has been
used since the 1980s. Harry Smith (pictured here), Judy
Collins, Martin Cortese, Lauren Flanigan, John Musto, Amy Burton, and the NYC
Philharmonic Orchestra were all in attendance once again this year. The concept for the Concert for Peace is
based upon the community gathering to send out the old year with a wish for the
coming one of Peace on Earth.
iPhone shot of the special guests and speakers for the evening. Pictured here are Judi Collins, a contingent from Tibet and others.
I was especially pleased to hear and see the
African ensemble with Kewulay Kamara and Sarah Dioubate doing a Badenya
greeting called, “Being of One Mother.”
The main instrument used for this song was this real cool looking 22
string instrument which looks like a big banjo made of animal skin and wood.
I came away from this concert ready to start 2009 renewed
and ready for the job at hand.
The job?
Find work
for CCIEs ready for a change or hurt by the economy anywhere in the world!
I have been asked to support the drive with
Cisco’s Talent team in the emerging markets of Egypt and Africa. Botswana is an interesting place and I have
learned that the historic effort there to build a modern infrastructure for the
country includes a lot of work for Channel Partners and CCIEs. Egypt is also an area of concern for
networking talent. I am still supporting
the efforts of channels in Belgium, Switzerland, UK, Canada, UAE, USA, Mexico,
Finland, Germany, France, and more coming daily. I am in a good position to help CCIEs and
future CCIEs with career choices like never before.
2009 is here and with it there is a renewed effort on my
team’s part to connect with many of the CCIEs and Network Engineers in my
network in order to make sure they are doing OK. We have seen a lot of scary news about
lay-offs, reductions in force, downsizing, rightsizing, and cut backs. My resolve remains firm in support of the
Channel Partners since they are still hiring and Cisco solutions are still in
big demand.
Harry Smith said it felt like the whole country is waiting
to exhale when he spoke this past New Year’s Eve, but I would say the whole
world is waiting to exhale.
There is
still a lot to do to make the economy right and the mid-size and small business
are leading the recovery and this is another reason I am pleased to be
supporting Cisco Channel Partners, most of which meet that profile. It would be good advice to consider these
companies as a next move.
I started my New Year with a bang when I returned to the
office today. With dozens of CCIEs
submitted for openings and many new roles to satisfy.
So it is back to work!
Here’s hoping your year is starting off with a bang to!
In Delaware where I live the Oak trees have not grown any
acorns. Really I don’t lie about
acorns. Maybe about fish or the girls I
have kissed, but not acorns. In my yard
I have some tall oak trees so because of this I have a bunch of fat squirrels
living here. They survive on the huge
bumper crop of acorns these trees pelt my kids and me with every winter. You cannot walk in my yard at certain times
of the year without getting hit on the head by acorns. But this fall not a single acorn has been
grown, much less dropped by any of my trees.
I decided to look up this phenomenon on the internet and I learned that
it is not just a bad year for acorns it is a zero year. That’s right zilch, nada, not a single acorn
from Nova Scotia to Virginia or Kansas through the mid-western United States,
so I called Dan (yeah my big brother) because if anyone would know if this was
a sign of the apocalypse it would be him.
No? He was dumber than dirt about
the whole acorn thing and asked me if I was talking about some political action
group. Well I am worried because the
squirrels need acorns to fatten up for the cold winter and Dan should know this. So I decided to save the squirrels and went
out with my sons to buy squirrel feeders.
I set them out and feel pretty sure I had saved the squirrels for one
more year.
I have experience saving stuff. Like when I saved the world this past
November. I bet you didn’t know that was
me huh? Yup, I saved the world and y’all
know it because you saw the results this past month and the world is still
around. If I had not done it the world
would be gone. Here’s a picture to show
you how I did it with one finger. I
don’t think this picture is legal though so don’t spread it around. I did it with one finger, and in super human
form I did not take a bow, or do a victory dance or, raise a pint, or let out a
yell. Instead, like the Lone Ranger, I
just turned my back on the great deed I done, and simply turned on my heal and
walked away. I don’t own a horse any
more so I could not really depart like the Lone Ranger, but that’s not the
point, I saved the world damn it, thank me!
Yup I saved the whole world, not just America, because I am
not so selfish to think that we were the only ones who needed saving. I could not imagine the world without places like
Canada, England, China, Brazil or Jamaica, so I saved the whole thing at once
because neighbors are nice. Thank me
when you can, OK?
No hanging chads in Delaware we have a simple system with
lights and curtains to keep you private as you turn them on next to the
candidates you select. My sons were with
me this great historic day and I asked one of them to break the law and
photograph my ballot. (Oh my goodness I
asked him to break the law.) I managed
to save the world and corrupt the morals of a juvenile at the same time. Well it’s my job to make sure he can afford
therapy when he is older, so I guess he’ll have something to say about me when
he starts seeing a shrink. But it felt
good, it felt right, it felt like…cool.
Now if I can just figure out how to get people to pay me for
saving the world that would really be cool.
Sort of like Superman with a wallet that holds million dollar
bills. What would a person charge for
saving the world anyway? Maybe I could
just go around from country to country with like an eBay thingy where anonymous
donations could be made as long as they were over a million dollars, since I
would have a donation minimum, like eBay but cooler because it’s for Eman. Maybe even cooler would be the kids from high
school who used to pick on me would have to thank me and give me a million dollars. Maybe even have to like apologize because I
was so un-cool in high school, but then now I am cool, because I saved the
world and all.
So don’t try to muscle in on my gig as the world saver
because there is only room for one and you’re not the one, I am. See the picture, well I could not like be in
it, since it was illegal and all, but I am the only one who has it. When I do it again I will need to do like
Peter Parker taking pictures of Spiderman, right? I could set up the scene and act like casual
and all about saving the world and smiling for the camera at the same time. That really cool chick would kiss me hanging upside
down and all; heaven right?
(This is really not a picture of me; my chin is in
triplicate now. I tried hanging upside
down and got dizzy; I think my beer gut started emptying into my brain!)
If you want to help me save squirrels that’s cool, and I
hope you do, but I will handle the saving the world thing, ok?
This holiday season I want to wish Karam a wonderful and loving Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with the discovery and enlightenment his new journey will bring. Thanks for being one of my new friends from 2008!
My Career Diva who many of you have read in the CCIE Flyer this past year. She has been a dear friend for several years and I would like to thank her for her great contributions to the CCIE Flyer and her continued support in 2009. Eve you are the salt of the earth!
Terry Slatery is a great guy and has had a huge impact on the CCIE population globally. His work and advice provided to Cisco, over the many years he has been a CCIE, has had an impact on you all. Having Terry in my network and as a new friend has added immesurably to the quality of the CCIE Flyer. I raise a toast to Terry CCIE #1026 and remain in his debt. Happy New Year Terry!
My crew in London who you have heard me write about deserve a lot of love this Holiday Season. Sam Pitt has moved on and remains a great friend and Charles, Toby and Neal continue to be supportive and inspiring as we make history in IT recruiting. Happy New Year to you all in London!
One of my favorite CCIEs and another friend I have made in 2008, Ethan Banks. He has been a regular in the CCIE Flyer and he has made great contributions to the CCIE blogger community. Have a great New Year and a fun Christmas.
As we close out 2008 and look forward to 2009, let me start
with wishing you all the best for 2009! But let's remember to put our
priorities in place and take time to be with our families and friends.
This is also a time when we should reach out and give back to our
communities in need. I send you off to safe travels and take a
moment to enjoy the holiday spirit!
From Celia Harper-Guerra
http://www.itworld.com/channel/56593/interview-celia-harper-guerra-srs-program To all CCIE Flyer Readers: Happy Holidays and best
wishes for the New Year! And a special thanks to Eman for creating
this forum for CCIEs and for bringing together the World CCIE community.
Wish you all the best, and for the polish readers: Szczesliwego Nowego
Roku. From CCIE #1337 Jerzy Sliwinski (new
CCIE Flyer contributor for 2009)
My wish for the New Year is that the language between nations be one voice clearly
communicating the strength of a community UNITED.
Happy
Holidays and the best of the New Year to everyone.
Jack Taylor
I would like to send my best regards to all readers of the CCIE
Flyer at the end of 2008, with my compliments of the season; and my best wishes
to them for a healthy, happy, successful year 2009. Thank you for working with
Bridge Resourcing Solutions, and for supporting the CCIE Flyer. May the year
bring you fulfillment in your various projects, the wisdom to navigate the
various perils and challenges that lie ahead for all of us, and immense
satisfaction in your future achievements.
From Toby Grey
Finance Director, Bridge Resourcing Solutions
Hi Eman,
I’d love to say a few words to the CCIE Flyer
readers.
“Dear CCIE’s and readers of the CCIE
flyer, many thanks for your dedication to Cisco and to your profession, your
commitment to our certifications make the world turn, you impact connectivity
and the Human Network every second of every day, helping to transform
countries, bring people closer together and truly change lives. I’d like to say
thank you to Eman for producing his CCIE flyer, I know I look forward to
reading it every month and I hope you do too. I wish you the very best wishes
during the holiday period and continued success in 2009.”
Best regards Eman, you are 1 in
a million. I really appreciate everything you have done and are doing.
From Eden Britt – Global Lead Talent
Attraction, Partner Talent Team. Cisco
(This one is particularly special for me)
To all CCIEFLYER readers,
I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Editor for
giving me the chance to wish you all a happy and blissful New Year full of joy
and success, I hope 2009 will be the best year for all CCIEs and future CCIEs
around the world.
