CCIE R&S recertification

[sergeyrar]

Has anyone done this without brain-dumps ??

I honestly thought that one day, once I become a true expert,
I will know to answer this kind of questions just from experience - but it's so far from being true.

I feel really dis-encouraged in doing this that way, but otherwise I will just fail.

What do you guys think?
Is renewal really that important these days from your experience?

[icecream-guy]

if you didn't have 50+ posts I'd consider laying down the ban-hammer for even bringing up that topic here.

if you have the numbers, keeping the number is important.
There are many other resources that can be considered for use during re-certification.

boson has one
INE tends to have good material ( though never used)
etc.

the other side of the coin is the threat of getting caught, having your certifications stripped, and being banned from the program for life.

[sergeyrar]

Sorry if this is off-topic.
I asked this question here, since I know you guys.
And I know you can point me to the right direction and help me make a good decision.

[deanwebb]

Don't worry, sergeyrar, this is something that's worth discussing.

If you're with a VAR, the answer is clear: recertify because that's needed to maintain status.

If you're not, then it's a more difficult call. I let my CCNP-Security expire because I wasn't working with Cisco stuff at the time and now that I'm with a non-Cisco vendor, there's zero pressure to do any Cisco certs... but I need to get their equivalent of a CCIE cert by the end of the year, so the pressure is definitely on.

But if you are still working with Cisco gear, all you have to do is retake the written, not the lab. If you're moving into management or something like that, you may feel like passing. But if you want to keep those letters active for your future career options, you need to re-cert.

Once you recert, it's all good for a few years, then you have to recert again.

[sergeyrar]

Thanks for the info!
Actually I rarely work with Cisco gear, furthermore
on a daily basis I don't work on all existing technologies at the same time - so I don't remember all these little bits about EIGRP for example.

So this exam feels kind of useless in the sense that it doesn't really reflect your skill level,
it just reflects your ability to remember this huge amount of data, which undoubtedly will be forgotten after the test is taken !

[LynK]

it just reflects your ability to remember this huge amount of data, which undoubtedly will be forgotten after the test is taken !

I've honestly never heard a truer statement before in my life. lol.

[deanwebb]

Thanks for the info!
Actually I rarely work with Cisco gear, furthermore
on a daily basis I don't work on all existing technologies at the same time - so I don't remember all these little bits about EIGRP for example.

So this exam feels kind of useless in the sense that it doesn't really reflect your skill level,
it just reflects your ability to remember this huge amount of data, which undoubtedly will be forgotten after the test is taken !

No more Cisco emphasis pretty much answers the question for you. Let it expire and just put (expired) after your CCIE number. You were still badass enough to get a CCIE, but now you don't need it as much, anymore.

[icecream-guy]

how many years have you had the CCIE certification?  if 10+ then you could qualify for the CCIE Emeritus

[sergeyrar]

The question is - Does the keyword "expired" make me less attractive for general networking positions?

ristau5741,
I have it for two and a half years.

[deanwebb]

Most keyword scanners aren't looking for expired as a term, and will match on CCIE.

Once you have the interview, it's a conversation item where you get to be honest and not trying to BS them. As an interviewer, it was always a good thing when the applicant volunteered that info and then we got into tech questions where he excelled.

[dlots]

Yes it would make it less attractive.  Certian partner levels require hireing X number of people with X cert.  If it's expired you don't count to the quota I believe. Also Cisco went though a few years ago and smitted a bunch of placing selling Cisco brain dumps, making a BIG  expired certs that took ~ 2 years of your life to get more of a red flag (At least IMO).

[deanwebb]

Yes it would make it less attractive.  Certian partner levels require hireing X number of people with X cert.  If it's expired you don't count to the quota I believe. Also Cisco went though a few years ago and smitted a bunch of placing selling Cisco brain dumps, making a BIG  expired certs that took ~ 2 years of your life to get more of a red flag (At least IMO).

Did not think about that... that would be a compelling reason to re-cert at least once.

[Otanx]

If you are looking for a new job study and recert. If looking in the VAR space the CCIE is important. It looks good on the resume even for non-VAR openings for enterprise etc. However, letting it expire isn't a deal breaker. A guy I know let his expire, and then later wanted to move on. He obviously does not know if he missed callbacks because of it, but he didn't have a problem getting a new job.

If you are not looking, and are happy with your current job then don't bother. Especially if the job is not with Cisco gear. Spend the time learning stuff that is interesting or useful (preferably both). When I first started working on my CCNA I wanted to eventually get my CCIE. Now that I am at the point where I could get it with some study I don't want it. I have other things I would rather study than trying to learn technologies I don't use just to get my number.

-Otanx

[NetworkGroover]

No more Cisco emphasis pretty much answers the question for you. Let it expire and just put (expired) after your CCIE number. You were still badass enough to get a CCIE, but now you don't need it as much, anymore.

I prefer the word "Retired" 
Sub-consciously sounds less lazy

[wintermute000]

Seriously, its all about the lab. The written is an expensive painful cramming crapshoot yes, but the real challenge and the real respect is earned via the lab which I know you've done.

It makes no sense to let that lapse because you CBF to cram again once every two years (or twice... lol, the written really is an awfully broken memorisation test).

Tangent, but people bagging the RS track who haven't at least attempted the lab, are talking out of their behinds.
The 400 dollar trivial pursuit written is meaningless and criticising the entire cert on that basis is ignorant. Yeah its painful and moneymaking but ultimately no CCIE gives two sh1ts about someone passing the written.

Knowing exactly how OSPF and BGP works is not going out of fashion anytime soon. That and the troubleshooting rigour/methodology and the ability to analyse a scenario at a protocol level which you gain via doing the lab properly. Sure I'm no longer a CLI savant like I was in the months preceding/just after the lab, but going through the journey certainly made me a much better engineer.

You know you can go for e.g. the CCDE written right? Much more interesting topics, no CLI to memorise, but maaaan the depth of knowledge is broad - which suits me fine as a VAR consultant (except for all the hard out SP stuff which I never get to actually work on... do wish it was split into CCDE ENT vs CCDE SP).