When Cisco Systems brings young hires on board, the process is less like a typical corporate orientation and more like a sorority rush. Instead of being hired into a specific business unit and assigned a manager, the new employees get to do the picking.
This innovative approach may seem unusual–why should a 22-year-old have 30 managers vying for her attention?–but it gets results.
More than 2,500 newbies, mostly engineering grads, have gone through this process, called Cisco Choice, since its inception in 2006. Of these, 98% were still with the company after two years. That’s an astonishing retention rate, as studies show few Gen Yers last that long in their first jobs. And Cisco’s staff engagement levels are off the charts. “When you provide options aligned with a student’s interests and skills, you’re going to get more productivity and excitement than by allowing them to interview with one manager for one position,” says program head Monica Perez.
The matchmaking system, used for interns as well as permanent hires, also gives Cisco an advantage in recruiting. Ralph Mobley, career services director at Georgia Institute of Technology, says the program is a big reason why Cisco could hire more than 50 of its grads in three years. “Students really like that they’re going to get some input,” he says. “If they have two offers, that’s what might sway them.”
Cisco Choice participant James Reavis, 23, is a fan. Although only in his fifth week on the job–testing new features on Cisco’s TelePresence videoconferencing product–he is already seeing how connections forged with other departments during program interviews are invaluable. “Normally [new employees] just know what their department does and what their specific product is,” he says. “When we collaborate, I already know what the other department does.”
The Santa Clara University alum started with 95 other Cisco Choice participants in late June. After a week-long overview of the company and a week of presentations from managers at more than 30 business units, Reavis’ group spent a final week meeting with the managers and employees in each participant’s five favorite business units. Each employee then selected his or her top three managers and awaited placement. Reavis, like most new employees, got his top pick–managers are eager to accept the additional manpower because most of the training and salary costs come out of the corporate budget, not their own.
If employee engagement and retention aren’t proof enough of success, Perez says some competitors are even looking into developing programs modeled on Cisco’s. That doesn’t bother her a bit. After all, she says, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Cisco Systems, Inc., one of the world’s leading makers of computer networking equipment, has established a Cisco Networking Academy at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va. Since 1997, Cisco has established networking academies at educational institutions to teach students networking and information technology relating to Cisco’s products and services.
The academy’s 560-hour curriculum covers eight semesters and uses Web-based instruction, instructor-led teaching and hands-on laboratories to teach students to design, build and maintain computer networks.
The Norfolk State academy is offering four semesters of the eight-semester program. Students successfully completing the four semesters will become Cisco certified network associates. Students completing all eight semesters of the program can become a Cisco certified network professional. University officials want to eventually offer all eight semesters of instruction in the school’s academy.
“The establishment of this program marks another major step for our School of Science and Technology into the technologically driven marketplace of the 21st century,” says Norfolk State’s president, Dr. Marie McDemmond.
Over the past three years, Cisco has opened academies in more than 5,200 institutions in all 50 states and 84 nations. Norfolk State is the first four-year institution in Virginia to house a Cisco Networking Academy.
“In addition to the classroom training, Cisco’s Networking Academy now helps students transition from the classroom to the real world. Networking Academy students can search an online database of employers that have partnered with Cisco to offer hands-on opportunities via internships, mentor programs …. “says Dr. Sandra DeLoatch, dean of the university’s School of Science and Technology. “This aspect of the program will open so many doors for our students.”
If you’re thinking about starting a certification program of your own, it may seem like you’re just giving an ordinary training program more teeth. But there are some issues that are worth considering before you jump in with both feet.
Judy Hale says that especially if you’re using certification for a new-hire process, you need to keep in mind what it will mean for those employees who were hired before you created the certification. For example, will those established employees look less competent compared to employees who have been through the certification program? “If they’ve been getting ‘exceeds expectations’ on their annual performance reviews, you have to be very careful if you suddenly come in and say the person’s brain-dead,” says Hale, principal of Downers Grove, Ill.-based performance improvement consulting firm Hale Associates and author of Performance-Based Certification: How To Design A Valid, Defensible, Cost-Effective Program (Pfeiffer, 2000).
You also have to consider what the consequences for failure should be. For example, Hale says, some companies tire those employees who can’t pass a certification test, and some deny promotions or prevent them from carrying out certain duties. “When the employment decisions are denial of a promotion, termination or not being allowed to carry out a task of role, those are high stakes, because you’re dealing with people’s livelihoods,” Hale says. “Will you remediate them or chloroform them?”
A key task in creating a valid certification program is job of role analysis, which is identifying what employees do of produce, what they have to know in order to do it, and under what conditions they do it. This step gets skipped a lot, Hale says, because everyone thinks they already know. They also don’t always talk to everyone they should when they’re trying to find out. “The mistake that people make on certification is that they only talk to exemplars of high performers,” she says. “They are important, but they’re not the universe. You also need to talk to those internal auditors, internal customers, external customers–because they will tell you what the person should be doing, not what the person is doing.”
