We transform talent into certified and highly qualified networking experts!

The Talent Program aims to recruit and qualify specialists for borderless networks, that allow organizations to connect anyone, anywhere, anytime, and on any device - securely, reliably, and seamlessly. Our qualification initiative affords graduates who have earned technical degrees as well as Cisco Networking Academy graduates excellent career opportunities with a top Cisco Partner. Training is free for candidates.

Your benefits as candidate of the Borderless Networks Talent Program:

• Transparent and speedy selection process
• Good salary, even during the training period
• Excellent professional qualifications within the shortest time
• Future-proof job with a top Cisco Partner
• Comprehensive certifications: CCNA - Cisco Certified Network Associate, CCDA - Cisco Certified Design Associate, CCNA Security, CCNA Wireless, CCNA Voice, CCNP - Cisco Certified Network Professional, CCNP Security, CCNP Wireless, CCDP - Cisco Certified Design Professional, Cisco ASA Specialist, Cisco Firewall Security Specialist, Cisco IOS Security Specialist, Cisco IPS Specialist, Cisco VPN Security Specialist, Advanced Borderless Network System Engineer, Advanced Borderless Network Field Engineer - Routing & Swiching, Advanced Borderless Network Field Engineer - Security, Advanced Borderless Network Field Engineer - Mobility

Interested?

Feel free to contact Diana Frehse if you have any questions:

Fast Lane Institute for Knowledge Transfer GmbH
Gasstrasse 4a, D - 22761 Hamburg
+49 (0)40 25334610, dfrehse@flane.de

Do you wish to apply for the Borderless Networks Talent Program?

Then please send your complete application in English to talent@flane.de in one PDF file no larger than 5 Mb. Please include the following contents in this order:

• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae or résumé
• Certificates (if applicable)
• Educational and professional qualifications/ references

Our recruiting team will review your documents straightaway to assess your options and determine if you are a candidate for our program, with further training to be financed by top Cisco Partners.

Please note that for selection purposes we will only consider attached files in Portable Document Format (PDF) as described above.

The program at a glance

What we expect of you

The Borderless Networks Talent Program for tomorrow’s networking specialists caters to people who relish the challenge of dealing with complex and intelligent technical solutions and tackle such tasks with enthusiasm. Your goal is to engage in training to earn internationally recognized certifications and join one of the leading Cisco partner enterprises. To this end, you must be eager to learn and bring to the table the following traits and skills:

• By the time training commences, you will have earned a (university) degree with a good grade point average or completed with distinction comparable training in a technical field or computer science.
• You want to move up the career ladder and are ready to complete a challenging training program.
• You show initiative and commitment, have a healthy measure of self-confidence and good communication skills, and are a team player.
• Technology is your passion. Professional experience is not absolutely necessary. Ideally, you will have gained initial practical experience with projects.
• In the ideal case, you are already Cisco-certified or currently earning a Cisco certification.
• You are very much willing to travel.

Does this sound like you? Then we are looking forward to your application!

Send your complete application in English to talent@flane.de in one PDF file no larger than 5 Mb. Please include the following contents in this order:

• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae or résumé
• Certificates (if applicable)
• Educational and professional qualifications/ references

Our recruiting team will review your documents straightaway to assess your options and determine if you qualify for our program, with your further training to be financed by us and top Cisco Partners.

Please note that for selection purposes we will only consider attached files in Portable Document Format (PDF) as described above. Training is free for candidates.

The selection process

Our recruiting team will review your documents. If it finds that you are a candidate for our program, we will select a suitable company for you and, in the next step, introduce you to one of the leading Cisco Partners. This company can then arrange an interview with you to get to know you in person.

Once you have successfully completed the evaluation phase, you will qualify to take part in the Borderless Networks Talent Program. Then, after you sign an employment agreement with one of the Cisco Partners, you will first part in a six-month training program before joining the company. You will be paid a good salary while in training.

Training program

Level 0

Evaluation Class, 1 week

• Welcome Package
• Technical Foundation Review
• One-to-One and Online Assessments

Level 1

Networking Fundamentals Workshop, 5 1/2 weeks

• Networking Basics
• Networking Advanced Routing & Switching
• Troubleshooting in routed and switched networks
• Overview Catalyst 6500 Switch/ Cisco Nexus family
• Designing Cisco Networks

Level 2

Advanced Network Security Workshop, 6 1/2 weeks

• Implementing Security on routing and switching devices
• Implementing Network Security with the Cisco ASA Firewall
• Securing Networks with different forms of VPNs using the ASA Firewall
• Optimizing the Network Security Architecture by implementing network based Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS)
• Implementing the TrustSec 2.0 solution architecture and deployment methodologies using the ISE platform
• Managing security policies on Cisco security devices
• Installing, configuring, operating and maintaining the Cisco IronPort WSA Web Security Appliance

Level 3

Cisco Unified Wireless & Mobile Services Workshop, 3 weeks

• Wireless networks and topologies
• Planning RF networks
• Accomplishing Site Surveys
• Wireless Voice Network Implementation
• Wireless Mobility Service Integration
• Wireless Security Planning and Integration

