Wait... Im confused????

Do I need a potato, certs or experiance to get a engineering job??

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http://blog.movingonesandzeros.net/

University of Idaho has excellent Potato Certs..

Certs to get the interview, XP to get the job, and a potato if you don't get the job to put in the interview's muffler

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Freedom to all the people. Brave, true and strong.
Freedom to all the people. Unless I think you're wrong

dhimes.com

so how does it work with tomato?

tomato salad
tomato stew
??
is it a bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich or
a bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich

neither french fried tomatoes nor mashed tomatoes sound very tasty

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"If you're good at anticipating the human mind. It leaves nothing to chance."
-Jigsaw

Both !

Get your certs, but get real gear to work on (you MUST invest in gear these days if you dont have a lab at work or production equipment someone is crazy enough to let you practice on)

experience doesn't necessarily mean only in production - you can get good hands on practice configuring stuff in your lab environment too. You'll be better equipped than someone with certs and no hands on at all.

ebay is great for cisco lab gear

but i too pick experience/hands on over certs in most cases, unless i need an intern or a lower-paid entry level person

Ok real lab is very good for practice, but it costs around 500$ whith old routers. Why not GNS3?

Why not dynamips?

You need hands on with at least 1 router and 1 switch. The rest can be dynamips

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www.mellowd.co.uk/ccie/

Gns3 uses dynamips for simulating ios. I bought 2950cat, for hands on. Which router is best and cheaper?
Thanks for reply

2621XM

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www.mellowd.co.uk/ccie/

spuds

The most important Cisco Certification is CCNA

CCCCCCCCCCCombo breaker

Yep

Sent via mobile internet.

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- Pete

Certs help get you into "Pile A". When a recruiter is looking at 80+ resumes, you don't want to be in "Pile B". A college degree goes along these same lines.

Depending on the job, your level of experience will determine if you get invited to the first round of interviews, and will quickly make or break you in the interview process as a whole.

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Regards,

Steven King
San Diego Cisco User Group - http://www.sdcug.com
"The only time something is impossible is when you think it is." - Kevin Corbin, CCIE #11577

My question then, as someone with no experience what can/should I be doing to get the job? What's going to sway you from the stance of "another guy with no experience" to "ya know what... I think I'm going to give this guy a shot" ?

The best advice I can give someone without experience is don't be afraid to apply for positions you don't think you have the required experience and apply for any job that's in the field your career will take you.

There have been several threads on the forum about "how you started" or "first beginnings" I'd suggest searching and reading for them if you truly aren't sure where to start. If nothing else default to my first point and apply for all the positions.

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- Pete

And don't forget how important the 'people network' is!

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www.mellowd.co.uk/ccie/

so get out and meet your neighbors, volunteer at the food bank, help the aged, read books to kids at the orphanage.
may not get you IT experience, but will get you networking, and building life experience, I'd rather hire someone
with no IT experience with a cert if they've shown involvement in the community on their resume versus being a member of
the bridge and chess club in HS or college.

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"If you're good at anticipating the human mind. It leaves nothing to chance."
-Jigsaw