With my best regards
To Emmanuel Conde,
This year I learned from you to keep up the hard work and
never give-up. In a time when you got me a job but I couldn’t get the visa an
unexpected and great help came from you through the article about me in the
CCIEFLYER. I had an interview for a
resettlement through a UNHCR program that helps Iraqi refugees for
resettlement in the United States. Your
article really supported my case for resettlement to the U.S. I showed this article to the employee who made
the interview with me for the resettlement and the article made him realize
what kind of difficulties I was going through and he told me that I am
lucky to have you as a friend. I got my preliminary approval for resettlement a
few days ago and now I have the hope to start a new life with my family in the
US and once again I couldn’t reach this point without your help, I would like
to thank you for your help and support and wish you a merry Christmas and
a Happy New Year also I wish for CCIE FLYER all the success.
From Karam Hanna
Lebanon
Christmas
is a time to savour and enjoy with those who mean the most in our lives, and we
must enjoy it – to the full! It is also a time to give thanks for what we
have, and to think about how we can help those in desperate pain or
circumstances. This will inspire us to hit the New Year with fresh
fortitude, to do our best both for our families and for the needy.
Happy
Christmas!
From Charles Whitaker COO Bridge Resourcing Solutions
Wishing all the CCIE Flyer readers a
Happy Holiday- Merry Christmas from Germaine
Kind Regards
From Germaine Eccles
Partner Talent Program
' May your saddest day of 2009 be no worse than your
happiest day of 2008'...taken from an Irish blessing
'The future is not set and there is no fate but what we make for
ourselves'....Irish proverb
Above all let us each try to create a world in 2009 that is
a little bit better than it was in 2008. Small kindnesses really matter.
I hope that everyone will commit one act of random kindness
every day..........and I hope that we remember to be good to each other before
it's too late
From Sean Redmond - CCIE Agent
Team Lead – Europe
Dear Eman,
Thank you for this email,
it makes one stop and think a bit less of one’s SELF. So...for the New
Year, I wish for the world that we all start thinking of
it more as OUR place to live, share, and dream rather than MY place in our
doings...
I'm not sure if it makes
much sense but still...:)
Merry Xmas and all the
best in the New Year, Eman,
From Romana Talent Team Emerging Markets
Eman asked me to write something about the New Year,
which I found to be surprisingly difficult.
I wanted to avoid the typical cliches.
With the economy and events around us in question, I realized what to
say. Each of us can work on helping
those around us: family, friends, co-workers, and employers in 2009. Working together will help everyone through
the economic downturn and general uncertainty that exists today. Spend time with our families; help someone
find a job; help employers be productive.
Best wishes for 2009.
From -Terry CCIE
#1026
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all, with
best wishes for persistence if
you fail the lab, and humility when
you pass. From Ethan Banks
Wishing you all a Happy New Year
one filled with joy, love and the warmth of family and friends. I especially hope we all find a place of
peace in our souls and hearts even if not possible in our world. May the blessings we realize in the smallest
of things grow to the largest of smiles and the contagion of this smile, infect
all those around you.
(P.S. I hope
Santa , if you are reading the CCIE Flyer, please bring me a new guitar, you
know one of those cool D-28 custom Martin’s with the nice mother of pearl
inlays on the fret board and the real nice head stock!)
Love you all
and thank you for reading the CCIE Flyer!
Eman
2009 has begun her decent upon us like a celestial being
surrounded by a golden haze and accompanied by a heavenly chorus. The general consensus seems to be that if anything
can save us from 2008 it must be the coming of 2009, the New Year. No matter what religion, race, gender or
nationality you are, I am willing to bet that like me, you are ready for a new
year. I cannot remember a time in my
long life, when I wished for another year to be tagged on to the many I have
collected so far.
Many CCIEs in the private sector (this parlance refers to
those CCIEs who don’t work for Cisco or channel partners) have weathered the
storm of bad economic times. Heads down
holding their breath as the ranks of their co-workers and friends have been
made redundant, down sized, right sized, laid off or simply let go. Racks of routers, switches, firewalls, and
telecom equipment have become redoubts, temporary sanctuary even replacing the
trenches of old as protection and hiding places for the CCIEs in some enterprises. Some NOCs and TACs have become a bizarre game
of Whac-A-Mole, (an arcade game where kids score points by striking a mechanical
mole on the head with a mallet). They
can be seen gazing over their cubicle walls to get a glimpse of the Grim Reaper
from HR, lest he sneak up on them unannounced.
These engineers can be seen bouncing up and down as they peak over the
tops of their cubicles like gophers on the prairie.
Be brave because it is not over yet!
I have often written about the things I hear
from CCIEs. What I have been happiest to
hear this year is that most of the ones who are with Cisco Channel Partners are
doing OK. I was never really worried,
but with the constant media attention being paid to all things miserable, it is
nice to know I am recruiting in the right space at the right time. For example just this past week I have had
some good offers made to several CCIEs and Network Engineers in Southern
California and the Midwestern US. This
happened while I was away in Europe so how cool is that? My trip to Zurich and London that week
confirmed the trend there as well for CCIEs.
I confirmed this when I met with several Channel Partners who shared
their continued recruitment efforts with me.
There is a ripple though with the major telecoms where I am hearing about
some movement going on but mostly from the ranks of the contractors they often
use. Their permanent staff seems to be
secure, except where you have continued shifts of personnel because of a merger
or two. In these cases data centers are
consolidating and some CCIEs are not selecting to move to other cities to keep
their jobs. (Hell who wants to move to
Richardson, Texas, isn’t Waco near there where they keep finding gun toting religious
zealots who want to kill you for Jesus?)
This is not a bad thing, since Channel Partners do pay a competitive
wage going head to head with these big organizations. If this kind of scenario is touching you give
me and my team a shout. (No not to defend
you from the gun toting Texans call 911 for that, or Mexico, remember the
Alamo?)
Start out slow don’t hyperventilate or step on your own
tongue. Ask the same questions of all
prospective employers so you can rate their answers against each other
properly. What is important to you? If you are in the USA don’t ask for a company
car, if you are in England don’t ask for an American car, if you are in Fiji
don’t ask for too little money, if you are in Dubai ask for more of everything,
if you are in Finland don’t ask to work
from home, if you are in China don’t ask for an American car, if you are in
Russia don’t ask for Chinese food, if you are in India don’t ask for less than
a 14% increase, if you are in Brazil don’t ask for more holidays, if you are a
CCIE in prison for killing your wife don’t ask for Eman!
I will always be fascinated by people. This is probably the key to my curiosity
about what makes them tick. When I began
supporting the folks at FCG in Philadelphia by providing resources for our
projects this was done out of necessity, not because it was my
responsibility. The staffing of our
projects became more important than what I was originally hired to do, but also
more interesting. So began one of the
most unexpected career journeys of my life.
After being in IT since the early 1970s I had always thought I would
remain an IT resource working for a large company as a manager or
director. Little did I know that the
decision to take the bull by the horns and make sure that my employer had the
assets needed for projects around the US, would lead to my current position
working globally in support of CCIEs and future CCIEs’ careers. Before that change in career my time working
for Bell Atlantic made me very much aware of CCIEs and their needs, so when I
was faced with the need to locate network engineers, I knew what I was doing. That funny cocktail we mix of our lives
sometimes has ingredients we had no intention of including and mine has been
shaken (not stirred) several times.
On the plane ride back from London’s Heathrow Airport this
past Saturday I was left with hours for reflection on a very successful
European trip. It had begun with a
flight to Zurich, which was a very good visit.
I had written in the November issues of CCIE Flyer about a picture my
Girl Friday, M had sent me when she started looking for booking information for
this trip. She sent me a photograph of
Zurich which was brilliant and her email proclaimed that she could not believe
I was headed there. I used the photo in
my “Work Work Work” section of the CCIE Flyer and depicted a daydream around
where I would go and live if I was actually living in Zurich. I was so amused then, when I actually found
myself in some of the places I had depicted in my writing from that picture. I met with the COO of Cisco Gold Partner for
dinner and just to be safe I had my CFO Toby Grey in tow. My first trip to Switzerland had me sacred of
the language challenges I might be faced with and since Toby speaks several languages
I felt good about bringing him with me to Zurich but I soon discovered that all
of the people I had meetings with spoke English. That first evening with Georg from NetCloud
was one of my most memorable business meetings.
He could not make the next day’s Cisco Summit and asked if we could meet
the evening before so he could have an opportunity to meet with the CCIE
Agent™. Thanks to M, my very capable
Girl Friday working virtually we had dinner reservations and we traveled to
Haus zum Ruden (House of the Hound), a venue first constructed in 1348 to house
the tavern used by the noblemen who met in the floor below. The tavern is quite a nice restaurant today,
with huge timbers supporting an arched ceiling and hardwood throughout. We had a meeting of the minds and a great
meal followed by a brief tour through the city to look at the Christmas lights
decorating Zurich. I could tell Toby was
having fun because he was staring out the car windows like a kid in a
dream. As for myself, I am eternally
grateful to Georg for the time he took showing us some of the most generous hospitality
I have ever experienced anywhere. (See more at http://www.itworld.com/networking/58649/my-trip-europe)
Zurich in the winter is cold but the beauty of the city is apparent in the many streets and buildings I saw while I was there. Thanks Georg!
Olen ollut kiinnostunut koulutusta yrityksille jonkin aikaa ja jopa puhe
menee noin noin muutokset ja tarjoukset suoraan Cisco mielelläni puhu yritykset,
jotka ovat edelleen koulutusta huomispäivän CCIEs. Minun saada tietoja Voisin
jakaa lukijoilleni Minun täytyi kertoa teille tämän järjestön Suomessa. Puhuin
Aki Anttila CTO ja Mamentor Oy, jotka yritys on Espoo, Suomi. Tässä me
keskustelimme ...
