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.
