10 Tips to Fast-Track Your Promotion

Itching to move up the ladder of your career?

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Getting a promotion involves more than just hard work.
Yes, you need to work hard, be dedicated and competent in your job to get that big fat promotion. But in these competitive times, a lot more goes into getting a good appraisal. So, we put together 10 tips that can help improve your chances of a promotion.
1. Set a goal and a path to get there
First, figure out what’s the next role or job you want. Then, do what it takes to get there, over and above your current job duties.
For instance, if you are a marketing executive and the next level is to become a brand manager, there might be certain types of projects or training that can enhance your skills and make you better suited for your next job.
“The more initiative the employee takes based on his aspiration, the faster he will learn,” says Sumit Mitra, executive vice-president of human resources at Godrej Industries Ltd. Managers will eventually see that you understand the new role and consider you for it.
2. Don’t wait to be spoon-fed
In this dynamic world, organizations and jobs are evolving all the time and jobs are not simply a certain set of duties. Be on the lookout for what’s changing around you and step up to take on extra tasks when possible. It shows your drive, and perhaps helps the boss out a little bit. Don’t wait for your manager to come and tell you what else you should be doing. The promotion won’t come to you, you need to reach out to get it.
“I would always be impressed by a person who takes a proactive approach in taking on additional responsibilities,” says Nirmit Parekh, managing director and chief executive officer of international executive research firm 3P Consultants Pvt. Ltd. in Mumbai.
3. Be flexible and let it be known
Are you open to moving on to a new job function or to a different location for work? If yes, let your superiors know. Sometimes managers may perceive, for instance, that you might not want to move to another location because your children are in school or your husband can’t move, and thus pass you up for a promotion. Make sure you don’t get tagged with this label.
Some companies, like Godrej, have systems by which you can let your company know of your openness to moving. But if your company doesn’t, “you should informally inform the human resources team; they will have more visibility” of jobs across the company, says Mr. Mitra.
4. Mid-way feedback
The surest way to know if you are on the right track to where you want to go is to ask. While most companies have a formal performance appraisal process once a year, experts suggest that it might make sense to check in with your boss informally, mid-way through the year. This lets your boss know: “I’m here to learn, I’m here to contribute, please let me know where I’m falling short,” says Mr. Parekh. “It also makes the person who you’re asking (feel) respected.”
5. Turn challenges into opportunities
It sounds like self-help babble. But sometimes a promotion or opportunity may really come your way in the form of a challenge, such as a project in a remote part of the country.
If you sign up for it and do a good job, it shows management your ability to handle pressure and your grit. “Going through these challenges not only gives you a sense of newfound confidence, but also gives you recognition that you are just not a peace-time general but a successful war-time general,” says P. Dwarakanath, director of group human capital at Max India Ltd., a financial and healthcare services firm.
6. Be a problem-solver, not a complainer
If you’re working on a project and there is a roadblock, don’t go running to your boss listing all the problems. “If you are expecting your manager to find a solution then I think you are expecting a lot,” says Rajalakshmi S., director of human resources at Pegasystems Worldwide (India) Pvt. Ltd, a business process management firm in Hyderabad.
Instead, be positive and try to figure out ways to solve the problem. This can be a signal to your higher-ups that you have the ability to handle more than just your current job, and might be ready for a leadership role.
7. Find a mentor
If possible, find someone in your organization to help guide you on what you need to do to move up and to improve your visibility in the organization. This is especially helpful in very large companies where younger employees may find it tough to know about various opportunities.
Finding the right mentor might not be easy. Mr. Mitra of Godrej advises looking for someone whose guidance and judgment you respect and with whom you share some emotional connection.
8. Are your goals aligned with the company’s?
As organizations evolve rapidly, they are looking for leaders who understand the company’s vision and whose goals are aligned with those of the company. When possible, find ways to make it clear to your superiors that, at the very least, you are interested in a long-term career at the company that will involve advancement from your current position.
9. Getting the boss equation right
Depending on the structure of your organization, your immediate supervisor may have a little or a lot to do with your promotion. So, keep him or her happy.
That doesn’t necessarily mean inviting the boss over to dinner at your place every other week. Rather, you need to build trust and bonding at a professional level. Following many of the tips above will help. Be a team player and be the person who can be counted on when something unexpected happens or there’s a crisis. Ultimately, you want “your manager (to have) the confidence that you are reliable,” says Mr. Dwarkanath.
If your boss is holding you back, make sure that you’re visible to your boss’s boss, who likely will have a greater say in your advancement. Don’t be thwarted just because you think your immediate supervisor feels threatened by your promotion prospects.
10. Be patient.
It’s like job-hunting in a way. It requires a degree of karma. If you are overlooked for a promotion, don’t sweat too much. Complaining and whining could reduce your chance of being considered for the next one. Obviously, if you keep being overlooked you need to figure out why from your superiors.
But don’t read too much into the first or second time you get passed over. The key is to keep your managers in the loop about your accomplishments. “If there are gaps in communication, then even the worthy many times do not get promoted,” says Ms. Rajalakshmi.
Previously on India Career Journal: 10 Signs It’s Time to Leave Your Job