I have been interested in training companies for a while and even with the
talk going around about the changes and offerings directly from Cisco I like
talking to the companies that are still training tomorrows CCIEs. In my quest
for information I could share with my readers I had to tell you about this
organization in Finland. I spoke with Aki Anttila CTO of Mamentor Oy who’s
company is in Helsinki, Finland. Here’s what we discussed… http://www.ccieflyer.com/Nov2008-article-05.php
Atlanta this past week was a real treat. If you were lucky
enough to have been a part of the event I hope we had a chance to talk or have
a glass of vino. The venue for the 2008
Atlanta HR Talent Forum was a winery in Georgia outside of Atlanta called
Chateau Elan. The Chateau Elan is a great
retreat which is surrounding by vineyards and built like a French mountain top
chateau.
Pictured here with my hero, Celia Harper-Guerra. Without her energy and vision the Cisco Partner Talent initiative would not be the success that it has become. Her team is a world class group of professionals.
I arrived on the 10th the afternoon before the
event was scheduled to start. I had time
to say hello to and meet the event organizers from Cisco; Celia Harper-Guerra,
Beth Rowland, Bill Philbrick (the Master of Ceremonies), Diane Adams, Steve
Boutelle, Paul DuCharme, Mimish L’Esperance, Eden Britt, Brooke Ellingsworth,
Kristen Adams, Billy Martin, Peter Joyce, and many more. I was on the schedule for the Wednesday
seminars and breakout sessions as a track presenter and was really pumped up
about my opportunity to support the event.
So after saying hi to everyone I did what any gent in my shoes would do,
I snuck off and played golf! I haven’t
told Charles my boss in London yet, but I had a really great evening round of
golf! What a nice course they have there
and since it was a work day and I had an evening tee time, I had the course to
myself. I was whacking the balls so far
I was hooting like a loon as I exited the tees.
If I could have sunk a putt I would have been howling nonstop, but as
usual the Yin and Yang of my game balanced out to keep my over 90 and
humble. Wednesday started off good with
many of the 40+ channel partners trickling in for the kick-off that
afternoon. This was a Veterans Day event
(in the US we celebrate Veterans Day acknowledging the brave efforts of our war
veterans) so it was fitting that we heard from a veteran and Steve Boutelle of
Cisco and a retired CIO of the Army started things off impressively. My military time was spent in the Navy in the
Pacific and sometimes in South China Sea at the end of the Viet Nam War. While I was relatively safe with my squadron
of Anti-Submarine Warfare birds located on the aircraft carrier, USS Kitty
Hawk, there were many who were involved in Viet Nam who fought and died. I am grateful for the time I served my
country and the tools in life I carry today that were realized from that
experience. So our Cisco host Bill
Philbrick kicked off the event with a tribute and tip of the hat to our Veterans
and our opening speaker Steve Boutelle who is involved in the newest
technologies rolling out to the department of defense. I was delighted to learn that Bridge
Resourcing Solutions and your CCIE Agent have actually been working on this
great effort already with a leading defense contractor in the US. You can never tell who you will bump into as
you tie the ends together in a project.
We had a wonderful evening and I hooked up with several great channel
partners but I must say that first evening playing pool with Jeff Strain, from
Waco, Texas was great for me. I get
homesick for Texas whenever I hear that accent and when I started talking with
him about his company we put work aside and tore up the pool table talking
trash and having a few brews. So a quick
shout out to my new friend Jeff is in order, “thanks for the great time Jeff!”
Day two was rough for me after staying up until 2:00AM! But my topic is an important one for CCIEs
and for the Channel Partners. I was very
pleased to see I had the lion’s share of the attendees in my session. I shared the podium time with Gregg Smith of
Chart Your Course International. Greg is
an expert on retention and the subject of accelerating the work place. He has written over 350 articles and
published nine books on various workplace subjects. My discussions were steeped in the knowledge
gained from my constant work with CCIEs and their careers. I had a chance to validate my CCIE Summer
Salary Survey results when discussions broke out around compensation and base
salaries. I also had a chance to talk
about the care and feeding of CCIEs and what will keep them loyal. What a great round of discussions we
had. Cisco’s Beth Rowland was the MC for
this breakout session and I am very happy to have her as a friend. Her focus has been on retention and she has
some great experience in this area for the SRS Program and the Cisco Talent
team.
Another wonderful member of the Talent Team, Brooke Ellingworth who is responsible for South Africa and part of the Middle East. I learned from her that one of the fastest growing sectors for Cisco is the region she is responsible for. We will be working together to help the CCIEs in my network and the channel partners from these regions locate the best options for their careers and companies.
Ken Sockwell is the COO of pbmIT Solutions a Cisco Gold Partner in southern California. I am pictured here with him and Jeff Bloch VP from Decision ToolBox another of the SRS Program recruitment companies. I introduced Ken and Jeff in the spirit of true colaboration among SRS Team members. You hardly ever hear about recruiting companies introducing their clients to competitors! (Don't tell my boss)
I also enjoyed the presentation from Rebecca Shambaugh who
helped us understand the differences in generations from Baby Boomers to
Generation X and Generation Y when it comes to careers and recruitment. There are some startling differences in the
way each generation thinks about work and life!
She did open my eyes to something I was experiencing in my daily
dealings with CCIEs. Those older CCIEs
are asking different questions than the X and Y candidates do.
I attended the breakout session given by Gary Starzmann from
Radford Surveys. Gary had a lot of
international information about wages and compensation plans as well as
benefits. I found his information to be
a real education in the state of the world’s economies. Did you know that in India the salaries of the
average professional are rising by 14% annually?
My presentation did open up discussions, since many partners
want to know about CCIEs’ earnings, salaries, best practices for offer letters,
and comp packages. I was happy to learn
that the CCIEs who participated in my Summer CCIE Salary Survey were spot on
with what channel partners are paying.
You folks deserve a real shout out for your help. Without the many CCIEs who responded to my
salary survey I would not be able to help increase the awareness about standard
compensation plans and which adds power to your negotiations. So there is a method to my madness, CCIEs are
now being heard and I am delighted to help spread the word! There were some great moments this week. I met with one of my competitors in the SRS
program, Jeff Bloch. As the VP of
Decision ToolBox his company is offering alternative options for recruitment
through the Cisco Partner Talent Portal.
My boss will string me up if he discovers I introduced him to some of my
customers while in Atlanta! I will be
featuring information about Decision ToolBox in the November edition of the
CCIE Flyer. The SRS Program has a number
of options for the recruitment of talent for the Channel Partners and I will
help make everyone aware of them. Real
important to me was getting to chat with Peter Joyce. He is the lead for the Cisco Network Academy
and on my radar since I have begun sponsoring three schools in the IT Rocks
program he is leading. This is a great
effort which has a goal of introducing kids to IT as a career at an early
age. Because we all know that IT Rocks. Thanks Peter!
With the emphasis on the military I was happy to meet with Sandy Morris
the CEO of Bradley-Morris Group a great company helping the military resources
coming off of active duty to find work.
Sandy has a real passion for what she does and I am going to tell you
all about her in the CCIE Flyer this month.
I am writing this first edit on a Delta flight from Atlanta to
Philadelphia. My journey has been
rewarding and filled with some of the greatest people you could ever hope to
meet.
I don’t take what I do for granted since in a moment it can
all change, but for now I know I am the luckiest boy from Oak Cliff (in Dallas)
that has ever tapped a keyboard!
Pictured here is Eve my Career Diva who has provided some great content to the CCIE Flyer with her very own CCIE Flyer wagon. These are great keepsakes made of metal and the right size to hold your business cards or other stuff on your desk. If you have had a contribution posted in the CCIE Flyer then you have one coming in the mail as a thank you. If you would like one simply submit your written contribution for the CCIE Flyer and if it is posted I will ship you one right away.
My CCIE Flyer wagon is a great place for guitar picks!
I am really pleased to be offering these neat little replicas of the original Radio Flyers we played with as kids. When I started the CCIE Flyer magazine I had an idea for the image of the Radio Flyer as an icon for this publication. Now you can own one to by contributing your writings to the CCIE Flyer!
Beginning on September 30th of this year, I began a series of WebEx Meetings with the Cisco CAMs for Europe. The SRS launch there has now begun in earnest, I am happy to say. What this means for me is that the CAMs are now integrated into my efforts to find CCIEs new employment opportunities. What it means for Cisco is that the Channel Partners can now gain access to my CCIE network through their CAMs. The SRS (Strategic Recruitment Solution) program is part of the Cisco Partner Talent Portal an international initiative.
What does this mean? For starters it means that Cisco has gathered the industries best recruiting companies together, negotiated the best rates for their services for the partners, and has made them available through the Cisco Partner Talent Portal.
What does this mean for Partners? This means that a Cisco approved focused team of companies are now available to help locate the talent they need to grow.
What does this mean for CCIEs? The most sought after and highest paid of IT certified talent are now given an opportunity to work with agencies and individuals they know are approved by Cisco. CCIEs no longer have to put their careers in the hands of job boards and third party headhunters who have few positions and little regard for the kind of work environments that nurture their careers.
What does this mean to Eman? This means that I am now able to reverse market members of my network who are looking for new employment. This is a boon for CCIEs since they can now name their targeted geographic locations and using the CAMs we can go directly to the channel partners in that area. I have a strategy built upon this concept I feel CCIEs will like!
Reverse marketing is when your CCIE Agent™ (me) has a CCIE who has expressed a desire to work in a region or city. A notice is sent to Cisco Channel Partners about the availability of this CCIE. The Channel Partner can then review their strategy for growth and decide if they have a role for the CCIE. In this way a CCIE can ensure confidentiality and quality in their presentation to a prospective employer.
Cisco has taken the recruiting of talent for their partners to the next level. Never before has a team like the one gathered under Celia Harper- Guerra been assembled to support the growth of a company. In the world of Cisco Systems it became painfully evident that help was needed to support their resellers’ growth. The team has focused not only on recruiting; they have taken the problem of talent and analyzed it from every aspect.