Hale also counsels her clients to be sure they know what they mean when they say someone is certified. Does it mean that the person knows certain information? Or does it mean that he or she can perform certain tasks? This will dictate not only how certification is verified, but also what public promises you can make regarding your certified employees. “If the promise is that people will know, then you need a knowledge test,” she says. “If the promise is that people can do, under what circumstances can they do it?”
the Ethical Hacker Network – Latest Posts Of: Grendel
i Took A 6-day Boot Camp And Studied The Material They Provided Along With The … If You Are Thinking About The Ccsp, That’s Going To Take Some Time. …
www.ethicalhacker.net/component/option,com_smf/itemid,54/a…file/u,11751/sa,showposts
pix Cisco Training Certification Ccsp
cisco Ccsp And Pix Firewall Training And Certification Products And Boot Camp Classes At Discount Prices.
www.trainingplanet.com/html/dcn_cisco_training.html
mcsd C#.net Study Guides, Questions, & Notes For 70-300,
… Mcse – Bootcamp Boot Mcse – Camp Certification Selected – Sites Optimization Experts … Cobb Dvd Movie. Necessary For Taking A. Scjd Scbcd Comptia. A+ Ccsp Mcts. Big Tits Lovely …
joshikousei.tv/blogbee/img/thumbs/topic1554.htm
cisco Nac Appliance(enforcing Host Security With Clean …
ipexpert’s Ccie Security Lab Audio Boot Camp! ,,15, Ipod Nano … His Other Certifications Include Cissp, Ccspฎ, And Microsoft Mcse. …
www.verycd.com/topics/185616
national Engineers Training Services – Solaris
booting From Cd, Dvd Or Network To Build. Building Solaris From Scratch; Selecting … Khawar Butt Delivers Ccie R&s Boot Camp To Wateen Telecom For Nets In Dubai: …
www.nets.edu.pk/index.php?page=solaris
online Oem Shop | Schedule Of Cheap Software
… Avid Adobe Bentley Borland Cakewalk Corel Delphi Dvd Acrobat Acid Ebooks Flash … Converters Rosetta Stone Easy Dvd Genuine Fractals Video2brain Education Video …
sof-train.com/oem-category-12.html
index
0131412272/9780131412279 Software Architect Bootcamp 2nd Edition … Dvd Studio Pro 2 Authoring Professional Dvds: Apple Pro Training Series. 0789730251/9780789730251 Ccsp Secur …
www.computermanuals.co.uk/htmlcat/index144.htm
warezrocker – Free Rapidshare Hotfile Megaupload Warez Crack …
ccsp Ips Exam Certification Guide Presents You With An Organized Test Preparation Routine … 5 Ask Video Cubase Tutorial Dvd Level 1 – This Is More Than 1000 …
www.warezrocker.net/search/fresher.html
browse | Sceneforce – The Ultimate Scene Release Archive
cisco.networkers.2009.brkcrt-1280.ccsp.securing.networks.with.asa.advanced.snaa. … Netmetric.solutions.security.ccie.lab.bootcamp.class-on-demand.v2008-dduiso …
www.sceneforce.com/browse/group-dduiso/page
oracle Videos
oracle Videos And Free Oracle Video Clip, Video Sharing, Hosting … Birds Of Prey: The Complete Series On Dvd July 15th. Who Will Stand Up To Villains Now …
www.livevideo.com/media/search.aspx?tag=oracle&d=1
cd | Web Development Blog
software Dvd Players Are Programs That Allow Users To View Dvd Videos On A … Dvd Players Are So Good At Playing Music Cds That You’ll [...] Posted …
accomoweb.com/tag/cd
save Flash – White Papers, Webcasts And Case Studies – Zdnet
zdnet’s White Paper Directory Is The Web’s Largest Library Of Free Technical It White … Ccna Boot Camp V2.0. Vmware Vsphere: Install, Configure, Manage [v4] Certified Ethical …
whitepapers.zdnet.com/search.aspx?kw=save+flash
a Few Ios Exercises For Cisco 7000 Routers
file Type:pdf – Download Pdf Reader
cisco 7000 Routers Use Flash Memory To Store Binary Executable Ios Image Files … An Ios Image File From/to An Ios Device (or A Flash File System) To …
www.cs.virginia.edu/~itlab/workshop/cisco7000ios.pdf
cisco Ccna / Icnd Tutorial – Video Training Cd / Dvd – Beginners
cisco Ccna / Icnd Tutorial Videos Cd – Dvd. Taught By Experts , Learn How To Use Cisco Ccna / Icnd In 6 Hours From Your Own Desk. Free Online Demo
www.computer-training-software.com/cisco-ccna.htm
cisco Ios Attack & Defense – The State Of The Art
cisco Ios Attack & Defense – The State Of The Art – Presentation Transcript … The Image Blueprint The Ios Image (elf File) Contains All Required E Information …
www.slideshare.net/amiable_indian/cisco-ios-attack-defense-the-state-of-the-art
early Morning Hieroglyphics And 3750s ” Ccie Pursuit Blog
generally I Expect To See The New Ios Version Int The “system Image File Is” Section. … So The Newer Ios Image Is In Flash And The Switch Will Boot To That Image. …
cciepursuit.wordpress.com/2007/06/30/early-morning-hieroglyphics-and-3750s