Level 4

Cisco Unified & Rich Media Communications Workshop, 2 weeks

• Integrating Voice, Video and Web collaboration in converged networks

Level 5

Managing & Optimizing the Workflow in the Borderless Network Architecture, 2 weeks

• Network Management Basics
• Implementing the Asset Management
• Fault Management
• Optimizing Application Performance
• Cisco WAAS Basics
• Configuring Application Policies
• Design Aspects

Certifications

All program participants will achieve the following certifications:

• CCNA - Cisco Certified Network Associate
• CCNA Security
• CCNA Wireless
• CCNA Voice
• CCDA - Cisco Certified Design Associate
• CCNP - Cisco Certified Network Professional
• CCNP Security
• CCNP Wireless
• CCDP - Cisco Certified Design Professional
• Cisco ASA Specialist
• Cisco Firewall Security Specialist
• Cisco IOS Security Specialist
• Cisco IPS Specialist
• Cisco VPN Security Specialist
• Advanced Borderless Network System Engineer
• Advanced Borderless Network Field Engineer - Routing & Swiching
• Advanced Borderless Network Field Engineer - Security
• Advanced Borderless Network Field Engineer - Mobility

Curriculum

Fast Lane conducts training in several blocks to ensure candidates are well prepared for their future job assignments.

Over the course of six months, candidates will work with self-study materials, receive additional mentoring, and participate in the following workshops.

Networking Fundamentals Workshop

Level 1, Duration 5 1/2 weeks

• Building a Simple Network
• Switching
• Spanning Tree protocol variants
• LAN Connections
• WAN Connections
• Network Environment Management
• Medium-Sized Routed Network Construction
• OSPF Implementation
• EIGRP Implementation
• BGP Implementation
• Route redistribution
• Route filtering
• Access Control Lists
• Address Space Management
• Planning Routing Services
• Connection of an Enterprise Network to an ISP Network
• Analyzing Campus Network Designs
• Troubleshooting Processes for Complex Enterprise Networks
• Maintenance and Troubleshooting Tools and Applications
• Performing Maintenance & Troubleshooting
• Designing Methodologies and Processes
• Designing Campus and Data Center Networks
• Core Switch Features
• Overview Catalyst 6500 Series Switch
• Overview Cisco Nexus family

Advanced Network Security Workshop

Level 2, Duration 6 1/2 weeks

• Securing Switches with MAC address security, DHCP snooping and Dynamic Arp Inspection
• Implementing 802.1x port based Authentication
• Configuring Cisco IOS Zone Based Firewalls
• Implementing different forms of IOS based VPNs like "Site-To-Site VPNs", "Easy VPN", DMVPNs, GETVPNs
• Implementing the ASA Firewall
• How to use the ASA as a "Cut-Through-Proxy"
• Configuring deeper packet inspection with the Modular Policy Framework
• Configuring Active/Standby and Active/Active Failover
• Installing the Cisco ASA as an IPSEC VPN Gateway
• Using the Cisco ASA in conjunction with Certificate Authorities
• Installing the Cisco ASA as an SSL VPNGateway
• Configuring Clientless SSL VPNs
• Configuring different kinds of "Any Connect VPN Client (AVC)" connections to the Cisco ASA
• Handle Cisco IPS policy virtualization, high availability, and high performance solutions according to policy and environmental requirements
• Applying Cisco IPS Security Policies
• Adapting Traffic Analysis and Response to the Environment
• Managing and Analyzing Events
• Introducing the Cisco TrustSec 2.0 Solution and ISE Platform Architecture
• Installing the Cisco ISE Software
• Configuring the Identity Service Engine (ISE) for classification and policy enforcement
• Troubleshooting user authentication and policy enforcement problems based on configuration errors or network issues
• Management, Deployment and Administration of FLEX configurations
• Firewall policy management
• VPN policies and management
• IPS solutions management
• Management, Deployment, and Administration of FlexConfigs
• Cisco IronPort Web Secuity Appliance (WSA) handling
• Using filter techniques
• Policy frameworks
• URL filter
• HTTPS inspections

Cisco Unified Wireless & Mobile Services Workshop

Level 3, Duration 3 weeks

• Wireless networks topologies
• Wireless LAN RF principals
• Antennas
• Frequency dispersion basics
• Wireless formalities and standards
• Wireless Frames
• Cisco Unified Wireless Network Architekture basics
• Collecting Site Survey information
• Planning and implementin the Site Survey
• Conceptual design of Radio Frequency (RF) networks
• Evaluate WLANs
• Implementing QoS for wireless applications
• Voice of wireless achitecture
• Implementing Voice WLANs
• Implementing Multicast over Wireless
• Preparing wireless networks for video applications
• Designing a WLAN infrastructure for mobility
• Implementing Cisco context aware services
• Implementing indoor and outdoor meshed networks
• Implementing and securing guest acces in wireless environments
• Securing wireless client devices
• Implementing secure wireless connection services