Train, Attract, Hire and Retain are the main areas of concern for the talent team.
Training includes future talent, even starting at the middle school level with kids being introduced to IT as a great career to pursue. IT Rocks and the Network Academy are wonderful examples of this effort. I am going to be learning more about IT Rocks and share it with my network as soon as my sponsorship of the program begins in NYC and Delaware.
Attracting talent is critical to channel partners. There are many things companies can do to attract talent and one is to provide information about themselves and their growth and their attractors. Creating an image that will help bring talent to them is an important part of keeping an edge on their competition. Cisco’s team has advice in this area as well and even Cisco has begun high profile TV advertising that puts a fresh and youthful face on their company.
Hiring the right talent has historically been a gamble. Not every role is the same and not any CCIE is going to be the right fit. Working with the SRS team is a good way to ensure a best fit and highest satisfaction. One of my coined terms is the “CCIE ‘Tude”. There is no better way to bring out a CCIE ‘Tude than by hiring a CCIE only to find their career does not match the company’s needs.
Retaining the best resources has long been a struggle especially during tough economic times. It is true that retention is a key to success for channel partners’ growth. Strategies have been developed to share with the channel partners on how to keep and build loyalty within their engineers and staff. CCIEs have unique needs unusual to the IT industry, so there does need to be a focus on retaining them.
The current phase of my journey began with a discussion of these points during the formulation of the SRS team. The roster of recruiting resources is available on the Cisco Partner Talent Portal which is also a great place for Cisco talent to post resumes. The work I have done in support of CCIEs’ careers has lead to my current role as the only Cisco Authorized CCIE Recruiter on the SRS team working internationally. My company headquarters is in London and my office is located in Delaware in the USA. We have now built a team of our own in support of this effort and the six members of my supporting staff are helping me to match up candidates with partners.
My network of CCIEs numbers well over 10,000 at the time of this writing. I am not a CCIE but did at one time back in the 1990s manage a large team of them. Back when there were fewer than 3,000 globally and the lab was a two day long grueling test of skills. If you would like to discuss your career or to link up with a channel partner give me a call (1+302-438-1681) or send me an email (ccieagent@verizon.net).
The Legend of the CCIE ‘Tude
The legend of Sasquatch is a story often told in many forums. In fact on the West Coast of the United States is a town called Happy Camp, California. In this region the most prominent Bigfoot (Sasquatch) researcher says that a migration pattern of the bipedal creature has been established. So armed with this information an encounter between a Bigfoot and a bear was filmed and supposedly made available on a pay-per-view website. I have since read that the encounter filmed does not seem to contain anything but the bear. This enduring legend of the elusive Big Foot has become a true icon in folk lore here in the US. Although seldom spotted, the legend as told by many is that you just need to know where to look because Sasquatch is lurking in the underbrush. With the sheer size of these huge beings I find it hard to believe they are simply disguised by the foliage. After all Sasquatch like CCIEs stand head and shoulders above the rest of the fauna. When in the IT Jungle CCIEs are often deferred to for their knowledge and skills. A lot is taken for granted about their knowledge since the CCIE training and testing complexities are known by many. So it is hard for me to believe that they like Sasquatch, just blend into their surroundings. With the growth of the CCIE population we have been told of sightings of the CCIE ‘Tude which have been reported, but seldom recorded.
I was an upstart back in the 90s at BANI long ago when I had my first encounter with the CCIE ‘Tude. I remember the first time I encounter the CCIE ‘Tude in public. I was treating some of my team to an outing in NYC where an IT convention was being held. Six of the CCIEs from my team joined me that day and were wearing their bomber jackets with the CCIE emblem embroidered on the breast. (Remember the CCIE bomber jackets? These seem to have become legends as well.) We walked in as a group and as we wandered through the crowd I noticed a phenomenon which impressed me. The crowd seemed to part as we walked around together joking and stopping at different booths. Several times people simply stared at them as if they had spotted some aberration or alien life form. I must admit this was the first time I realized the respect and notoriety these geeks commanded in public. Some of the CCIEs were stopped occasionally and spoke with different engineers who were attending and some of the sponsors in the conference hall actually attempted to recruit them from my team. We had a great time, but this experience helped me to realize how the CCIE program was creating a stir in the IT community. Every day I was aware of the demand placed upon these skilled Network Engineers. They were asked to share experience and knowledge across not only their peers and other TAC members, but from outside our organization other network engineers in their professional networks would ask for their support on complex problems. I did not yet understand much at all but I was learning about two different kinds of networking and the CCIE ‘Tude.
Flash ahead to 2008; I have remained friends with several of these original CCIEs from my team in Philadelphia. Several have added additional CCIE certifications to their achievements and are quite successful others have chosen to move ahead with the single Route Switch CCIE first earned. But I know and feel their confidence in their knowledge gained over 12 years of experience. Confidence is a great thing and often times those less understanding of this confidence think they have made a sighting of the CCIE ‘Tude.
Unlike Sasquatch we can get very close to the origins of the CCIE ‘Tude and I will take a stab at it now. When beginning my IT career, for example, I early on made a decision to focus on management. Mainframes, mid-range and client server systems were a natural progression for many like myself. I was asked on a number of occasions to sit at a keyboard and enter commands for a network engineer on the phone who wanted to make changes to our network. I was not fully aware of the impact these devices which were to become known to me as routers and switches or how they would impact the future of IT. What amazes me is the mystique attached to some of the CCIEs I have come to know. Scott Morris who moved to Internetwork Expert, for instance who I was delighted to meet at Networkers this year has been no secret in the training space and Terry Slattery who I had lunch with recently has really been featured a lot in many articles as the second CCIE. While in San Jose at ipexpert I was happy to meet Vik Malhi who has made an impact on the slowly growing pool of Voice CCIEs. Significant are the small number of Voice CCIEs and the large number he has prepared for the written and lab tests. Jeremy Filliben who is running for a state representative seat in Delaware is a notable CCIE with aspirations beyond the certification he worked so hard to obtain. Oleg Berzin who immigrated to the USA from Russia and since has earned his 3rd CCIE, is also a Ph.D. candidate at Drexel University, and has applied for a patent on a new protocol stands as another example of how different CCIEs are. Yet, when you work with them or talk to them they may be shy or not, loud or not, extraverted or not, one thing stands out and it is their confidence when discussing technical issues relating to Cisco Solutions. This confidence is what I have heard referred to as the CCIE ‘Tude. So I submit for evidence that this confidence is mistaken often as the CCIE ‘Tude.
I will admit I have bumped into a few who will swear the CCIE ‘Tude is an aberration that should be dissected and studied, hides hung to dry and internal organs used for predicting the future. But I will go on record as saying I am glad that they know so much about what so few understand!
Unlike Bigfoot I have personally encountered the CCIE ‘Tude many times and have survived!
My Lunch with CCIE # 1026 Terry Slattery
A very long time ago in terms of years and CCIEs,the first certifications were earned by some ground breaking individuals. When Cisco began the CCIE certification program only a few understood what the value of the certification was and how it would affect the careers of so many. We have all read about how the first certification was awarded to the lab in San Jose where the qualifying first began and still today CCIE # 1024 awarded to this room is mounted on the wall serving as both an inspiration and a reminder to those future CCIEs of this successful program. I have read Terry Slattery’s blog and some re-posts of his writings on the internet. He is considered an authority by many on various subjects like training, testing, routing and switching, and as an entrepreneur he is regarded as a pretty sharp individual. When Terry Slattery contacted me while I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago, I was happy to learn he wanted to help in the planning of a CCIE Mixer in the Washington, DC area. We exchanged emails a few times in the past and this new opportunity to collaborate with him added to my enthusiasm for organizing the next Mixer. Previous mixers have featured Cisco representatives who are part of the Cisco Talent team and discussions were generally focused on CCIE careers, experience and Cisco’s efforts in regard to several aspects of the talent challenge. I have learned that in these previous gatherings it is important to establish some discussion points which interest CCIEs. Terry has an interest in helping establish some of these discussion points with me and I am delighted to have his support.
I jumped on the Amtrak out of Wilmington and met him for lunch; here is what I discovered about CCIE # 1026.
First of all he does not have a glowing aura or wear saintly robes, but don’t let his mere mortal appearance fool you he is a really sharp CCIE. He picked me up at the Amtrak station and we ducked into a local eatery where we spent a couple of hours getting to know each other and talking about o lot of different subjects. I was delighted to learn he thought what I was doing was good work on behalf of CCIEs. I learned that he is the founder of Chesapeake Computer Consultants and Netcordia, a company that has been successful in the Network Health space. It was a real education to learn about their NetMRIproduct. Wow. In the old days my gang ofCCIEs would use a sniffer and then have to go through mounds of data to manually analyze the findings. I know that often times the collating of the information was so daunting that a parallel effort would sometimes spring up from another engineer who would be shot-gunning the same problem in hopes of resolving it sooner. He also spoke with me about his years of taking the recertification exam and how that process for him has changed over the years. I asked him to put together an article for the CCIE Flyer due out in September and he agreed. This was good and bad since now I have to let him tell you about some of what we discussed this day. I will feature this and other interesting content on learning a couple of weeks.
Terry has been interfacing with Cisco for a while as one of their touch points when asking about various concerns of CCIEs. He enjoys a solid network of CCIEs internationally and has earned their respect through his efforts and achievements. We discussed the CCIE Mixers and he wanted to know why the first was in London. I explained that the company I work for is Bridge Resourcing Solutions and they are headquartered there. I guess I am surprised that a lot of folks don’t realize I have a boss in London. We have now settled on a tentative date for the next CCIE Mixer and I will be sharing the details as soon as we hash them out. I may even have to go back on my rule to refrain from training since a presentation may be in the offing which would occupy the first half hour or so greasing the skids for further chat over drinks.
