this and that ! a quick update

Its been ages since I have posted! sorry about all that…just had a lot of ups and downs..mostly self inflicted downs now that I think about it!

so what have I been doing the past few weeks? well ..things have been dead quiet .. agencies have been on the low ..not getting much phone calls in the past weeks!

Lately the thoughts of “was coming here the right idea?” have been going through my head, I came here thinking I would be taking a step forward in my career ..but instead It feels like I have taken 5 steps back.

Is that true? nope ..thinking that was my down fall..I have gained a lot out of life coming here..actually leaving my comfort zone in SA and coming here was good to get a taste of the real world, even tho it has only been over 2 months..I still have a lot to learn but have matured being here as an individual.

I was asked recently: why do I want to get my CCIE? … It took me awhile to answer..and explain this obsession.. my answers were that its because I believe it will fast track my career and I like the challenge! the way it is spoke of is as if its a wall thats unbreakable!…and I want to break that with intensive studying and a high level of understanding networks.  My 1st understanding was this was a business orientated goal ..but more thought into it I’m thinking its more personal.

I was recently called up by a gentleman and asked to meet him, He has a one man company here in London thats IT based and said he was looking for someone to train up for consulting but I would have to work 9 to 1 in an office doing blackberry support for customers, which is one of his contracting jobs and then from 1 – 5 deals with the business side of things of this 1 man IT company.

I know what you are thinking! scandal! …yes i thought the same…but I needed the money ..so I took the job out of interest.. and guess what I’m doing now?…. pretty much an office job picking up phones and working on Microsoft access! and its been from 9 to 5 ..and I am very unhappy but its bring in money…for now..and gives me a chance to look for other jobs while I’m here.

I am moving into a new place on 16th november, Its my own room! at last. It has a double bed and room for a computer..it costs 480 pounds a month…very pricey…I wont have a lot of money for savings with my current salary but im happy have my own space in the corners of dirty gray england!

I found out that Cisco is having a mobile lab in june next year in johannesburg which really supriesed me! so I got in contact with one of the people over in cisco SA ..and was told its more for people who work in companies that are cisco partners and not for the individuals!.. but what they will do is make a pre lab up and then the candidates will go and attempt the pre lab and the top scorers will be allowed access to the real CCIE lab.. they pretty much only want people who will pass to do the lab.. I found this all a bit strange but I would not have a problem doing a pre lab because I wouldnt do the CCIE lab if I was not ready!

So what am I getting at? I can have an option to go home back to CT and do my CCIE within my country!

I’m not going to do that just yet
I’m sticking it out here in London for now  in case an opportunity arises ! I will make a decision in January on what I am going to do and what will make me get my CCIE the fastest!

Cisco is having a partners day on the 11th in Birmingham which I will go check out..I want a chance to meet these companies face to face and show them what I am really made of! haha

so close yet so far away…another hand rolled landing on the wrong number… (another bad interview)

I had an interview today..a telephone one with a company in hemel hempstead, the interview was with 3 guys on the phone, I was pretty nervous because the position would of been great for me!

the interview went down like this..

3 guys incl the leader, 2 of which who ask questions

1st guy asked me voice questions, I told them I have no experience in voice..just the basic dial peers, codecs and QoS stuff for voice which I learnt in CCNP’s ONT course material.

they must of asked me about 5-7 questions on voice which really annoyed me because it made me nervous as I was unable to answer most of them ..which I think destroyed me for the rest of the interview..because I was uneasy.

The next guy came on and asked me routing, switching, frame-relay and mpls questions

the routing stuff went the best.. he went through OSPF,EIGRP and BGP … BGP being my favourite I aced it..one question he asked me was on bgp synchronization..which I answered straight away ..he was pretty shocked and said it was the 1st time anyone had ever got that right in an interview with them before…which I silly because Its one of the 1st concepts you learn in BGP ?!?!

the rest of the routing stuff went ok..but I messed up on frame-relay and mpls..being so rusty in those departments..since my last job did not require anything to do with them..and funny enough..when I think about it ..I can answer all the questions he asked..but the nerves got the better of me because of the voice stuff!!!

