Author: İlker Mansur | Cisco Trainer & Senior Consultant
Hello, can you tell us about yourself? Where did your journey to becoming an instructor begin, how long have you been working on this?
İ.M:Hello, My name is İlker MANSUR, I am 40 years old. My undergraduate degree is Physics Engineering. I have been in the Network sector since 2008. I have worked in various companies. For the last 8 years, I have been working as a Consultant, then a Trainer and Consultant, and then a Team Leader at BT Education, where I received my CCNA and CCNP training. I started teaching as a volunteer math teacher in a social project during my university years. I was 20 at the time, now I am 40. I have spent half of my life teaching.
What are the general expectations of students and how do you address these demands?
İ.M: The structure of each training and each student is different, but if I were to explain it in a few words, participants expect to have benefited from the training they received when they leave BT Education. This benefit could be a difference that will affect their income and career, or it could be a path that will lead to that difference. Expectations are high in this sense. I think that as BT Education, we can meet this expectation with the experience we have gained over the years.
In your opinion, what are the positive and negative aspects of the teaching field?
İ.M: Positive aspects
We need to constantly keep ourselves up to date and adapt quickly to new technologies. We need to follow the sector from the front in order to provide our students with a projection of the future. This makes us instructors more qualified experts.
We touch people's lives. We introduce our university students or new graduates to the sector. We are spiritually satisfied with the positive changes in students' lives.
Since we do consulting as well as training, theoretical knowledge is very useful for us in the field, and the experience we gain in the field makes us more successful trainers. For example, I am implementing a technology that I explained a week ago for a holding company a week later.
İ.M: Negative aspects
It's tiring. The work never ends. There's always something we need to learn. A good instructor has to be a constant student.
How do you think being an instructor at BT Education contributed to your development?
İ.M: BT Education is the school of the sector. Everyone in the sector passes through BT Education in some way. It is like a Yeşilçam coffee house. As a student, as an employee, as a consultant, as a client, for a chat, etc. but somehow your path passes. In this sense, working in the place where the heart of the sector beats has added a lot to me. I have met people and institutions that are milestones in the sector.
What are the most basic tips you would give to students taking the CISCO exams?
İ.M: Let me tell you what I always tell my students at the beginning of the lesson:
“We explain to our students the subtleties of good driving, we tell them about our driving experiences, we give them advanced driving techniques. We also ensure that they gain experience in real vehicles. After that, it is up to you to drive a lot of kilometers. No matter how well you drive, when the police pull you over, you need to have a driver's license. Cisco certifications are our driver's license. They are challenges where we prove and crown our knowledge and experience. Drive well and definitely get your driver's license.
During this period of the Covid-19 outbreak, distance education has increased even more. If you compare distance education and in-class education, can you share your thoughts?
İ.M: Cisco has an advertising line for video conferences: “better then being there”. Although it is a bit ambitious, it has some truths. The advantages are many, especially the time savings, especially in Istanbul conditions. You watch the instructor from the front. You see the board from the front. Everything that happens in the classroom is also possible in distance education. Except for the sectoral gossip during tea breaks. J. In the current situation, distance education has become a necessity. I would like to end with a quote from business guru Tom PETERS: “If your business is going well, double your education budget, if it is not going well, quadruple it”. Therefore, even if business stops, education never stops, and it should not stop anyway.
