Getting the Most From IT Discussion Boards

When I first left the police and went into a career in IT

I noticed quite a few changes.

First, that the character type of IT people was very

different to that of police. I suppose different character

types are attracted to certain roles. Most police were

action oriented, good with people, confident and coped well

with stress. I found many IT people wanted to avoid people,

were uncertain of themselves and wanted very much to focus

on problems which had to be fixed.

There is nothing wrong with this of course, I just found it

a bit hard to get used to.

Which leads me onto discussion forums for IT people. When I

started to use these as part of my study system I was very

surprised by what I found. Most of the questions had

nothing to do with technical issues. People were looking for

career advice or even worse, certification advice. It was

questions like this:

1. Should I finish my degree or do the CCNA

2. Should I do the MCSE or CCNA

3. I have passed my CCNA, what should I do now?

and so on.

My mother always says, 'Ask a silly questions and you get

a silly answer.' The answers to these type of questions are

as good as useless because the question is useless. And do

you even know who is answering it? Is it a 15 year old

programmer or some bitter and twisted employee who has been

stuck in the same role for 20 years?

People cannot tell you what you should and shouldn't do with

your life and career. Only you know the answers to those

questions.

I also found another thing. There are many people who gain

significance in their lives from answering questions on

the discussion boards. You will see them because they have

been on there for years, have to list ever single exam they

have ever taken to show you how clever they are. If you

ever dare to argue with them they will unleash a torrent of

abuse at you for daring to challenge their opinion.

The worst offenders I have seen consistently give poor advice

such as telling you not to even dare to apply for a job

until you have 3 years experience and you must start at the

very bottom. They tell you to do the same thing they did

which is learn how to fix PCs, then servers before you go

into Cisco.

The list is endless but the result is the same. People make

life altering decisions based upon very bad advice.

I have no agenda here by the way. I am not saying that

they are wrong and you should do what I say instead. I am

just bemused at the scenario I see played over and over

again.

I would personally advise that you use the discussion

forums to seek answers to technical questions rather than

to use it for surrogate life coaching.

When you post a question:

1. Please be specific. What is the problem you want help

with? Which device and IOS release is it? What are you

doing when the problem happens (exactly).

2. What steps have you taken to resolve or research the

problem. If you have just posted a question without even

trying to find the answer then you may find that people

don't want to help you.

You can find answers on:

google

cisco.com

cisco books and manuals

replicating it on similar equipment

searching forums where your question has been asked

3. Always take time to thank the people who answer your

question. They don't get paid to help you so the least you

can do is thank them.

I hope my ramblings help.

Paul Browning