Jeff Doyel Favorite Interview Question (OSPF)

Today’s post is about one of the most basic OSPF rules.

I was often called upon, in past jobs, to conduct technical interviews with applicants to network engineering and professional services positions. A CCIE and experience commensurate with that certification was typically a gateway to just being considered for a technical interview, so these job candidates were no slouches in what they knew.

Unless the candidate came from a service provider background they probably had no practical MPLS and IS-IS, and only basic BGP, experience. So I usually couldn’t dig very deep there, and only tried to determine their capacity for quickly coming up to speed on those protocols. I did, however, expect every candidate to have extensive experience with OSPF and that’s where I focused most of my questions.

That leads to my favorite technical interview question, one that I asked almost every time. It’s a question that reveals whether a person has some understanding of how the protocol works, rather than just how to configure it. And I am still surprised how often people stumble on it.

Here it is:

Why does OSPF require all traffic between non-backbone areas to pass through a backbone area (area 0)?

Comparing three fundamental concepts of link state protocols, concepts that even most OSPF beginners understand, easily derives the answer to the question.

The first concept is this:

Every link state router floods information about itself, its links, and its neighbors to every other router. From this flooded information each router builds an identical link state database. Each router then independently runs a shortest-path-first calculation on its database – a local calculation using distributed information – to derive a shortest-path tree. This tree is a sort of map of the shortest path to every other router.

One of the advantages of link state protocols is that the link state database provides a “view” of the entire network, preventing most routing loops. This is in contrast to distance vector protocols, in which route information is passed hop-by-hop through the network and a calculation is performed at each hop – a distributed calculation using local information. Each router along a route is dependent on the router before it to perform its calculations correctly and then correctly pass along the results. When a router advertises the prefixes it learns to its neighbors it’s basically saying, “I know how to reach these destinations.” And because each distance vector router knows only what its neighbors tell it, and has no “view” of the network beyond the neighbors, the protocol is vulnerable to loops.

The second concept is this:

When link state domains grow large, the flooding and the resulting size of the link state database becomes a scaling problem. The problem is remedied by breaking the routing domain into areas: That first concept is modified so that flooding occurs only within the boundaries of an area, and the resulting link state database contains only information from the routers in the area. This, in turn, means that each router’s calculated shortest-path tree only describes the path to other routers within the area.

The third concept is this:

OSPF areas are connected by one or more Area Border Routers (the other main link state protocol, IS-IS, connects areas somewhat differently) which maintain a separate link state database and calculate a separate shortest-path tree for each of their connected areas. So an ABR by definition is a member of two or more areas. It advertises the prefixes it learns in one area to its other areas by flooding Type 3 LSAs into the areas that basically say, “I know how to reach these destinations.”

