Best Fastest way to Upgrade CNE 5 to NCE ES?

[treborsitnay]

I am a CNE 5.1, and want to upgrade to the new NCE ES (Novell Certified Engineer Enterprise Services) certification the fastest possible (& most affordable) way, as I have an incredible job offer by a company that wants to hire me, but as an NCE.

I have designed, installed & administered NetWare networks since 1987, and have been a CNE since 1994 (3.1, 4.1, & 5.1). But I was hired by a company in 2002, to manage their non-Novell enterprise IT, and have not touched NetWare since then until about a month ago, when I was offered this opportunity – if, I could pass the 050-686 exam and receive my CNA 6.5 certification, which I did, and then pass a actual, live, 4-day, hands-on test scenario in their lab, which I did also. Now they want me to get the NCE ES certification, and will hire me on the spot if I pass it. They have given me up to 3 weeks to do this.

What is the quickest (and easiest) way for me to gain this certification? Novell shows 2 paths. One is for current CNEs: 2 courses, 1 exam - 050-709. The other is for "Legacy" CNE's (fine print says Pre-NetWare 6): 4 courses, 2 exams - 719 plus the same 709.

And, since I need to get upgraded as fast as possible, I need to locate the appropriate accelerated exam prep manuals and, especially, any available intensive (cram) practice tests to allow me the greatest chance of success. (I really believe I was able to pass the 050-686 with a very high score in such a short prep time frame (5 self-study days), and retain enough of the knowledge gained to be able to pass their rigorous live test, because I was able to supplement the Novell course study guide with an intensive practice exam from one of the prep/practice study vendors.)

To further complicate the situation, I cannot find any intensive ("cram") exam prep products for these 2 exams, although pretty much all other Novell exams are represented on at least 1 or 2 sites. If anyone can let me know where I can locate these, it would be greatly appreciated.

(NOTE: I have very limited funds for purchasing the necessary materials and taking the exams. So, cost is a huge factor, and, passing the exam(s) the first time is just as big.)

This is an urgent need, as I need to let my potential employer know by this Tuesday, August 26, 2008, at the latest, if I will be able to do this, in order to get the job. Also, I need to get started studying by at least by Thursday, August 28, 2008, if possible.

Please help ASAP.

And thank you for any help.

Robert

 

[marvhuffaker]

The NCE is VERY Linux focused and I don't think its practical to believe that you could cram for it and pass it, unless you already have lots of linux experience.

Also, I believe that since you let your CNE lapse at 5.x, you have to start the NCE track as if you don't have any certs at all. I'm not certain on this, so you should contact Novell training to verify.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
A Novell Platinum Partner

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[treborsitnay]

Thank you Marv. I have some Linux experience, but am no guru.

However on the 2nd topic, according to Novell's web site, I am able to upgrade my CNE 5.1 to the NCE ES certification by taking the 2 exams, 050-719 and 050-709.

I will continue to try to locate study materials (I am a fast study BTW, especially in areas where I have some experience). And I will try to negotiate with the hiring company to see if they will work with me - i.e. How badly do they want me - if they won't, well then that will be that and I will continue to look elswhere.

Thanks for the feedback and ideas.
-Robert

 

[goombawaho]

Let me ask you something before you go to all that trouble. Novell is kind of considered a dying system, even though Linux is going to "save" the company and sell some OES. Novell is still not much compared to what it used to be. So, to throw your fate in with Novell might be a questionable professional GOAL.

Just my 2 cents. If you're only concerned about this job with the money it will bring, then go for it. But in the long term, you might be zigging when you should be zagging.

 

[marvhuffaker]

Also want to add my opinion here. I have the task of hiring qualified engineers with Novell credentials for our own services based company. With todays technology and Novell's position in the marketplace, everything being Linux driven, I won't even look at someone that hasn't touched Novell stuff since NetWare 5.1. They just aren't qualified. period. Things have changed too much and they are extremely out of touch. Anyone in this scenario has not been in the field, as far as I am concerned, for almost 10 years, and their experience means nothing. I'm not trying to be discouraging here, but you're looking for a quick fix for an obsolete way of thinking, where you really need some good experience with stuff at least in this century.



Marvin Huffaker, MCNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting, Inc.
A Novell Platinum Partner

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[goombawaho]

Excellent point by the Marvinator. OP is now going to commit suicide. I hope not!!!!!!

 

[treborsitnay]

Whoa, Marv, that is pretty heavy duty, dude.

Considering as you suggest that Novell, specifically NetWare, is not the only NOS game in the market, might not the candidate have ANY other compelling or desirable talents, experience, knowledge, such as other Linux, infrastructure, security, etc., that may make them desirable to an employer? Apparently some, such as this potential employer, do consider this to be the case, as they see the broader range of benefits the candidate can bring to them, both now and in the future.

Personally, I would consider all of the candidate's abilities and background as it pertained to the specific job that I was considering them for. In the case of Novell specific positions, I agree with you; if the candidate does not have the training/experience required for that specific position, then do not consider them for it. But if the position is not Novell specific, and the scope of the job requirements encompasses much broader and different technologies and platforms in addition to the previous experience with legacy NetWare and Novell, then the lack of extensive NetWare 6x or Novell/Suse Linux experience might not be quite as pertinent or critical, and could be augmented or gained as necessary over time, especially if the candidate had other Linux experience.

Perhaps as was my experience in the past, if, after working for a NetWare-centric enterprise employer, the next employer was a Microsoft only shop with no Novell whatsoever, and the position was Director of IT, not network admin or engineer, there might not be any compelling need or reason, nor even the allowable time, to maintain up-to-date Novell certification, particularly when security, ERP, WAN, telephony, and VoIP, budgeting, staff management and business profitability were the more imperative areas of technology and business focus. Then if the next desirable opportunity was once more from a company that did utilize NetWare among other NOSs and was planning on moving to Novell Linux, and they wanted someone familiar with legacy and current NetWare NOSs and with a number of other technologies pertinent to the company, that company might indeed consider and even desire a candidate with the above background.

Also, I wonder how the large global enterprises and government agencies who are still heavily invested and committed to Novell, and specifically NetWare 6.5 & OES view their "outdated", "out of touch" IT and network operations. Most MAY be looking at moving to Linux for their servers and data centers, or adding a few in strategic places for specific operations. But most also do not want to sacrifice or jeopardize the highly stable, highly secure, almost bullet-proof NetWare environment that works so extremely well for them. Where is the incentive, they ask, at least most that I have talked with?

That said, I too believe that Linux is the NOS (and OS) of the next era, along with cloud computing, virtualization and Web 2.0, all deployed and mitigated with the very necessary emerging Security 2.0 technologies of this new age.

At any rate, that's my 2 dollars worth ;-)

Robert