The switching stuff funny enough..I messed up ….but I know all the answers to them?!?! …really annoying.. overall it was a good learning experience..I have never had such a indepth phone interview before.. I think next time around with who ever interviews me I will be ready for their questions as I have an Idea now of the CCNP level of questions that are asked. They also said if the job was just for a routing position I would have it.. BUT its not……………………………..

And on a side note ..the company made me phone them..and it cost me 11 pounds ..11 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!! ..thats a fortune and I’m unemployed…that is not very cool of them.. I found it to be uncourteous of them.

Im pretty sure the agency I dealt with will never deal with me again ..from my experience..they will get you one interview and if you are unsuccesful they close the doors on you! with anything for the future..

-SIGH-

So far only Downs and no Ups

Ok so far NO LUCK AT ALL concerning jobs… I came over here looking for permanent stuff but that doesnt seem to be working out. One agency told me I will never get any because im only allowed to work here for 1 year with my visa and all.. well others dont seem to find it an issue…so what I have decided to do is hunt for contract stuff …and hope I get some sort of break..I need to build some contacts in the IT field here..I think thats the key to getting into the industry..things are really tough here!

my house mates are telling me to go get work where you go to an agency and get one days work..doing random labour…I am not keen on that at all ..I did not come to this country to do labour! I coulda stayed in south africa for that.

I have also started looking for jobs in the rest of the UK..I have applied for stuff in Ireland tho im getting no feed back there aswell im afraid it might be the same situation there.

what to do ..what to do…

my head is spinning with uncertainty but I have a feeling when I finally get a break it will all come right.

At the moment im reading BGP labs from my ccnp command guide reference..keeping me on my toes ..I have stopped reading fantasy books for the mean time so I can stay focused on my studies ..but the more I read about networks the more I want a job! its driving me crazy

I should of started this earlier!

I have been in England now for just over 3 weeks! I have been planning to write a blog for awhile now about my experiences in London, job hunting and my CCIE studies!

This blog is not just focused on being another CCIE blog just about my studying process but also about my life in a new place.

my language skills are bad because I spent most of my teenage life chatting on msn and other chatrooms with friends and picking up bad habits! please forgive me

Why did I leave south africa?

well that was because I wanted to experience somthing more then south africa..it is my 1st time leaving my country and im enjoying the experience so far! and I wanted to make enough money to fund my CCIE studies myself.

what did I come over with?

I came over with 6 months experience as a network engineer, I worked for Dimension Data in Cape Town, I had a 6 month contract and at the end they wanted to keep me on board and make me permanent but I refused their offer as I wanted to do some traveling while I was young!.. A lot of south africans leave and come to england straight after high school with no studies or work experience behind them so I thought I would be better off and should be ok because I had some qualifications.

I came over with a CCNA,CCNP and a CCIE written which I passed just barely days before I left my country ..I thought It would give me an upper hand in the job market, but little did I know…

I used the Cisco Press certification guide 3 to study for my written exam..I did so much reading and not enough absorbing, I know now that I approached the whole studying for my written wrong, because I did not understand every concept to its fullist and the technologies. I did not have enough time to go back and read till I could understand, my knowledge is patchy and I need to fix it.

When I came to London I came over with 2 bags…one filled with clothing and the other filled with text books..yes thats me, study nazi..I came over with TCP/IP volume 1 & 2, the certification guide 3 and a ccnp lab pocket book. I also had a few German text books..I was studying German for 6 months part time with a teacher before I left..I have a new found love for language and would like to use it in the work place maybe in consulting It can be used to my benefit.

what am I doing now almost a month later?