Wait a minute – what that last concept described is not link state, it’s distance vector. The routers in an area cannot “see” past the ABR, and rely on the ABR to correctly tell them what prefixes it can reach. The SPF calculation within an area derives a shortest-path tree that depicts all prefixes beyond the ABR as leaf subnets connected to the ABR at some specified cost.

And that leads us to the answer to the question:

Because inter-area OSPF is distance vector, it is vulnerable to routing loops. It avoids loops by mandating a loop-free inter-area topology, in which traffic from one area can only reach another area through area 0.

This is my little gift to you. The next time you are being interviewed by an old coot that likes to use this question to weed out the cookbook operators from those who actually understand a little about OSPF, you can bring a smile to his grizzled face.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/19293

Interview Questions for Check Point Firewall Technology

Question 1 – Which of the applications in Check Point technology can be used to configure security objects?

Answer:
SmartDashboard

Question 2 – Which of the applications in Check Point technology can be used to view who and what the administrator do to the security policy?
Answer:
SmartView Tracker

Question 3 – What are the two types of Check Point NG licenses?
Answer:
Central and Local licenses
Central licenses are the new licensing model for NG and are bound to the SmartCenter server. Local licenses are the legacy licensing model and are bound to the enforcement module.

Question 4 – What is the main different between cpstop/cpstart and fwstop/fwstart?
Answer:
Using cpstop and then cpstart will restart all Check Point components, including the SVN foundation. Using fwstop and then fwstart will only restart VPN-1/FireWall-1.

Question 5 – What are the functions of CPD, FWM, and FWD processes?
Answer:
CPD – CPD is a high in the hierarchichal chain and helps to execute many services, such as Secure
Internal Communcation (SIC), Licensing and status report.
FWM – The FWM process is responsible for the execution of the database activities of the
SmartCenter server. It is; therefore, responsible for Policy installation, Management High
Availability (HA) Synchronization, saving the Policy, Database Read/Write action, Log
Display, etc.
FWD – The FWD process is responsible for logging. It is executed in relation to logging, Security
Servers and communication with OPSEC applications.

Question 6 – How to Install Checkpoint Firewall NGX on SecurePlatform?
Answer:
1. Insert the Checkpoint CD into the computers CD Drive.

2. You will see a Welcome to Checkpoint SecurePlatform screen. It will prompt you to press any key. Press any key to start the installation,otherwise it will abort the installation.

3.You will now receive a message saying that your hardware was scanned and found suitable for installing secureplatform. Do you wish to proceed with the installation of Checkpoint SecurePlatform.

Of the four options given, select OK, to continue.

4.You will be given a choice of these two:

SecurePlatform
SecurePlatform Pro

Select Secureplatform Pro and enter ok to continue.

5.Next it will give you the option to select the keyboard type. Select your Keyboard type (default is US) and enter OK to continue.

6.The next option is the Networking Device. It will give you the interfaces of your machine and you can select the interface of your choice.

7.The next option is the Network Interface Configuration. Enter the IP address, subnet mask and the default gateway.

For this tutorial, we will set this IP address as 1.1.1.1 255.255.255.0 and the default gateway as 1.1.1.2 which will be the IP address of your upstream router or Layer 3 device.

8.The next option is the HTTPS Server Configuration. Leave the default and enter OK.

9.Now you will see the Confirmation screen. It will say that the next stage of the installation process will format your hard drives. Press OK to Continue.

10.Sit back and relax as the hard disk is formated and the files are being copied.

Once it is done with the formatting and copying of image files, it will prompt you reboot the machine and importantly REMOVE THE INSTALLATION CD. Press Enter to Reboot.

Note: Secureplatform disables your Num Lock by over riding System BIOS settings, so you press Num LOck to enable your Num Lock.

For the FIRST Time Login, the login name is admin and the password is also admin.

11.Start the firewall in Normal Mode.

12.Configuring Initial Login:

Enter the user name and password as admin, admin.

It will prompt you for a new password. Chose a password.

