9 replies to this topic

[sticks]

How do you access the cli questions in the pass4sure.

[tonycyrus]

pls, i want 2 write ccna 640-802 and i need lattest pas4sure can any help out

[justanotherusername]

Passing the CCNA exam(s) purely by memorization of brain dumping materials can put yourself in a bad disposition. Any decent company hiring for a network engineering position will ask you technical questions in the interview and as a CCNA you'd be expected to know the answers or at least provide an acceptable answer.

For example, I would never hire an engineer with the CCNA that could not tell me what protocol and port number RIPv2 uses for its hello's as you're clearly required to know such information.

Be sure to also go through freely available resources for exam preparation such as http://www.freeccnaworkbook.com and http://www.packetlife.net

Also note that this is not a request forum, if you need such material than make your request in the correct forum; http://certcollection.org/forum/forum/174-associate/

[packettalk]

I'll agree with @justanotherusername, except that I'll hope his RIPv2 example was just for the sake of being an example.  No one in their right mind uses RIP, and no one in their right mind would even consider asking a candidate a question about RIP.  I've never seen a question about protocol/port numbers for RIPv2 or for any routing protocol on the CCENT or CCNA, and I'm pretty sure that information is only in workbooks or guides as an "informational" note.  Furthermore, RIP is such a simple protocol that any potential candidate could learn how it works, how to configure it, and how to troubleshoot it in a matter of 15-30 minutes.

So don't let his comment about RIPv2 or protocol/port numbers for a specific technology worry you.  If I were really hung up on RIP, I would be more concerned with actual, real, applicable knowledge--timers, loop prevention, etc.  So again, I'll hope that the comment above was purely for the sake of example.

However, the point regarding the use of brain dumps is 100% valid.  If you pass by memorizing the answers from a brain dump, you won't get a job as a network technician or engineer.  The only saving grace is if the person doing the interview is not a technical person.  Even though, you may quickly find yourself out of a job as the organization realizes you don't know what you claim to know.  Don't use dumps.  

[justanotherusername]

Understanding the basic operational concepts of rip is part of the CCNA blueprint. If i ask an engineer in an interview a scenario based question for example; you're seeing a bunch of traffic that is destined to udp 520 on wireshark, what type of traffic is this? than I would expect them to know.

Just because RIP is old and crappy does not mean systems engineers agree. It's amazing how many stupid people enable rip on servers or legacy boxes because they dont know any better or they think it will fix their problems.

Ultimately what I'm trying to say is prepare well and dont just take a dump on the exam. (no pun intended) lol. If you purely dump an exam, any real technical recruiter will be able to weed you out in a group of engineers.

[packettalk]

Sorry, but if a hiring manager ever asked me a question about RIP, I would know immediately that it is not a place I would want to work.  You can say that "systems engineers" enable it on whatever you want, but if that's what a company's engineers are doing, it's not a place I want to work...if for no other reason than that tells me the company has absolutely no control over their networking staff.

Furthermore, if a "system engineer" enables RIP because he thinks it will fix his problems, then he's not even a CCNA and shouldn't be in charge of designing the network or enabling protocols.  He shouldn't even be allowed to design or turn any features on or off without consulting someone first.  If he's enabling RIP, he shouldn't even be at that company.

I would sincerely like to see a live example of anywhere that RIP is used in production by a reputable company.  RIP is a red flag to me, and it should be a red flag to anyone interviewing for any job.

And, once again, it's such a simple protocol that it shouldn't even be covered in an interview.  If a candidate knows and understands OSPF, he either already knows RIP or he can learn in in half an hour.  The only reason I say this is because neither Juniper nor Brocade test over RIP for any of their certifications.  There's an honorable mention in one Juniper study guide and that's it.  No, it's not Cisco, but it's still a valid point.  I wouldn't deny someone an interview or not hire them just because they didn't have the exact vendor certification that applies to my personal network.  If you are certified by one vendor, then you know networking up to the standards of that certification.  The rest is only learning commands and syntax for a specific vendor.

[justanotherusername]

I'm not trying to argue with you packettalk as my orginal intention was to convey the need to prepare using resources other than just dumping. But to answer your question, there are some scenarios where companies still use RIP. I'm not saying I'd ever use it or recommend it because I wouldnt but you cannot say with beyond a doubt that you'll NEVER encouter it because you will at some point or another. I've contracted with several companies; large and small that use RIP and/or were in the process of migrating away from it. Some companies still use it because they have the mentaility of "why fix what is not broken?" Regardless of the scenario, a CCNA certified individual should have a firm understanding the basics of routing protocol(s) stated on the CCNA exam blueprint.

The RIP question was just an example question that I'd ask candidates in an interview including several other questions about other technologies. Granted if they answered several other questions correctly and actually admitted that they "dont know" the answer to the RIP question but told me that they would look it up than that would be an acceptable response as its not just how a canadidate answers technical questions that I'm interested in. In an interview process, the hiring manager may ask tough questions and some of the questions beyond the level of the actual requirements of the position so that they can guage how you would respond or react so that they may get an understanding of your thought process.

When interviewing with smaller companies for a Jr. engineering or intern position you may not run into this type of scruitny in the interview process but when you interview with most larger companies that have CCIE's on staff than you should be prepared for a brutal technical screening.

On a personal note and speaking from personal experience, I've worked at several large companies that have ccnp engineers that cannot even tell me the operational difference between rip and eigrp other than the basic configuration syntax and the letters that represent the routing protocol(s) in the routing table.

[packettalk]

I would still personally turn down a job offer that had anything to do with RIP unless it was a migration away from RIP.  I am sure the only reason RIP is used anywhere in modern times is because Cisco still tests on it.  It's like asking someone if he knows how Frame Relay works.  That's another red flag that immediately tells me the company is using stale technology and it's not a place I want to work for.

I understand 100% what you mean about CCNP's that can't tell you the difference between RIP and EIGRP.  I won't go into details, but I've known a lot of people like that as well.

All I'm saying is that personally, I wouldn't work with RIP, Frame Relay, or any other ridiculously aging technology unless it was to migrate away from those.  In both cases, you don't have to really know the nitty-gritty details.  Just remove the config from all devices and implement new standard during the maintenance window.    I guess you could run into issues with a poorly documented network, but again...red flags.  

Maybe I'm just spoiled by Juniper.  

But yes.  Bottom line: brain dumps are bad and you will either not get the job or you'll lose it very quickly.  Definitely right on the money there.

[justanotherusername]

packettalk, on 23 March 2012 - 07:54 PM, said:

But yes.  Bottom line: brain dumps are bad and you will either not get the job or you'll lose it very quickly.  Definitely right on the money there.

I agree completely

[phenom01]

Brain dumps are not 100% valid as the company claims. And plus CISCO changes their questions frequently.