So it looks like Terry and I are working on an agenda for the next Mixer in Washington DC. If you are interested in discussing this effort as it develops whichis targeted for late October please send me an email or call me. We are considering various formats even the use of guests who will lead discussions about concerns focused upon CCIEs in R/S, Security, Voice, S/P and Storage over drinks. We are also working with Cisco reps as usual who will help kick off the evening’s festivities. As we build the interest in this next CCIE Mixer all suggestions will be considered.
Build a CCIE Workshop
I would like nothing more than to have so many CCIEs in my network available for new jobs that the entire planet would be able to satisfy its demand by calling me. Really, I mean I would love to have so many CCIEs available to me that I could retire while cornering the market on CCIE placements. I cannot dream like that and expect to scratch out a living though. Hell, I snore anyway so dreams like that are usually interrupted by an elbow from the wife. Really I snore like, a loud gnarly bear stuck in a trap, (but I digress).
I am delighted by the confidence I have found placed in my skills to match CCIE demand with CCIE candidates. But Cisco Systems and the Cisco Channel Partners are now in need of a place like the Teddy Bear factory in the US malls which builds custom made stuffed animals for kids. I took my sons to Build a Bear Workshop where they were able to select the bodies, features and accessories they wanted their new toys to have. Hey all you Cisco Channel Partners, just imagine that you could send your recruiting team to the mall and they could wonder down the aisle selecting skills, experience, certifications and other sought after attributes to build the perfect CCIE hire. Imagine even better if you are a network engineer and aspiring CCIE who could be picked from the pile and have someone attach the experience and certifications you needed to become a CCIE!
I am not writing this to send you off into a lala land, fantasy snooze; I am trying to make a point so WAKE UP.
A wealth of opportunity is being overlooked every day by Channel Partners. On the job market there are lots of skilled NETWORK engineers who are investing their own money and lots of time on certification training and testing. The Network Engineer who is working on their CCNA or CCNP certification is tomorrow’s CCIE. Any company that now has a CCIE on their staff is probably looking at a vacancy soon. Many CCIEs are fast approaching retirement age and others are calling me looking for a new job, it is time to build your bench. Invest in a CC__ (you fill in the next two letters) and watch your investment grow while the CCIE mentor is still on your staff. You can build a CCIE to your own specifications if you invest in a journeyman!
When I have work done on my electric or plumbing for the house I often see the technician with a journeyman in tow. Sure this kid is fetching tools, holding flashlights, or just keeping the licensed engineer company, but the important thing is that this shadow is learning the skills of the trade. We should be using this same concept in IT more than we do now. A perfect opportunity for any channel partner is making itself available during this economic down turn. Every day more talent is hitting the market that could be used to build the Channel Partner’s bench. These kids are the future and many of them will remain loyal to the company that makes a place for them. Cisco has invested time and money to provide advice on retention strategies and they are not hard to implement. This tactic combined with a long term investment in a talented upstart is a good recipe for a loyal CCIE. Today’s journeyman is tomorrow’s revenue generating animal! (I mean CCIE)
Where are the next CCIEs coming from? Who are the role models influencing the next generation to take the internet infrastructure to the next level? Channel partners need to step in here and raise their corporate hands high in the air. I have a crystal ball and I am going to share with you all one thought. Economic trends have dictated the loyalty of employees to companies in the corporate world. As these corporations work to make healthy the global economy worker loyalty will once again become the norm. The loyalty my parents’ generation had for their employers is coming around again. This loyalty was once built upon the investment those companies made in the under skilled worker. If we do it now we will see the return of loyalty.
So go stand in line at the Build a CCIE Workshop and watch your investment grow! (If you are a CCNA, CCNP, CCSP, CCDE or CCIE written and I can cast you into the Build a CCIE Workshop pile please send me your resume!)
The table in our kitchen is our family gathering place.
What Do You Bring To The Table?
In my home we have a table central to our kitchen. I am proud to say that I built it by hand from raw South American Mahogany about 6 years ago. This piece of furniture is central to our family life. We gather around it after school to do home work, repair or build the kids’ gizmos, eat and several times a year we feast at this table. When my kids are at the table I sometimes remind them to respect the table, regardless of where they might be you should always respect your host’s table. My old fashion up-brining and the manors my parents taught me are evident in all that I do, I hope. So when passing these along to my kids I waste no effort in reminding them to be socially aware of how their words, actions, and appearances effect others, basically to be aware of what they bring to the table. What do you bring to the table?
When working with CCIEs I have found most of them to be made of the right stuff for professional discourse and work. Sure the occasional pre-Madonna does pop up, but for the most part CCIEs are level headed professionals with skills and experience that compliment their teams. Where in my past, when recruiting, I had to worry about candidates even showing up at the interview, I now have to worry about what they bring to the table. (Truly an epidemic under recorded I think, is the epidemic of IT engineers who do not show up for the interview or even bother to call or to cancel. See this article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21656355/) since becoming the only Cisco Authorized CCIE Recruiter in the world I have not had to deal with that problem so much anymore. CCIEs will show up or call, but mostly they show up.
Some of my preparations include asking them the following questions. What are you bringing to the table for the interview? Are you wearing a suit? (Yes guys, women have suits to) What are you going to ask? (A series of the same questions you ask each prospective employer will help you make a decision based upon the same criteria) Have you practiced your 30 second elevator speech? (yup a 30 second speech about who you are and what you can bring to the company any more time and you are selling yourself to hard) The problem for a lot of CCIEs though, is their confidence. It can be delivered as something else, so be careful because there are about 17,000 other CCIEs and they all want a good job too. So don’t be too cocky! (See the rest of this article in IT World http://www.itworld.com/career/53913/what-do-you-bring-table )
With the bull on Wall Street
How CCIEs can Survive These Economic Hard Times
We have all heard the bad news about high gas prices, a mortgage crisis, recession scenarios, pandemics and layoffs. None of us are immune to the economic blues, but CCIEs are able to cope if they stay on their toes. I would like to share some of what I have learned about how CCIEs can better survive and even thrive in this economic turbulence.
Here’s what my Career Diva, Eve Tahmincioglu has to say about the current economic climate and how it might affect you; “…… if we think the sky is falling we may be apt to make rash career decisions right now. We may be convinced to accept less pay or benefits because everything is falling apart, and oh, aren’t we lucky that an employer has offered us a job at all.” (see her complete article on the current state of things on her bloghttp://www.evetahmincioglu.com/web/blog/)
I have recently been contacted by CCIEs who are feeling threatened by the economic downturn. It’s true that Retail, Mortgage, Securities, Real Estate, Banking, Automotive, Pharmaceuticals, and some global partners have been affected by the economic strife. A few months ago several large financial institutions hurt by the Mortgage crisis began downsizing and several CCIEs contacted me when they were told they would be losing their jobs. Even this past week I had calls from a few more CCIEs who were on the cutting table from a major pharmaceutical and they were worried about the future. The stories are mostly the same. The size of the companies they worked for made them feel secure in their positions, after all enterprise network engineers are essential to any enterprise IT department. Some of the CCIEs had been lulled into a false sense of security because of their roles and the size of the enterprise they supported made them feel secure. Several were actually contractors who had contracted for just a few months and found themselves still on the site 3 – 5 years later. I asked questions like; “Why did you wait so long to get your resume together?”; “What have you done to prepare for some unemployed time?”; “Do you have a job search plan?”; “What are your career goals?”; “Have you let this situation change any of your career plans?”
It comes as a real shock to be told you are being let go, especially if you have been with the same company for a few years, but don’t let it get you down! Not everyone is prepared to hit the job market with a fresh resume and some rainy day money. The next decisions you make could help or hurt your career. Many CCIEs think it will be easy to simply pickup a contractor role and to interview on the side in their spare time this may or may not work. Old wisdom said you needed to pound the pavement and scour the want ads, even post your resume on job boards. Remember to keep your career goals in mind as you make decisions of your targeted employers. Keep the eye on the prize and if that prize is to continue to recertify or add new certifications to your resume then give this next idea some thought. Cisco Channel Partners usually provide financial support and incentives for CCIE certifications and training. If you are planning to keep that CCIE then a Channel Partner can usually keep your hands dirty in the technology and in different environments. So the hum-drum of supporting the same old gear every day is avoided and you keep your skills sharp. Many CCIEs think that working at a Channel Partner comes with living in hotels and airports; this is not the case for most of the roles I represent. Many channel partners are local and keep their resources within driving distance of home and the office. My advice is to check out the Cisco Channel Partners and see what they have to offer. Keep in mind that while many large corporations are feeling the pain right now, most Channel Partners are still growing. Also consider that the US government expects that economic recovery will ride squarely on the backs of the entrepreneur and small businesses. Regardless of the down turn many Cisco solutions can save companies money and that keeps the demand up for the Channel Partners’ resources, namely CCIEs.
See the rest of this article on IT World follow this link;
When you go into the market looking for a job put your best foot forward, keep your chin up and be prepared to answer technical questions as well as sharing your personality. The technical and professional stuff is good but remember a team is built upon people and you want to open up and see your interviewer do the same. Always remember the ZZ Top song about sharp dressed men. Just like the girls, employers are crazy for a sharp dressed man!
Clean shirt, new shoes And I don’t know where I am goin’ to. Silk suit, black tie, I don’t need a reason why. They come runnin’ just as fast as they can Coz every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man
ORLANDO NETWORKERS 2008
Eman at Cisco Live 2008
What a trip my pilgrimage to Networkers was! I drove from Delaware thinking it would be a good idea since I had a stop in Raleigh for meetings in RTP at Cisco HQ. Heck it was only 1,000 miles or so! I would spend the night Sunday in RTP and have my meetings on Monday then travel on to Orlando pumped up from the positive discussions I was planning with the Cisco folks I had on my agenda. Monday turned into a single morning meeting due to some scheduling issues I found myself free before 10:00 AM!