Enter new password: check$123
Enter new password again: check$123

You may choose a different user name:

Enter a user name:fwadmin

Now it will prompt you with the [cpmodule]# prompt.

13. The next step is to launch the configuration wizard. To start the configuration wizard, type “sysconfig”.

You have to enter n for next and q for Quit. Enter n for next.

14.Configuring Host name: Press 1 to enter a host name. Press 1 again to set the host name.

Enter host name: checkpointfw
You can either enter an ip address of leave it blank to associate an IP address with this hostname. Leave it blank for now.

Press 2 to show host name. It now displays the name of the firewall as checkpointfw.

Press e to get out of that section.

15.Configuring the Domain name.

Press 2 to enter the config mode for configuring the domain mode. Press 1 to set the domain name.

Enter domain name:yourdomain.com

Example:

Enter domain name: checkpointfw.com

You can press 2 to show the domain name.

16. Configuring Domain Name Servers.

You can press 1 to add a new domain name server.

Enter IP Address of the domain name srever to add: Enter your domain name server IP Address HERE.

Press e to exit.

Network Connections.

17. Press 4 to enter the Network Connections parameter.

Enter 2 to Configure a new connection.

Your Choice:

1) eth0
2) eth1
3) eth2
4) eth3

Press 2 to configure eth1. (We will configure this interface as the inside interface with an IP address of 192.168.1.1 and a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The default gateway will be configured as 1.1.1.1.)

Press 1) Change IP settings.

Enter IP address for eth1 (press c to cancel): 192.168.1.1
Enter network Mask for interface eth2 (press c to cancel): 255.255.255.0
Enter broadcast address of the interface eth2 (leave empty for default): Enter

Pres Enter to continue….

Similarly configure the eth2 interface, which will be acting as a DMZ in this case with 10.10.10.1 255.255.255.0.

Press e to exit the configuration menu.

18.Configuring the Default Gateway Configuration.

Enter 5 which is the Routing section to enter information on the default gateway configuration.

1.Set default gateway.
2.Show default gateway.

Press 1 to enter the default gateway configuration.

Enter default gateway IP address: 1.1.1.2

19. Choose a time and date configuration item.

Press n to configure the timezone, date and local time.

This part is self explanatory so you can do it yourself.

The next prompt is the Import Checkpoint Products Configuration. You can n for next to skip this part as it is not needed for fresh installs.

20. Next is the license agreement.You have the option of V for evaluation product, U for purchased product and N for next. If you enter n for next. Press n for next.

Press Y and accept the license agreement.

21.The next section would show you the product Selection and Installation option menu.

Select Checkpoint Enterprise/Pro.

Press N to continue.

22. Select New Installation from the menu.

Press N to continue.

23. Next menu would show you the products to be installed.

Since this is a standalone installation configuration example, select

VPN Pro and
Smartcenter

Press N for next

24.Next menu gives you the option to select the Smartcenter type you would like to install.

Select Primary Smartcenter.

Press n for next.

A validation screen will be seen showing the following products:

VPN-1 Pro and Primary Smartcenter.

Press n for next to continue.

Now the installation of VPN-1 Pro NGX R60 will start.

25. The set of menu is as follows:

Do you want to add license (y/n)

You can enter Y which is the default and enter your license information.

26. The next prompt will ask you to add an administrator. You can add an administrator.

27.The next prompt will ask you to add a GUI Client. Enter the IP Address of the machine from where you want to manage this firewall.

28. The final process of installation is creation of the ICA. It will promtp you for the creation of the ICA and follow the steps. The ICA will be created. Once the random is configured ( you dont have to do anything), the ICA is initialized.

After the ICA initialized, the fingerprint is displayed. You can save this fingerprint because this will be later used while connecting to the smartcenter through the GUI. The two fingerprints should match. This is a security feature.

The next step is reboot. Reboot the firewall.

