A couple of months ago, I wrote an article about ideas to get Cisco training on a budget. There are several free or low cost suggestions for anyone pursuing Cisco certifications or to just practice your skills.
We were fortunate to have some Cisco Learning Credits this year, which are obviously very valuable in this economy. Long story short, we arranged for 20 people from several different departments to attend the ICND 1 and ICND 2 classes.
Most of the people scheduled for the ICND 1 class had some very basic understanding of networking, but this is a fast-paced class covering a lot of material. We wanted these people to succeed, and from experience we know that the OSI model and subnetting are particularly difficult topics to newbies. I had my two senior engineers create classes on these subjects so these folks could have the best shot at success. We divided the material into 3, 2 hour classes. By the end of the preparatory classes, all of them could subnet almost well enough to pass the CCENT exam.
The ICND 1 class took place last week and I received emails throughout the week telling me how much they enjoyed it. I received 2 emails this weekend thanking me, 1 of the folks passed his CCENT test on Friday, and another scheduled his test for the 22nd. I actually teared up a bit on hearing this news, and I am not a crier. It makes me so happy to hear people learning new skills that can actually change their lives. There is a huge difference between the lifetime earning power of a help desk technician versus a network administrator.
It looks like we met our goal of getting as many people trained to a baseline level, and the prep classes helped them. I wonder how many more of those in the class will go for their CCENT and beyond.
UPDATE: 3 people have passed their CCENT certification exams so far.
What ideas do you have to stretch your training budget, or get by without one?
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