WOOHOO! I was off to Networkers much sooner than I thought.
The nature of my business has me on the phone constantly so I was still scheduling interviews and processing offers and bugging the help in London. So a productive drive down Interstate 95 South kept me very enthused about my trip and this was just Monday! Soon I was feeling the miles and received an email from Scott Morris, who I had told I was going to look for him when in Orlando. I got an email from Scott asking me if I had made to Networkers. I responded that I was on the way and about 3 hours out. He got back with me letting me know he was at ipexpert’s get together for CCIEs at Ker’s Wing House, and a few exchanges with him on my iPhone (in my best one-handed driving the car at 80 miles an hour style), resulted in me being added to the guest list. Thanks to an email exchange between Wayne Lawson, the founder and president of ipexpert, and Scott I was ready to rock. When I arrived in Orlando I drove directly to the Wing House and was thrown instantly into the CCIE Agent’s dream come true. A large gathering of CCIEs I was truly in heaven! Most of these gents were eating wings and drinking a variety of libations. The crowd included a whole bunch of CCIEs who already knew me from the internet, ITWorld, LinkedIn, Network World, my blog and my CCIE Flyer! I had one of those great experiences where faces and names were connected, from introductions that originated across the virtual landscape. What a great time I had making new contacts and meeting old ones. The gals serving up the suds were giving the Hooters’ Girls a run for their money. I was even served one ice-cold Heineken delivered from the cleavage of one friendly young lady who could make a pin-up model blush. The folks at ipexpert did a great job attracting a nice crowd of CCIEs. I met Matt Brooks VP of ipexpert, who along with Scott Morris were logging folks into the party, handing out T shirts and shaking hands. The event lasted into the night and I will go on record as saying it was a stupendous success and a wonderful event to start my first trip to Networkers with.
Ramy, Me and Scott at ipexpert Wing House CCIE Social
Inside the ipexpert CCIE social at Ker's WIng House
I had a fun meet with a CCIE in my network, I am happy to now call a friend. Ramy Sisy who used to be a trainer at CCBootcamp and Dual CCIE was at the Wing House and our encounter started by my asking him why he was dressed like a pimp. It was all good fun and continued into the next day at the Main hall of the convention and the evening’s Cisco sponsored CCIE social at the Nascar Sports Grille on Main Street, Universal Studios. The convention floor was a real nice layout. There were many companies represented and a lot of great information. I was not registered for any classes so I was enjoying the event for the spectacle it was.
CCIEs at the Nascar Sports Grille Universal Studios Orlando
CCIEs at the Nascar CCIE Social
The CCIE social at the Nascar Grille was another CCIE Agent dream event. I was told I could not recruit while there or I would risk expulsion, so rather than risk being tossed out on my ass I complied. I had a wonderful time meeting even more CCIEs. I was very pleased to speak with Charlene, the first female voice CCIE. She is a very smart lady and I am happy to have learned that her career is a rewarding experience. There were groups of CCIEs dressed in company colors and they almost looked like middle aged baby boomer, gangs. They hung out together and some even seemed aloof to the other CCIEs gathered at the event. I guess not all CCIEs are created equal. After the Nascar event I hosted 10 CCIEs for drinks at the Hard Rock Café. We took over one end of the bar and had a great dialogue about CCIE salaries and each of their towns. One of the guys was from Alaska and three were from Germany. We all had a lot of fun swapping stories and then called it a night.
CCIEs and me at the Hard Rock
I departed Orlando Wednesday morning for the long drive home. I had accomplished what I had traveled there for and did not see any reason to stick around for much more. I did not manage to hook up with my friend Erik the proctor from Brussels or Ken a Florida resident in my network, who I exchanged voice mails with several times those 2 days. Sorry I missed you maybe we will hook up next time.
I was contacted by one of my clients during my drive with the news of Scott Morris joining Internetwork Experts answering my question about a comment he made to me in an email, about him no longer working for ipexpert. This was quite a move and commented on by a few of my network members it is also carried on the internet in a few articles. I think some really old song like Radar Love or Afternoon Delight was playing from some top 40 oldies radio station in Georgia when I had the call. If I ever hear either song again it will be too soon.
Cisco Travel Plaza on Interstate 95 (who would of thunk it)
A BIG THANKS TO CISCO AND THE GREAT PEOPLE WHO ORGANIZED THE NASCAR SOCIAL. YOU DID A WONDERFUL JOB AND I HOPE CISCO REWARDS YOU WELL FOR YOUR GREAT WORK! Many thanks to CCIEs 2879, 5804, 17706, 16810, 5804, 15770, 13229, 19709, 17844, 14432, 19153, 6374, 17321, 8759, 15255, 4713, Joseph, Charlene, Eric, Matt, Jeremy, Wayne, Robert, and there are many more names I cannot recall from Networkers. These and many more CCIEs have allowed me into their networks and I am humbled by their skills and spirit. To be a part of nearly 3,000 CCIE’s networks is a huge honor and I thank you all!
Thanks Ethan Banks for sharing your “Touch of Grey”
(Lyrics by Jerry Garcia)
Must be getting early, clocks are running late. Paint my love a morning sky, it’s all cold. Dawn is breaking everywhere, light a candle, curse the glare Draw the curtains I don’t care, but it’s all right I will get by, I will get by, I will get by, I will survive.
The internet is such a wide reaching and powerful medium that often bloggers do not realize its real strength. The fact is many of us find that our words carry some value to some audiences and they can come back to haunt us. When we convey or display our passions for something in a public forum there will be those that disagree and those who may even be hurt by our display of strong opinions. In the case of Ethan Banks I feel as many do that it is hard to cheat on the CCIE Lab exam. In many cases the lab is given in such a way that it prevents cheating from happening and the contents do change frequently. Yes I have been told that many locations are merely unsupervised closets where an enterprising person might be able to get away with cheating and that in some cases body doubles are used. I cannot prove or disprove this point but as a career agent I have spoken with several individuals who could not answer the simplest technical questions. I came away from these interviews feeling that the candidate could not have passed any of the Cisco exams and wondered how they received a CCIE number. Ethan however did not take the easy road to certification. He blogged his experience on a very well respected site and he shared his feelings about his many months focused on the goal of achieving his CCIE. He did it and he was delighted at his accomplishment and many of us were happy that he shared his accomplishment with us.
I see you’ve got your list out, say your piece and kiss off. Guess I get the gist of it, but it’s all right Oh well anyway, sorry that you feel that way. Every silver lining’s got a touch of grey I will get by, I will get by, I will get by, I will survive.
I am amazed when I discover that some CCIEs don’t have a plan for their careers. A repetitive cycle seems to keep them nearly fully engaged. Life seems to be dictated by a two year cycle of work, study, test, and recertify, followed by work, study, test, and recertify. Two years is gone in no time when you are busy. The time for thinking and planning your career seems to slip past as the family grows and other priorities consume chunks of your time. What are you working so hard for? It takes more than thought; action is required to make your efforts a means to an end. As a CCIE there are many options for you to make money but sustaining your career growth is essential. Money can get better and responsibilities can improve. Any situation which can restrict your career goals should be dealt with before they become impediments to your growth. Take the story of a CCIE I have been speaking with for several years now as an example. He experienced a boost to his ego when he passed his lab. As a new CCIE bigger and better things were his destiny so he made a gift to his wife and himself of a pair of new BMWs. They quickly moved into a new home and started a new family. Trouble was that he over extended himself and became a slave to his bills. He had to find better revenue and his pursuit lead him to becoming an independent contractor. This put him on a cycle of being paid well dampened by weeks not billing causing him to act very mercenary. His aggressive search for the next better paying gig left his current assignments suffering for his attention, resulting in a bad reputation in his wake. I warned him of his downward spiral and the need to improve his situation and he told me about his divorce. We have no more interactions until he turns his life around.
Make your career growth plan simple by deciding on the steps you need to take and arranging them in a sequential order. Make sure to create reasonable annual goals that lead to successful accomplishments. You suffered enough when passing the CCIE written and then the lab sacrificing a lot of valuable time. Make that investment pay off by continuing to set aside time for your professional development. Make your goals known to your employer and get feedback on if or how they can support you. Work as hard on your goals as you do on the job so you don’t end up with Boney Fingers!
Me pictured here with my recently acquired 1967 Gibson J-45. This is like the one Bob Dylan played in the 60s and I love it man!
My Trip to Toronto
On the 22nd and 23rd I was in Toronto speaking with an interviewing several Cisco engineers and a couple of CCIEs with one of my channel partner clients. The trip turned up a few surprises and resulted in 4 finalists for their consideration. I was also very pleased to see interest in one of the three junior candidates who I scheduled to interview. My feeling was that if not selected they at least had a chance to interview and this will help develop their skills. It is not easy when you are young and breaking into a new career to feel poised for success in an interview. But as I stated one of them did make the final cut.
At the end of my stay at the Downtown Courtyard I hosted a few of these gents for drinks and a discussion about their careers. Two of the guys are CCIEs and they had plenty of wisdom and words of encouragement to share.
As always I also spent one evening at The Rex were livJazz music is king. The band and the venue ensured I had a great evening.
