Please, don't call a MCSE a net admin!

Pal, You cannot apply This rule on all MCSEs. I agree that there are MCSE's who know nothing beyound their MCSE track objetives. But there are also MCSEs who were originally Telecommunication Engineers, or Expert Programmers.
I am a MCSE, but also I'm a CCNP. Doesn't that make me capable of being both: System or Network Engineer?

On the other hand, it occurs to me that IT is the only place where people entering the industry are expected to be totally competent on day one. If you look at other professions (lawyers, doctors,etc..), most require schooling then training before the person is considered truely competent. Why is that so hard for IT professionals to understand?

The other issue I have is about ability. Every year the NFL has a draft. Many of the players don't make it, but some go on to be better then mostof their counterparts who are already in the league. In fact, some go on to be considered the best ever. By contrast their are any number of players in the NFL who have built careers as 2nd and 3rd string QB's or journeymen at other positions. Most of these players would be considered average at best.

This is the case in every industry and I am certain it's the case in IT also. The body of network knowledge is relatively quantitative, learnable and doable with experience. Just as in sports, there is always a better athlete in the next draft. It's very arrogant for anyone to imply or suggest that somehow they have a lock on knowledge or ability. It's a joke!

I think that lurking below the surface of these sorts of discussions is the desire, of those who are "entrenched", to come up with a way to pull the ladder up behind them and cut off the opportunity to those below. This is somewhat understandable given the influx of people and the economic uncertainty. However, many ofthese same people had fewer, skills, knowledge or ability when they were plucked out of the gutter and given the opportunity that allowed them to reach their current level of success. I just wish people would admit this and get over it.

True, but an alumni friend & colleague told me recently that while he was working field duty with a Tier 3 NOC team of a government contractor. An MCSE holder whom he worked with, was bragging about what how much he knew and how much better he was than anybody else, yet didn't know what a hyperlink was.
What irritates me is that these people are floating around in the IT pool with the others whom have demonstrated their abilities and manage to fleece upper management with their lack of knowledge, usually end up staying on board while the right man for the job gets axed. Go figure! As they have said "Knowledge is power." But whether that is either "common or street" knowledge is yet to be revealed.

Now I don't have to take MCSE when I can easily go for MCSA at a lesser price. Then go on from there. You were right!