[masraum]

Originally posted by mikester
I've been a CCNP since 2000 and recently passed the CCIE written and am preparing for the lab later this year.

Congrats and good luck. I had mine about 6-7 years ago. I got the CCNA, then I was going to skip the CCNP and go straight for the IE. I went to get a job where they were looking for people with the NP or IE for partner status. They said that if I had either that I could get a sign-on bonus (a really big one, this was before the 3/2001 dot com crash). I had already passed the IE written which was very, VERY different from any of the other tests being all theory on the standards, nothing cisco specific, but the IE written wouldn't get me the bonus, so I went and took the Foundation R&S (3 tests combined) and the CIT and got my CCNP. I then tried the CCIE lab back when it was still 2 days. I got 3/4 through, but didn't make it past that. Really close, but not close enough. Then I got laid off and haven't screwed with any of that since.

I second the sentiment that if you get the certs by ACTUALLY LEARNING the stuff, rather than just studying some sample tests, they actually make a big difference in your ability to do you job. Understanding the nuts and bolts helps with troubleshooting and getting the big picture more complete.