Today while I was at lunch I got an email from someone named “Jack.” Jack apparently doesn’t understand what the CCIE is about and what the NDA with Cisco related to the NDA is about. Here is Jacks email:
On Sep 10, 2008, at 11:28 AM, Jack wrote: Hi Mr Carroll, I recently came across a set of labs which are said to be part of the real lab exam, and I was wondering since you have taken the lab exam already if you would’nt mind taking a look at the topology and seeing if any matched the one you took. If you don;t mind please do email me. Thank you.
Now here is my response to Jack:
Hi Jack. If you want me to look at a practice lab topology and tell you if I think it will be useful in your studies I am willing to do that but I would not be willing to compromise the integrity of the actual exam by confirming material that is said to be “the real test.” In short, I do mind. I am under NDA with Cisco and do not wish to compromise that relationship.
And finally for all those Jacks out there here is what Cisco says (notice what I highlighted)taken from http://tinyurl.com/ccienda:
* Violation of test policies for the purpose of cheating * Possession of notes, books, cell phones, pagers, electronic media, recording devices, or any other articles or devices other than those provided by the proctor during exam testing * Removal of any test materials, scrap paper, diskettes or other media from the lab environment * Discussions concerning test content with anyone other than the proctor without express written permission from the CCIE department * Posting of test content to study groups internal to Cisco or external to Cisco with the exception of ccie-lab@cisco.com * Forwarding of test information to persons or companies without the express written permission of the CCIE program * Falsified or altered certificates, score sheets, or other documents or electronic media used to misrepresent the certification status of a CCIE candidate * Providing falsified documentation as a means of claiming a false identity, false address or solicitation of someone to take a test on another’s behalf * Failure to follow procedures prescribed by a testing facility or proctor * Failure to follow the exam retake policies (waiting 5 calendar days between written exams or only taking a beta exam once) * Disruptive or harmful behavior * Use of Cisco support services (TAC) to resolve test questions or to study for the CCIE written or lab exams * Failure to protect CCIE lab content through carelessness or in an attempt to shield facts regarding a violation that has occurred * Improper use of CCIE logo (reports of companies or individuals that use the CCIE logo without express agreement with the CCIE program can be directly reported
Wow! I thinks its guys like this that cause companies like CertGuard to exist. Even though CertGuard hasn’t been a favorite among Cisco bloggers since the Ethan Banks issue on Network World it makes sense why these guys are around. People Cheat. Possessing the actual CCIE lab and using it to study is Cheating. There are plenty of other resources out there to help you study. Learn the material- not the lab.
Not only Certguard exist for people like Jack, they also de-value the certification.
Using the test is cheating there is no gray area around that issue. When using the exam questions as a training tool is wrong and cheating pure and simple. One of the problems though was discussed while I was at lunch with Terry Slattery recently. There are a base of only about 400 questions in his estimate. This makes it easier to try and memorize the answers. The number of questions rotated in and out of the written exam needs to be increased. CertGuard does provide a needed service in this area and I agree. In my discussions with their number two I was introduced to the value the provide to the IT community.
@Eman: I couldn’t have said it better. There is NO GRAY AREA. I wonder why this guy emailed me. If he follows the blog he’d know that I dont cheat….I study my butt off!
My personal take on this is in order for Cisco to combat this they need to start flooding this market (through conspicuous methods) with very wrong blue prints. No matter what people like ‘Jack’ are always going to be out there and will pay whatever it takes to pass that CCIE lab and someone is always going to take ‘Jack’s’ money. It’s obvious ‘Jack’ has no honor like the rest of us who are legitimately trying to earn our CCIE so spitting back that ‘Jack’ is doing something morally, ethically or legally wrong well, doesn’t mean Jack to ‘Jack’. So my take, make the people that sell stuff to ‘Jack’ and his friends have such bad information that what they sell becomes irrelevant. The way to do that is employ some people within Cisco to just flood that underground market with bad information. I also think they should move forward with interviews after the labs to make sure they’re not memory bots just dumping what they memorized. Mr. Carroll, I am in no way personally attacking your response to ‘Jack’ in the end you did the right thing!