csirtuk Advisories
… Three Cisco Security Advisories Detailing Vulnerabilities In Cisco Ios Secure … The Image Name Will Be Displayed Between Parentheses On The Next Line Of Output …
www.niscc.gov.uk/whatsnew/3616.aspx
image And Configuration File Load Commands
file Type:pdf – Download Pdf Reader
if No Extended Bootp Commands Are Entered, The Cisco Ios Software … Cisco 7200 Series Or Cisco 7500 Series, A Null String Causes The First Image File In …
www.cisco.com/en/us/docs/ios/11_2/configfun/command/reference/1rsysim.pdf
cisco’s Latest Ios The Good, The Bad, & The Expensive, Part …
in My Last Blog, I Talked About The New 15 Ios Code And Discussed The Reason Why They Jumped From 12 To 15 In Their Codewell, My Theory Of Why They Did
www.lammle.com/blog/news-and-announcements/41/cisco%e2%80%…bad-the-expensive-part-ii
routergeek – Understanding The Ios File Name Convention
routergeek – A Complete Reference For Cisco Routers., Understanding The Ios File Name Convention
www.routergeek.net/content/view/47/37
how To Configure Dhcp On Cisco Ios Devices | Train Signal …
the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (dhcp) Is Considered To Be An Evolution Of The Bootstrap Protocol (bootp). Dhcp Is Literally Build Upon Bootp,
www.trainsignaltraining.com/cisco-dhcp/2008-01-24
4tests.com – Your One Stop Practice Test Site For High School, College, Professional, And Standardized Exams And Tests
www.4tests.com/exams/exams.asp
prometric: Microsoft Testing And Microsoft Certification: Mcp
… Certified Professional Exam Provider, Mcp, Mcsa, Mcse, Mcsd, Mcse, Microsoft … About Becoming A Prometric It Test Center And Delivering Microsoft Certification Exams. …
www.prometric.com/microsoft/default.htm
mcse Sec – Free Software Downloads And Reviews
ensure Your Success In Mcse 2003 (70-290) Exam With Whizlabs Preparation Kit. … 2000, Windows 2003, Windows Media Center Edition 2005. Testking 70-292 Exam Simulator …
pcwin.com/downloads/mcse-sec.htm
mcse – Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (windows 2003 …
explains The Requirements, Training Courses, Books, Questions And Answers About Exam Breakdowns For Mcse – Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (windows 2003) …
www.certificationworks.com/exams.cfm/certification/mcse
windows 2000 Certification Training – Mcp Mcsa Mcse Online …
prepare For Your Windows 2000 Professional Certification – Mcp Mcsa Mcse Online Training Courses
www.e-learningcenter.com/windows_2000_mcse.htm
mcse Certification Training, Mcse Certification Practice Exams
we Strive To Provide You With The Best Mcse Practice Exam Questions Covering All Of Its Details And Its Requirements Of Mcse Certification.
www.certificationtutorials.com/microsoft/mcse-certification-training.htm
top 10 Tips For Passing The Mcse Certification Exams …
the Mcse Certification Consists Of Seven Specialized Exams That Test Your Knowledge On … Reach The Exam Center Before Time: Always Try To Reach The Exam Center At Least 15 …
www.ucertify.com/blog/mcse-exams-tips.html
free Mcse & Microsoft Certification Training And Tutorials
free Mcse Training And Tutorials, Help And Online Courses In Mcse Technology And Systems. Learn How To Pass The Mcse Certification Exam …
www.intelligentedu.com/newly_researched_free_training/ms_mcse.html
mcse Practice Tests , Guides, Boot Camp Mcsa Windows 2003 …
a Multidisciplinary Research Centre That Undertakes Application-oriented Speech … Mcse Exams For Mcse 2003 Details. Learn All The Details About Windows 2003 Exams Which …
treyresearch.com
microsoft Certified Systems Engineer On Windows Server 2003 (mcse)
exam 70-290: Managing And Maintaining A Microsoft Windows Server 2003 … ฉ 2008 New Horizons Computer Learning Center Of Knoxville. All Rights Reserved. …
www.nhknoxville.com/pages/mcse2003_info.htm
training Center Courses
conference Center. Training Center. Course Survey. Course Type. Keyword: Search … Employment / Conference Center Main / Policy Statement / Directions …
www.nced.com/training/courses/index.php
mcse Training In Africa | Cape Town South Africa | Mcse …
2ko International Is A Specialist Technical Microsoft Certification Training Company, Dedicated To Mcse Training In Africa, For Africa
www.africa.mcsetraining.co.za
open Directory – Computers: Education: Certification: Microsoft
daniel’s Ms Exam Prep Study Guides – An Mcse Links To Dozens Of Articles Related … Labmice Mcse Center – Collection Of Mcse Information, Resources And Practice …
www.dmoz.org/computers/education/certification/microsoft