Question 7 – What are the types of NAT and how to configure it in Check Point Firewall?
Answer:
Static Mode – manually defined

Interview Questions Related with network security

http://shridhar-itsecurity.blogspot.com/2008/07/interview-questions-related-with.html

Interview Questions Related with network security.

Q1 What a re the two basics responsibilities of routing?
Q2 hat does the term Hop stand for?
Q3 What is the default boot sequence of new Cisco router?
Q4 Routers update each other about the metrics by communicating with ont another and maintaining their routing tables through the transmission of a variety of messages. (T/F)
Q5 what is the meaning of convergence in term of routing?
Q6 What are the generic parts of Layer 3 Address?
Q7 what is routed and routing protocols?
Q8 List the name of Routed and routing protocols?
Q9 Give the example of Routed and non routed protocols?
Q10 what metric does RIP use to update its routing table?
Q11 In which Cisco router modes would an ICMP ping be used for troubleshooting a network?
Q12 what is the command to encrypt all passwords stored in a Cisco router?
Q13 In cisco routers IP addresses are configured in the ------ mode
Q14 What are the design goals for routing algorithms?
Q15 some of the routing protocols combile the metrics to get the best path and faster convergence (T/F)
Q16 List the name of commonly used routed protocols?
Q17 Configuration files of Cisco routers stores in----
Q18 When the router is online the configurations are read from----
Q19 In Cisco routers, Is it possible to protect the user Exec mode by a password (T/F)
Q20 What a re the commands to configure a Telnet Password in Cisco Router?
Q21 Which one is the most important command to check LAN/WAN connectivity problems in a routers?
Q22 Which command would you execute to view the current configuration of a router?
Q23 You need to issue the command Show Startup-config from privileged mode. Ho can you tell you are in the privileged mode?
Q24 Users on your network 10.1.0.0/16 are complaining that they cannot access the company's internet server using the FQDN "www.company.com". Your are able to ping the IP address of the internet server, but cannot ping "www.company.com". why?
Q25 Auxiliary port in Cisco router is used for ----
Q26 You have been assigned the task to secure the router. What will be your first step towards securing the routers passwords?
Q27 In a distance vector routing protocol, a failed route is advertised for a time with a metric that implies the network is of "infinite" distance. (T/F)

Q28 In a distance vector routing protocol, a failed route is advertised for a time with a metric that implies the network is of "Zero" distance. (T/F)

Q29 When installing the IGRP routing protocol, what information you needed to configure IGRP?
Q30 Where does a router stores routing tables, ARP Cache, and packet buffers?


ACL

Q1 You have just created an IP extended ACL and now wish to apply this to an interface. Which command will allow you to apply the list to an interface?
Q2 Write the number ranges for Standard and Extended ACL?
Q3 Write an example of Standard and Extend ACL.
Q4 Which statement should you uses to deny telnet access only from Network 2.0 to Network 3.0?
Q5 A Standard ACL is based upon Source IP Address. (T/F)
Q6 A Extended ACL is based upon Destination IP address. (T/F)
Q7 What is the wildcard mask for a standard ACL for the Network of IP address 192.168.1.1?
Q8 In terms of an ACL , what does "1" signify in a WCM?
Q9 In terms of an ACL , what does "0" signify in a WCM?
Q10 What commands may be used to view your ACL?
Q11 If you issued the command show access-list 10 , what would be displayed?
Q12 you have been called in to fix a router that is having security issues. The router has an ACL configured on it but the list does not seem to be working. What command can you use to see if the ACL has been applied to an interface?