Cisco Unified & Rich Media Communications Workshop

Level 4, Duration 2 weeks

• Overview Cisco Unified Communications solutions
• Introduction Voice Gateways
• VoIP Call legs
• Dial Plan Implementing
• Quality of Service (Qos)
• Implementing a Gatekeeper und the Cisco Unified Border Element
• Overview administrator and end user interfaces
• Call flow analysis in the Cisco Unified Communications Manager
• Implementing users and endpoints
• Activating Cisco Unity Connection and Cisco Unified Presence
• Generating Cisco Unified Communications Manager reports
• Tracing the Cisco Unity Connection usage
• Characterizing Cisco supported video supported components and identifying video over IP scenarios
• Describing video communication features and identifying customer feature requirements
• Comparing different characteristics of video calls and and identifying transcoding requirements used in IP video communication
• Choosing the appropriate hardware and the necessary protocol to cover customer's feature requirements

Managing & Optimizing the Workflow in the Borderless Network Architecture

Level 5, Duration 2 weeks

• Network management basics
• Introducing CiscoWorks
• Implementing the Asset Management
• Managing network connections, device configurations and network performance
• Fault Management
• Systemadministration
• Implementing Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS)
• Configuring WAAS optimization
• Configuring File and Print Services
• WAAS design aspects and network integration

Feedback from our Data Center Talent Program Participants

Participants of earlier Data Center Talent Program seasons are today employed by major Cisco partners. Commenting on the program’s benefits, Michael Chrobok, National Leader Networking Engineering, Computacenter AG & Co. oHG, says, "Computacenter needs data center and networking engineering service specialists to set up private clouds. They have to be able to integrate complex solutions from different vendors into customers’ infrastructures to standardize, virtualize and automate their data centers. The qualification initiative launched by Fast Lane and Cisco - the Data Center Talent program – enables us to train five new ambitious and motivated colleagues to become top specialists for dynamic data centers within just six months. This is how we keep the quality of projects up to standard."

We asked a sampling of three graduates to share their views on our program.

What do you see as the highlights of the Data Center Talent program?

Dennis: The highlights are undoubtedly the comprehensive certifications that are the backbone of the program. They are the excellent result of the experience and knowledge we gained during the program. You also get to see some interesting cities and get to know new people.

Jan: The many high-quality certifications to be earned are definitely among the most important highlights. They provide a big boost to one’s self-esteem, particularly for young participants, and they afford you incredible opportunities in today’s job market. These were the main reasons why I chose to take part in the Data Center Talent program rather than pursuing a master’s degree after earning my diploma. The social contacts with all the other participants are also very valuable on both the professional and the private level. And the salary paid by the employer while you’re still in the program is pretty good too ;-)

Philipp: The Data Center Talent program offers a unique, fast-tracked opportunity to get acquainted with a multi-vendor data center environment.

How did you manage to acquire all the knowledge provided by the Data Center Talent program in just six months?

Dennis: The most important factor in acquiring and processing this knowledge is your own ambition. If you have the will and the ambition, you can really immerse yourself in learning. The coaches here are not only certified trainers; they also bring practical experience to the table. So training is realistic, supported by actual experience, labs devised by coaches, and suitable learning guides and materials. Collectively, all these factors help you gain knowledge of the given topic quite quickly.

Jan: What matters most is, of course, your own ambition to reach the finish line, and to stay alert and focused despite the pressure of such a fast-tracked knowledge program. The coaches are all highly qualified, experienced, and can immediately provide an authoritative, easily understood answer to almost every question. They know what the customer’s focus is, and they get the message across. What’s more, the infrastructure facilitates learning success. For example, the technically sophisticated Fast Lane labs work very well. The catering is excellent. The Hamburg training center provides a learning environment with plenty of natural light and good climate control with lots of oxygen ;-)

Philipp: It is very helpful that the coaches use charts to show how things work before or while they present topics. One wouldn’t be able to retain the subject matter as well with just slides alone. All Fast Lane coaches that I got to know during training are real gurus! The labs are also very good. Last but not least, the good catering during the training helps. And, I can gain hands-on experience at my company between training sessions.

What professional opportunities do you expect for yourself; what are your goals for the Data Center Talent?

Dennis: The program provides all the preparation I need for the work I will later do in data center consulting. The certifications afford you many opportunities in the networking/ data center environment. It enables you to put theoretical knowledge into practice and set the cornerstone for a good career. With increasing experience, you can earn more advanced certifications and maintain your status through recertification. At least that’s what I plan to do. I want to build the foundation and over time gain experience that will drive my personal and professional development.

Jan: I found an interesting and challenging job as a DC engineer in Switzerland. The focus is on projects involving NetApp storage, Cisco MDS, Cisco Nexus, Cisco UCS and VMware. I expect to steadily increase my knowledge and earn further certifications to attain a good professional position. I have created a good basis for this by taking part in the program. One of my next objectives is to become a CCIE Data Center.

Philipp: I expect an exciting and varied scope of tasks that demands diversified knowledge, and a very well paid job.