Congratulations, you did it! You passed the Cisco certification exam.
What\’s your next step?
People who have successfully passed the CCNA exam or even CCNP are often those who are looking for a new network engineer job. These folks can fall into one of three categories. Those who are just beginning IT as a career field, those who want to move sideways from say servers and want to work on routers instead, and finally those who want to better themselves and move up the corporate ladder. Whatever the circumstance, all changes usually have the consideration or possibility to make more money.
No matter where you are in your career, if you want to make a change, it will no doubt mean your going to have to face the dreaded job interview. Some network engineers do really well on interviews, and some don\’t. Here are have a few pointers for those of you who have some trouble with interviews. Hopefully these will help you be one of those who do well and get that job.
Be accurate but not egotistical. Having a CCNA or CCNP certification is nice, but no one wants to work with someone who is full of themselves. Don\’t act like a know it all. There\’s a lot to know is this field and your interviewers will know if what you\’re saying is hogwash. Be polite and friendly. Come across as someone they will want to have on the team.
Answer questions accurately. Speak intelligently about the subject, but don\’t make up an answer if you don\’t know it. There is no penalty for not knowing something. If you did your preparation right — by reading up on things you haven\’t used in a while — you\’ll do just fine.
Use or lose it. Unfortunately that\’s what happens to much of what we study. Keep yourself updated on things you haven\’t used a long while or that you don\’t use regularly. Go back and review the study material you used to get your certification. It will help you retain the details. To often engineers who get their CCNA or CCNP stop studying as soon as the pass. If an interview is looming, crack open the books again. It will help
Prepare yourself for the interview. You would be amazed at how many engineers simply just show up to an interview thinking they\’ll do just fine. They haven\’t worked with OSPF in years but are about to be asked a dozen questions on the subject. Don\’t be overconfident. It doesn\’t take long to review the technologies an employer is wanting to make sure you do well in the interview.
By doing these common sense things now, when the big day of the interview comes, you will easily come across as a quality candidate.
Need more great Network Engineer Interview tips for your next interview? Check out Routerfreak.com. Also don\’t miss their great selection of free visio stencils for next network project.