What are the two basic responsibilities of Router?
Ans: Configuring a Software Router or Implementing the CIDR concept.
What dose the term of Hub?
What is boot sequence of a new Router to locate the IOS Software?
Ans: Post (Power on self test the Hardware) à ROM (Loads the bootstrap program & search when IPS is located) à Flash (IOS found in flash loading IOS) à NVRA< (Flash contact the NVRAM for configuration file) à RAM (NVRAM configuration copied into RAM)
What are the generic parts of Layer 3 Address?
Deference between Routing and Routed Protocols?
What does metric RIP using to update its routing table?
In which Cisco router modes would on ICMP ping be used for troubleshooting a network?
What is the command to encrypt all passwords storing Cisco Router?
In Cisco Router IP address are configured the ____________ mode.
What are the designed goals for Routing Algorithms?
Some of the Routing combine the metrics to get the best path and fasters conversion is (T/F)
List the commonly used Routed Protocols?
Routed and Routing Protocols?
Configure file for the Cisco Router as _______________.
When the Router is online the configuration of read from __________________.
In Cisco Routers, is it possible to protect the user Exec mode by a password (T/F).
What are the commands configure of telnet password in Cisco Router?
Which one is most important command to check LAN & WAN connectivity problems in a Router?
Which command would execute to view the current configuration of a Router?
We need to issue the command show startup configuration for Prevails mode, how can you tell your are in the preevelige mode?
Users on you network 10.1.0.0/16 are compiling the they can’t access the computer’s internet server using the FQDN www.company.com your able to ping the IP address of the Internet server, but can’t ping www.company.com . Why?
Auxiliary port in Cisco Router using for ________________.
You have been assign the task to secure the Router, what will be the first step towards securing the Router password?
In a distance vectore Routing protocol, a failed route is advertised for a time with a metric that implies the network is of “infinite” distance. (T/F)
In a distance vectore Routing protocol, a failed route is advertised for a time with a metric that implies the network is of “0” distance. (T/F)
When installing IGRP routing protocol, what information you need to configure IGRP?
Where does a Router stores routing tables, ARP Cache, and packet buffers?
Router updates each other about the metrics by communicating with one another and maintaining their routing tables through the transmission of a verity of messages. (T/F)
What is the meaning of convergence in term of routing?
Give the example of Routed and non-routed protocols?
What do you mean by network topology? Give an example?
Write down (10) commonly used service and port numbers?
Explain and define difference between Hub & Switch, Router & Bridge?
Deference between Desktop Operating System and Server Operating System?
Define and range of IP address of Class A, B, C, D & E?
What do you mean by Sub-net mask?
What is the port number of TCP/IP, ICNP?
Explain a brief connection less and connection oriented with example?
Draw a diagram of cross cable, straight cable and roller cable?
What is the data communication Range in Cat V, Cat Ve, Cat VI?
Explain various range of Radio or Wireless communication?
What is the technology used to communication in wireless LAN & WAN network equipment?
What do you mean by DCE & DTE devices give an example?
What is the difference between Broadcast, Multicast and Unicast?

ACL

1. You have just created an IP extended ACL and now wish to apply this to an interface. Which command will allow you to apply the list to an interface?
Ans: Interface Ethernet 0.
2 Write the number ranges for Standard and Extended ACL?
Ans: 1 – 99 for Standard, 100 – 199 for Extended AEL.
3 Write an example of Standard and Extend ACL.
Ans:
4 Which statement should you uses to deny telnet access only from Network 2.0 to Network 3.0?
Ans: Access-list deny tcp 192.168.2.0 0.0.0.255 192.168.3.1 0.0.0.0 eg 80.
5 A Standard ACL is based upon Source IP Address. (T/F)
Ans: True
6 A Extended ACL is based upon Destination IP address. (T/F)
Ans: True.
7 What is the Wild Card Mask for a standard ACL for the Network of IP address 192.168.1.1?
Ans: 0.0.0.0
8 In terms of an ACL , what does "1" signify in a WCM?
Ans: IGNORE
9 In terms of an ACL , what does "0" signify in a WCM?
Ans: MUST MATCH
10 What commands may be used to view your ACL?
Ans: show ip access-list
11 If you issued the command show access-list 10 , what would be displayed?
Ans:
12 you have been called in to fix a router that is having security issues. The router has an ACL configured on it but the list does not seem to be working. What command can you use to see if the ACL has been applied to an interface?
Ans: