Meet our Cisco Instructor Caryn...
If you've taken a Cisco course with Fast Lane in the past few years, you might have had the pleasure of meeting and learning from Caryn Hancock. Caryn has been a reliable asset in the classroom for Fast Lane, teaching Cisco technologies to students from across the country. We sat down with her to find out more on her background, vision for her future with Cisco technologies and her home life.
What first Interested you in becoming a Cisco Instructor and how long have you been teaching for?
I actually started teaching by accident. I was co-erced into teaching an MS Excel course when one of the instructors fell sick. I enjoyed it so much that I took on the role of teaching and developing classes for Microsoft Windows & Applications. Once I had got into the role, I then progressed to becoming a Microsoft, Novell and Lotus Engineer, and a fully certified Microsoft Instructor.
The training company was a subsidiary of Dimension Data, and in 1994, I was asked if I was interested in teaching data networking courses.
I was sent to France to attend my first Cisco Router Configuration classes and have been teaching Cisco classes ever since. My CCSI # of 94060 indicates that I became a Cisco Instructor in 1994 and have held that certifications for 24 years now.
Have you seen many changes within your time teaching?
Yes, there have been a lot. Originally physical equipment was used for training, in the class room. This provided a lot of flexibility and gave new students the ability to actually cable up the initial network before configuring it. Of course as equipment became more sophisticated and capitally intensive this became impractical and we moved to remote environments.
What is your favourite course to teach and why?
I definitely prefer teaching the DC classes, but if I had to nominate one class as my favourite it would probably be the Cisco ACI classes; because I enjoy being at the leading edge of technology.
What do you enjoy most about being an Instructor?
I enjoy meeting different students each week, and welcoming back students I have taught before, and I love having to learn the technology.
Any future predictions to the world of training and the way in which people learn?
More students attending classes remotely. Customers time is at a premium always nowadays. We need to be inventive and flexible in our engagement with them in the learning process.
What’s hot in the world of Cisco right now?
It’s becoming more about the service driving the solution. Cisco ACI being a great example. More and more, Enterprise will see IT as a component in a solution and that drive will produce the underlying services and hardware configurations delivered virtually by such agencies as Amazon AWS.
What do you enjoy doing on your down time away from being a Fast Lane Subject Matter Expert
I run 10k’s and half marathons, I walk our dogs with my Partner and I enjoy being a grandmother to two lovely boys.
All Cisco training offers can be found at www.flane.co.uk/cisco.