CCIE Friends and Faces
I have been blessed by making friends in many places around the world, since my days as a TAC manager for BANI in Pennsylvania. But none are as close to my heart as the team I used to manage in Frazer, Pennsylvania. Those were heady days with some of the team working in the lab to prepare for their CCIE lab exams, while others reproduced customer environments to chase down bugs, and still others were researching the viability of voice over IP with latency as the enemy. My crew was about as diverse as any in the IT industry and many of them remain good friends to this day. My true amazement remains with how excited they still remain about what they do. Though I still call them geeks they are not so easily categorized. Take CCIE # 2177 for example, an avid biker with a horse farm he jokingly refers to as his petting zoo. He rescues horses by adopting them through various programs and gives them a home, truth is he seems to be getting many animals left on his doorstep. Your bikers might be labeled as a rebels or drukards or many other things, but not as a geek. Yet there is grey matter between his ears that has met and defeated some of the toughest networking issues his peers have experienced. When you take into account the fact the first CCIE was awarded # 1025, CCIE # 2177 was in some very elite company for a few years. His number makes me feel old talking to CCIE #19,729 and some of the new CCIEs reaching out to me these days in the 20,1XX range! They are all different as night and day like CCIE # 2355 who is an unusual CCIE because she may very well have been the first woman CCIE. Her work as an independent contractor has allowed her the freedom to pick and choose interesting projects all over. I was joking with her about an opportunity she has to take a job in Bermuda that she is mulling over. What is there to think about? Let me see; Bermuda or Pennsylvania? Well it has been snowing less here in the northeast lately, but Bermuda? HE-LLO Bermuda! CCIE # 2582 is a home body raising his kids and doting on his wife.
CCIE # 2582 has a love for deep sea fishing and holds his CCIE in R&S. He has recently begun using his skills in support of his sales team; he is not too shabby a security resource either. CCIE # 4665 is a fun guy who likes to play golf and flip houses. With dual CCIEs in R&S and Voice he is in a small cadre of CCIEs which numbers fewer than 200 worldwide and he is a pretty smart guy. I was privy to an interview he had with a Cisco Gold partner while he was thinking about options for his career. He took off his jacket in the interview and stepped up to a whiteboard and made mincemeat of the CCIEs conducting the interview. They asked me to get him at any price! CCIE # 3955 reconnected with me because of the activities he read about on my blog. He is a triple CCIE and I recall talking to him when he failed the lab for his 1st CCIE on day two in San Jose. He was distraught and knew there was a problem with the test. I told him we would send him again and to take it easy on himself. On his next visit to San Jose he notified the proctor about the bug in the software. The proctor did not believe it when CCIE # 3955 pulled him over to his desk predicted the resulting error caused by the bug and then explained why it was happening. They immediately went up stairs to talk to the developers at RTP and the bug was resolved. Needless to say he received his 1st CCIE after preventing other lab attendees from failing the exam for the same reason he had. CCIE # 3955 is a WAN CCIE with triple certifications in R&S, Voice and SP and he has a patent pending on a new routing protocol. Not a bad guy to have in your court when the network is having trouble!
We all had lunch recently at Ruby Tuesday’s and had a good time catching up. Golf is on the schedule for us in the next couple of weeks. CCIE # 2177 and I have had a running joke between us; we call golf, for years now. We will be adding a few more CCIEs for this next round at Lock Nairn in Southeastern Pennsylvania. If any CCIEs reading this want to join us, just shoot me an email. ccieagent@verizon.net
I love my job!
My search is for CCIEs for Cisco Systems and their international Partners. I have been called a CCIE recruitment guru and recently began work with Cisco recruiting on a plan to help in locating CCIEs and Senior Network Professionals while remaining sensitive to the flight of these professionals between partners. Why a CCIE Agent? For starters, most headhunting in the IT arena is done by recruiters who do not focus in any one discipline. My efforts are focused on CCIEs and Cisco Network Engineers and the details that enhance their careers. There are many kinds of Agents who help develop their clients’ careers by advocating their needs and goals. I have gotten to know many CCIEs and I have also learned many companies’ CCIE retention and compensation strategies. By getting to know the details I can advocate for both the candidate and the hiring company. I can help both ensure a long lasting relationship, with all the wants and needs on the table.
For CCIE Jobs, CCIE Careers, CCIE Positions, CCIE Roles and more Contact me at:
Eman (Emmanuel Conde) has the destinction of being the only CCIE recruiter promoted by World Wide Channels of
Cisco Systems. Eman earned this
distinction because of his tireless efforts on behalf of CCIEs and developing
Cisco talent. He has spoken at Cisco
Academy events, developed an international CCIE mentor program, writes for
ITWorld magazine, has a very active blog focused on CCIE career concerns, and produces
the CCIE Flyer an online magazine published monthly. He has developed a unique approach to
recruitment which includes giving back to the CCIE community through his advice,
career columns and CCIE Mixers which are networking events he hosts
internationally. Unique to the industry
is his specialization in CCIE recruitment and the many ways he has created a
presence in the CCIE community. He is
featured in many CCIE blogs, supports live music in Second Life where he
advertises on two stages, created the CCIE Network in LinkedIn, has run the
only CCIE supported CCIE Salary Survey, has appeared on TV advising Hispanic
viewers about IT careers, works with CCIE training companies internationally to
provide career advice to students as they prepare for the CCIE Labs, and he is now
sponsoring schools in Delaware and NYC as part of the Cisco Network Academy
program and IT Rocks.
DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY
I did it again this New Year’s eve. I waited in line for an hour to get into
Saint John the Divine for the annual Concert for Peace. The idea for the Concert for Peace was originally
developed by Leonard Berstein. He chose
Copeland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”, as the opening piece and it has been
used since the 1980s. 
iPhone shot of the special guests and speakers for the evening. Pictured here are Judi Collins, a contingent from Tibet and others.
I was especially pleased to hear and see the
African ensemble with Kewulay Kamara and Sarah Dioubate doing a Badenya
greeting called, “Being of One Mother.”
The main instrument used for this song was this real cool looking 22
string instrument which looks like a big banjo made of animal skin and wood. 
I came away from this concert ready to start 2009 renewed
and ready for the job at hand.
2009 is here and with it there is a renewed effort on my
team’s part to connect with many of the CCIEs and Network Engineers in my
network in order to make sure they are doing OK. We have seen a lot of scary news about
lay-offs, reductions in force, downsizing, rightsizing, and cut backs. My resolve remains firm in support of the
Channel Partners since they are still hiring and Cisco solutions are still in
big demand.
Harry Smith said it felt like the whole country is waiting
to exhale when he spoke this past New Year’s Eve, but I would say the whole
world is waiting to exhale. 
I started my New Year with a bang when I returned to the
office today. With dozens of CCIEs
submitted for openings and many new roles to satisfy. 
In Delaware where I live the Oak trees have not grown any
acorns. Really I don’t lie about
acorns. Maybe about fish or the girls I
have kissed, but not acorns. In my yard
I have some tall oak trees so because of this I have a bunch of fat squirrels
living here. They survive on the huge
bumper crop of acorns these trees pelt my kids and me with every winter. You cannot walk in my yard at certain times
of the year without getting hit on the head by acorns. But this fall not a single acorn has been
grown, much less dropped by any of my trees.
I decided to look up this phenomenon on the internet and I learned that
it is not just a bad year for acorns it is a zero year. That’s right zilch, nada, not a single acorn
from Nova Scotia to Virginia or Kansas through the mid-western United States,
so I called Dan (yeah my big brother) because if anyone would know if this was
a sign of the apocalypse it would be him.
No? He was dumber than dirt about
the whole acorn thing and asked me if I was talking about some political action
group. Well I am worried because the
squirrels need acorns to fatten up for the cold winter and Dan should know this. So I decided to save the squirrels and went
out with my sons to buy squirrel feeders.
I set them out and feel pretty sure I had saved the squirrels for one
more year.
Yup I saved the whole world, not just America, because I am
not so selfish to think that we were the only ones who needed saving. I could not imagine the world without places like
Canada, England, China, Brazil or Jamaica, so I saved the whole thing at once
because neighbors are nice. Thank me
when you can, OK?
So don’t try to muscle in on my gig as the world saver
because there is only room for one and you’re not the one, I am. See the picture, well I could not like be in
it, since it was illegal and all, but I am the only one who has it. When I do it again I will need to do like
Peter Parker taking pictures of Spiderman, right? I could set up the scene and act like casual
and all about saving the world and smiling for the camera at the same time. That really cool chick would kiss me hanging upside
down and all; heaven right?
This holiday season I want to wish Karam a wonderful and loving Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with the discovery and enlightenment his new journey will bring. Thanks for being one of my new friends from 2008!
My Career Diva who many of you have read in the CCIE Flyer this past year. She has been a dear friend for several years and I would like to thank her for her great contributions to the CCIE Flyer and her continued support in 2009. Eve you are the salt of the earth!
Terry Slatery is a great guy and has had a huge impact on the CCIE population globally. His work and advice provided to Cisco, over the many years he has been a CCIE, has had an impact on you all. Having Terry in my network and as a new friend has added immesurably to the quality of the CCIE Flyer. I raise a toast to Terry CCIE #1026 and remain in his debt. Happy New Year Terry!
My crew in London who you have heard me write about deserve a lot of love this Holiday Season. Sam Pitt has moved on and remains a great friend and Charles, Toby and Neal continue to be supportive and inspiring as we make history in IT recruiting. Happy New Year to you all in London!
One of my favorite CCIEs and another friend I have made in 2008, Ethan Banks. He has been a regular in the CCIE Flyer and he has made great contributions to the CCIE blogger community. Have a great New Year and a fun Christmas.
As we close out 2008 and look forward to 2009, let me start
with wishing you all the best for 2009! But let's remember to put our
priorities in place and take time to be with our families and friends.
This is also a time when we should reach out and give back to our
communities in need. I send you off to safe travels and take a
moment to enjoy the holiday spirit!
