Pretoria, 15 May 2015
When you mention the name Lucky Mashau along the corridors of Sizwe IT Group's offices, his colleagues cannot help but rave about his expertise and hard work.
Having obtained the internationally recognised Cisco CCIE Certificate in Collaboration, Mashau has made a name for himself at Sizwe IT Group and the ICT industry. This achievement adds to his wealth of experience, which he has racked up over the course of his career.
Coming from humble beginnings in rural Venda, Mashau is a shining example of someone who built up his career from scratch out of passion. He discovered his passion and talent in ICT at a young age, while helping out at his uncle's Internet caf'e back home. He then enrolled for a diploma in computer science at the Vaal University of Technology, which he completed 2005.
Mashau says his clear vision to travel to new heights in his career helped him get to where he is now. This, of course, required discipline, determination and sacrifice on his part. To that effect, Mashau laid out a clear programme for helping him achieve his goals. He then identified areas in which he needed to sharpecn his skills, and acted on it by financing his further training. This he managed to do by taking out a personal loan, using some of his provident fund money from a previous job, as well as selling his motorbike to cover his fees of over R120 000.
That is why he invested his own money, with the hope that when he passed, the company would reimburse it. "I am happy that the risk paid off, and that I could claim back the money," beamed Mashau.
This earned him, among others, the internationally acclaimed Cisco CCIE Certificate in Collaboration. The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certificate is accepted worldwide as the most prestigious networking certificate in the industry.
However, getting the CCIE certificate was no easy feat, according to Mashau. It was only after four attempts that he eventually obtained his certificate, which has stringent qualification requirements. "Giving up was just not an option. I kept my eyes on the prize and kept pushing hard," he says.
Asked if he had any regrets about the money invested in his training, Mashau says: "I have no regrets at all about the money I used towards my training, as it has positioned me favourably as a specialist in a rare and much sought-after ICT skill." Also important is that the certification enables him to provide an enhanced user experience for Sizwe IT Group clientele, he adds.
His manager, Joe Greeff, concurs with this, saying Mashau is a valuable asset to Sizwe IT Group. "His hard work and dedication have seen Sizwe IT Group's Unified Network Solutions business unit develop and deliver innovative solutions," says Greeff.
Mashau is a true example of investing in oneself, and we are very proud of him at Sizwe IT Group.
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