At the moment I am staying in north west london in a quiet area called Perivale..its a good break from the masses of people in central london. I am staying with 2 of my sisters friends, in the house we have 4 South africans(safas),1 ausie and one indian.5 dudes and one chick.. It is a 3 bedroom house..and yes its a tight fit, I am currently sleeping on a mattress in a room with 2 other guys. Oh and did I mention I’m the only straight guy in the house?

I am lucky enough to not be paying rent at the moment..they are just letting me crash there till I can get a job then I think they will start asking me for money, but the moment I get a job im getting out of there! its too cramped and I need my own space..I am dying to start my ccie lab studies so I need my own space. I was recently just told we have another lady moving in soon either this week or the next..this is just more insentive for me to rush out of there. We take turns cooking supper each night..so everyone gets a day in the week. I always make the same thing ..spaghetti bolognese.. my cooking is terrible! so right now im trying to get good at cooking one dish.

I have had 3 interviews since I have been here, I dont think I should mention any company names because that might not be right! anywayz.. my 1st interview was at a company that apparently had 14 ccies in it and they were not a cisco gold partner..I dont understand that but moving right along…  When I was sitting in the foyer of ther building waiting to get called up there was another gentlemen sitting opposite me ..he must of been 20+ years older then me and he was reading hand written notes..I avoided speaking to him and just watched..I was not sure If he was there for an interview or not. Eventually somone came to fetch me and he called for the other guy aswell..and he said we have the exact same qualifications and were going for the same interview but were not competing…

I felt pretty good having the same qualifications as this older guy I dont think he had much more work experience becuase it was for a junior position. That day I had my 1st Technical interview..I was very nervouse! I was shaking a lot..it was just me and another man who would be drawing stuff on paper and asking me detailed questions on what he was doing..I messed up on the most basic questions but the harder ones I could answer, I dont know if it was because I was nervous or because I think my knowledge is patchy.

after the technical interview I got called back and met another guy who asked me a lot about my last job in detail to see where I was at knowledge wise at the moment..then he called the director of the company down to meet me… He was an Irish CCIE ..that interview did not go well because the director was not happy that I was trying to get my CCIE at the age of 22 ..he said I should only get it at 26 atleast because he got his at 27..and I quote that from his mouth..then they asked me to leave the building..It was a slap through the face for me.. But I have learnt from it and now know in future I wont tell companies im trying to get my CCIE so fast..I need to remind myself I came here to make money to fund my studies myself …so I will keep that to myself. Right now I need to focus on getting experience.

the 2nd interview the company was looking for somone with more experience..so that did not go well and the 3rd was for a security call center where they wanted somone who would spend 2 years in the call center before touching the engineering field… I cant wait that long ..so I passed on that. I am aiming for a junior engineering position.

Every week day I spend my day in an internet cafe in bond street looking for jobs and applying for as many things as I can find..I have started searching outside of london..because I have found that this place is too flooded with Cisco guys that all want to get their hands wet..so the competition is huge..I think London is more about who you know and not what you know…I know it was like that in cape town.

I spend a lot of my time reading fantasy/fiction books now … because I dont really have friends in this country and find I dont know what to do with a lot of my time. I have seen all the sites that london has to offer pretty much..so now its just a waiting game which I hate ..till I can get a job, waiting for my phone to ring..so I can finally settle down…last thing I want happening is me ending up back in south africa…

Overall London is a place that takes getting used to ..you can quickly learn the systems and how to flow with the crowd and become a Londoner but I still get annoyed with things and dislike others.

So far I dislike pubs! they are everywhere and they have to many random people in them..Im so used to going to places and having certain types of people in them..but them being so random might be a good thing…It will take time to get used to..I will like them more when I go with a group of friends ! after 5 you  will always see pubs full and guys standing outside drinking with suites on ..I plan on never joining that group. ..Clubbing..well I have only been too 2 clubs so far..they were both pretty cool..wont find anything like them in cape town thats for sure!..night life here is expensive ..drinks are quite expensive! I am dying to see some metal bands play live…but I will wait till I have an income before I do more social exploring of london.