2009 has begun her decent upon us like a celestial being
surrounded by a golden haze and accompanied by a heavenly chorus. The general consensus seems to be that if anything
can save us from 2008 it must be the coming of 2009, the New Year. No matter what religion, race, gender or
nationality you are, I am willing to bet that like me, you are ready for a new
year. I cannot remember a time in my
long life, when I wished for another year to be tagged on to the many I have
collected so far.
I will always be fascinated by people. This is probably the key to my curiosity
about what makes them tick. When I began
supporting the folks at FCG in Philadelphia by providing resources for our
projects this was done out of necessity, not because it was my
responsibility. The staffing of our
projects became more important than what I was originally hired to do, but also
more interesting. So began one of the
most unexpected career journeys of my life.
After being in IT since the early 1970s I had always thought I would
remain an IT resource working for a large company as a manager or
director. Little did I know that the
decision to take the bull by the horns and make sure that my employer had the
assets needed for projects around the US, would lead to my current position
working globally in support of CCIEs and future CCIEs’ careers. Before that change in career my time working
for Bell Atlantic made me very much aware of CCIEs and their needs, so when I
was faced with the need to locate network engineers, I knew what I was doing. That funny cocktail we mix of our lives
sometimes has ingredients we had no intention of including and mine has been
shaken (not stirred) several times.
On the plane ride back from London’s Heathrow Airport this
past Saturday I was left with hours for reflection on a very successful
European trip. It had begun with a
flight to Zurich, which was a very good visit.
I had written in the November issues of CCIE Flyer about a picture my
Girl Friday, M had sent me when she started looking for booking information for
this trip. She sent me a photograph of
Zurich which was brilliant and her email proclaimed that she could not believe
I was headed there. I used the photo in
my “Work Work Work” section of the CCIE Flyer and depicted a daydream around
where I would go and live if I was actually living in Zurich. I was so amused then, when I actually found
myself in some of the places I had depicted in my writing from that picture. I met with the COO of Cisco Gold Partner for
dinner and just to be safe I had my CFO Toby Grey in tow. My first trip to Switzerland had me sacred of
the language challenges I might be faced with and since Toby speaks several languages
I felt good about bringing him with me to Zurich but I soon discovered that all
of the people I had meetings with spoke English. That first evening with Georg from NetCloud
was one of my most memorable business meetings.
He could not make the next day’s Cisco Summit and asked if we could meet
the evening before so he could have an opportunity to meet with the CCIE
Agent™. Thanks to M, my very capable
Girl Friday working virtually we had dinner reservations and we traveled to
Haus zum Ruden (House of the Hound), a venue first constructed in 1348 to house
the tavern used by the noblemen who met in the floor below. The tavern is quite a nice restaurant today,
with huge timbers supporting an arched ceiling and hardwood throughout. We had a meeting of the minds and a great
meal followed by a brief tour through the city to look at the Christmas lights
decorating Zurich. I could tell Toby was
having fun because he was staring out the car windows like a kid in a
dream. As for myself, I am eternally
grateful to Georg for the time he took showing us some of the most generous hospitality
I have ever experienced anywhere. (See more at 
Zurich in the winter is cold but the beauty of the city is apparent in the many streets and buildings I saw while I was there. Thanks Georg!
Atlanta this past week was a real treat. If you were lucky
enough to have been a part of the event I hope we had a chance to talk or have
a glass of vino. The venue for the 2008
Atlanta HR Talent Forum was a winery in Georgia outside of Atlanta called
Chateau Elan. The Chateau Elan is a great
retreat which is surrounding by vineyards and built like a French mountain top
chateau.
I arrived on the 10th the afternoon before the
event was scheduled to start. I had time
to say hello to and meet the event organizers from Cisco; Celia Harper-Guerra,
Beth Rowland, Bill Philbrick (the Master of Ceremonies), Diane Adams, Steve
Boutelle, Paul DuCharme, Mimish L’Esperance, Eden Britt, Brooke Ellingsworth,
Kristen Adams, Billy Martin, Peter Joyce, and many more. I was on the schedule for the Wednesday
seminars and breakout sessions as a track presenter and was really pumped up
about my opportunity to support the event.
So after saying hi to everyone I did what any gent in my shoes would do,
I snuck off and played golf! I haven’t
told Charles my boss in London yet, but I had a really great evening round of
golf! What a nice course they have there
and since it was a work day and I had an evening tee time, I had the course to
myself. I was whacking the balls so far
I was hooting like a loon as I exited the tees.
If I could have sunk a putt I would have been howling nonstop, but as
usual the Yin and Yang of my game balanced out to keep my over 90 and
humble. Wednesday started off good with
many of the 40+ channel partners trickling in for the kick-off that
afternoon. This was a Veterans Day event
(in the US we celebrate Veterans Day acknowledging the brave efforts of our war
veterans) so it was fitting that we heard from a veteran and Steve Boutelle of
Cisco and a retired CIO of the Army started things off impressively. My military time was spent in the Navy in the
Pacific and sometimes in South China Sea at the end of the Viet Nam War. While I was relatively safe with my squadron
of Anti-Submarine Warfare birds located on the aircraft carrier, USS Kitty
Hawk, there were many who were involved in Viet Nam who fought and died. I am grateful for the time I served my
country and the tools in life I carry today that were realized from that
experience. So our Cisco host Bill
Philbrick kicked off the event with a tribute and tip of the hat to our Veterans
and our opening speaker Steve Boutelle who is involved in the newest
technologies rolling out to the department of defense. I was delighted to learn that Bridge
Resourcing Solutions and your CCIE Agent have actually been working on this
great effort already with a leading defense contractor in the US. You can never tell who you will bump into as
you tie the ends together in a project.
We had a wonderful evening and I hooked up with several great channel
partners but I must say that first evening playing pool with Jeff Strain, from
Waco, Texas was great for me. I get
homesick for Texas whenever I hear that accent and when I started talking with
him about his company we put work aside and tore up the pool table talking
trash and having a few brews. So a quick
shout out to my new friend Jeff is in order, “thanks for the great time Jeff!” 
Day two was rough for me after staying up until 2:00AM! But my topic is an important one for CCIEs
and for the Channel Partners. I was very
pleased to see I had the lion’s share of the attendees in my session. I shared the podium time with Gregg Smith of
Chart Your Course International. Greg is
an expert on retention and the subject of accelerating the work place. He has written over 350 articles and
published nine books on various workplace subjects. My discussions were steeped in the knowledge
gained from my constant work with CCIEs and their careers. I had a chance to validate my CCIE Summer
Salary Survey results when discussions broke out around compensation and base
salaries. I also had a chance to talk
about the care and feeding of CCIEs and what will keep them loyal. What a great round of discussions we
had. Cisco’s Beth Rowland was the MC for
this breakout session and I am very happy to have her as a friend. Her focus has been on retention and she has
some great experience in this area for the SRS Program and the Cisco Talent
team.
Another wonderful member of the Talent Team, Brooke Ellingworth who is responsible for South Africa and part of the Middle East. I learned from her that one of the fastest growing sectors for Cisco is the region she is responsible for. We will be working together to help the CCIEs in my network and the channel partners from these regions locate the best options for their careers and companies.
Ken Sockwell is the COO of pbmIT Solutions a Cisco Gold Partner in southern California. I am pictured here with him and Jeff Bloch VP from Decision ToolBox another of the SRS Program recruitment companies. I introduced Ken and Jeff in the spirit of true colaboration among SRS Team members. You hardly ever hear about recruiting companies introducing their clients to competitors! (Don't tell my boss)
My presentation did open up discussions, since many partners
want to know about CCIEs’ earnings, salaries, best practices for offer letters,
and comp packages. I was happy to learn
that the CCIEs who participated in my Summer CCIE Salary Survey were spot on
with what channel partners are paying.
You folks deserve a real shout out for your help. Without the many CCIEs who responded to my
salary survey I would not be able to help increase the awareness about standard
compensation plans and which adds power to your negotiations. So there is a method to my madness, CCIEs are
now being heard and I am delighted to help spread the word! There were some great moments this week. I met with one of my competitors in the SRS
program, Jeff Bloch. As the VP of
Decision ToolBox his company is offering alternative options for recruitment
through the Cisco Partner Talent Portal.
My boss will string me up if he discovers I introduced him to some of my
customers while in Atlanta! I will be
featuring information about Decision ToolBox in the November edition of the
CCIE Flyer. The SRS Program has a number
of options for the recruitment of talent for the Channel Partners and I will
help make everyone aware of them. Real
important to me was getting to chat with Peter Joyce. He is the lead for the Cisco Network Academy
and on my radar since I have begun sponsoring three schools in the IT Rocks
program he is leading. This is a great
effort which has a goal of introducing kids to IT as a career at an early
age. Because we all know that IT Rocks. Thanks Peter!
With the emphasis on the military I was happy to meet with Sandy Morris
the CEO of Bradley-Morris Group a great company helping the military resources
coming off of active duty to find work.
Sandy has a real passion for what she does and I am going to tell you
all about her in the CCIE Flyer this month.
I am writing this first edit on a Delta flight from Atlanta to
Philadelphia. My journey has been
rewarding and filled with some of the greatest people you could ever hope to
meet.
I don’t take what I do for granted since in a moment it can
all change, but for now I know I am the luckiest boy from Oak Cliff (in Dallas)
that has ever tapped a keyboard!
My CCIE Flyer wagon is a great place for guitar picks!
I am really pleased to be offering these neat little replicas of the original Radio Flyers we played with as kids. When I started the CCIE Flyer magazine I had an idea for the image of the Radio Flyer as an icon for this publication. Now you can own one to by contributing your writings to the CCIE Flyer!
Build a CCIE Workshop
The table in our kitchen is our family gathering place.
Me pictured here with my recently acquired 1967 Gibson J-45. This is like the one Bob Dylan played in the 60s and I love it man!
