August 31st, 2008
On more than one occasion people have asked me how I became a trainer. Recently I received a request from Paul Stewart asking how I got into being a trainer so I figured I would blog it for the future reference. Thanks for the question Paul. I hope this covers it for you without boring you to death.
So here is my story. It’s a little less than brief. Sorry.
I have been a Cisco Trainer for 8 years now. In the last 8 years I have seen ups and down but still can’t imagine doing anything else. It’s safe to say that I love my job. What I love about it is the knowledge transfer. You can honestly see that light bulb turn on, and when you do it makes it all worthwhile.
1994
But I haven’t always been a Cisco Trainer. In fact I haven’t always been in networking. When I was 19 years old I was a volunteer firefighter before joining the US Air Force in December of 1994. After a short stent in the service, a period if time that I really enjoyed, I left, in hopes of getting a job full time as a firefighter somewhere in Southern California.
1996
At the time becoming a firefighter was extremely difficult, and it probably is, which of course caused me to look for other forms of employment. Collection Agent, Reservationist for a large Lodge, then Merchandiser for a Distributor of Miller Beer. Finally I broke down and applied for a Field Tech position at GTE. I didn’t want to because my Dad worked there but I knew it was a stable job and I had a daughter to provide for (pay child support for). I ended up getting hired there and spent a year in Santa Monica as the “Phone Man to the Stars.” Well I wasnt exactly “The” phone man of the stars but I did fix a fax line for Jerome Bettis while he was training in the off season with UCLA, I worked in Madonnas Penthouse, and I even worked on a phone in the Penthouse of Stevie Wonder. It was a WONDERFUL job. Except that it didnt pay enough.
I applied for and got the position in Thousand Oaks, California, in the Enhanced Products Group. Thats a fancy name for Frame Relay/ATM/DSL support and provisioning. It was there that I got into Cisco and was sent to a class at Ascolta Training.
Now when I was in that class the Cisco Stuff really made sense and I really was amazed with how well the Instructor (Steve Futernik) presented the material. I knew them I wanted more Cisco training. I took the entire CCNP and CSS-1 (now called the CCSP) training with Ascolta. In fact they sent an instructor to us and we did private training at night.
1999
After I got my CCNA and was half way through my CCNP I started one night a week at the Learning Tree University. I got paid 1500 bucks for 5 weeks of teaching 1 night a week for 2 hours. What a deal! Still it kinda sucked there because it was what Cisco calls “Grey Market,” meaning they are not using Cisco Certified material nor was I a Cisco Certified Instructor. Oh, well. I didnt need slides, or labs, or a manual to teach from. I was a trainer. 
After I had taught two of those classes I was also taking classes with Ascolta. An Instructor named Jack Wood was teaching us the MCNS class and took me out for a beer after class. It was there, at a Chili’s Restraunt, at 10:45 at night, that I had my first interview with Ascolta. It wasn’t really an interview. Jack asked if I wanted to teach. I said yes. He called his boss and woke her up. After speaking to her for a few minutes I had an interview and was on my way.
2000
Now even though I had been hired I still wasnt a trainer. In fact if you want to be a Cisco Certified Instructor you must:
- be sponsored by a Training Partner
- Pass the VUE exam with an Instructor Score (Somewhat higher than the normal Passing Score)
- Pass the Instructor Certification Program (ICP)
What is the ICP? The ICP consists of a 7 hour hands on lab exam that is graded by a Cisco Certified Proctor, as well as perform a few lectures in front of a Cisco Proctor that is graded as well. It’s not easy. In fact, in the 8 years I have been with Ascolta I have not seen anyone pass the first time. I passed on the second attempt.
Its all down hill from there. I then co-taught a few times and Ascolta sent me to a Train-the-trainer class that taught various training techniques. My greatest non-technical asset is the ability to speak publicly, and to be honest when I dont know something. I am a trainer, not a know-it-all. I am ALWAYS learning new things. I have been given the opportunity to transfer what I have learned to others and I enjoy that.
What about you?
While being a trainer is a tough position to get into it can be done. If you are interested in teaching I can tell you this, good instructors are hard to find and my boss is always willing to hear from those who are interested, especially in the voice arena. Drop me an line and I will make the contact.
Finally, what can you expect from being a trainer?
Simple, Fame, Fortune and more…well maybe not.
- You can expect a lot of travel.
- You can expect to know your schedule about 2 weeks out.
- You can expect to constantly be learning new stuff because Cisco is ALWAYS revising the material.
- You can expect to make a decent salary, even in the 6-figure range, but not right off the bat.
- You need to have a wide range of courses under your belt. The more versatile you are in what you can teach the more you make.
- Finally you can expect it to be easier to teach if you are a contract instructor versus a salary instructor. As a salary instructor you pretty much need to be certified to teach and ready to go. As a contractor you will need to invest some time into getting certified but will be given the opportunity to teach. The better you work with the operations personnel, the better the evaluations are, and the more prepared you are for what you are teaching the more likely you are to be used more often.
I am a salary instructor. It’s my full time job. On the side I write books for Cisco Press and I blog. I couldn’t have asked for a better position to be in and I would do it all over again. Next on my agenda…pass the CCIE Security exam.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
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