From: Poston, Barry (BPoston@xxxxxxxxxxxx)
Date: Fri Jul 23 1999 - 04:00:25 GMT-3
To all,
This message is somewhat wordy, but for those who want to hear about the
experience of taking the lab exam, what follows is how I saw it.
By some miracle, I hereby report that I have been awarded CCIE #4932!
Okay, not quite on the same scale as the parting of the Red Sea, but there
must have been some divine intervention! I have to agree with those who
have reported of late that the exam doesn't so much cover topics in great
detail, it's just that you don't know what might be on the test. It's not
so much the depth of your knowledge, but the breadth of that knowledge.
And, being able to locate in the manuals/CD that which you're not so
familiar with. I prefer hardcopy to the CD, and I grabbed the manuals that
I wanted, and used them. As for the CD, don't rely on the search function,
know where a topic is, drill down to that specific page(manual), and then do
a 'find' for what you want. It's not too difficult, FR is book IV, IP is
book V, IPX/Apple is book VI. Know these, and know how to find them on the
CD, without using the search.
This was my first attempt at the lab, and to be honest, I probably would
have been satisfied with just making it to Day 2. I felt I had a good
background of experience, but there was so much that I just didn't know like
the back of my hand, because I don't see it every day on the job. Like
ATM, OPSF, Appletalk, FrameRelay.....
But, I have to give credit where credit is due. I do have 7 years
experience working on Cisco routers, all models, and lots of IP, IPX, and
SNA. So, that helped. Secondly, I studied and studied Caslow's text. I
expect to use this book as an on-the-job reference. Lastly, I took the BRS
class from ARS, Ltd., instructors Fred Ingham and James Park. While the
class couldn't prepare me for everything I needed to know, it did give me a
feel for what the exam would be like, certain things that I needed to know,
and most importantly, where my weaknesses were. I seriously don't think I
would have passed without this class.
Unfortunately, I made a scheduling error that left me wondering if I was
properly prepared. I passed the written in April, and scheduled the lab as
soon as I could, San Jose on 7/21-22. I took the ARS class in June, and
wished that I could have taken the lab then, because I was primed. But, I
had scheduled a family vacation from 6/25-7/10, and I'll admit, I lost a lot
during that time off. So, between 7/11 and 7/21, I did some serious
freshening up, but I still did not feel that I was as prepared as I should
be. I figured, "hardly anyone passes on the first try, so this will be a
good experience to build on for the next attempt."
So, Day 1 in San Jose, and you need at least 30 out of 45 to continue. From
some of the past postings to this list, it had appeared that after the day
was done, you could stick around into the evening, and find out if you had
enough points to continue. Not so, for this group! There were about 7 of
us testing, and about 7 others on their second day; that is, finding out if
there was to be a second day. I don't know how many of those continued into
day 2, but I do know that 3 of them earned their CCIE.
As for my group of 7, none of us knew if we would return in the morning to
good news or bad news. But, it meant that we all had to hit the books, and
get to bed early. That's one part of the exam that I wish could be changed.
It seems unfair to hold everyone in suspense like that. So, we all returned
the next morn, hoping to see the Day 2 book on your desk. If it's not
there, you didn't make it. If it is, you plug on, but you still don't know
how many points you have scored to that point, just that you must have had
at least 30. As for me, I felt that I was right around the magic number,
either just below, or just above. Either way, a quite precarious position;
you're either out, or don't really have enough points to carry you through
the next part.
At lunchtime of Day 2, there were only 2 of us still in the game. The other
5 had not scored the minimum 30 for Day 1. At this point, we were to come
back from lunch to find out if our scores for the morning were enough to
keep us going. Some on this list have stated that one needs 30 out of 45 on
the first day, 60 out of the cumulative 80 through Day 2 morning, and then
whatever you can score from the 20 points available in the afternoon
troubleshooting. That wasn't quite that way for us. Our possible scores
were 45, 30, and 25, so I'm not sure what the minimums were. But, when we
returned from lunch, we two were still on course. We still didn't know how
many points we had accumulated, though.
At this point, the proctor has inserted multiple bugs/errors/whatever into
your network. Find, correct, and document them all, and you pass. I feel
this is the easiest part of the test; or, another way of saying that is, if
you've made it this far, you should be able to close it out. If you cannot
troubleshoot issues on a network that you created, then you definitely need
more time in your study lab.
So, we both passed. My scores were 36 for Day 1, 25 for morning 2, and all
25 for the Troubleshooting, for a total of 86. I don't know the other
gentleman's name, because he finished before me, but I'm happy for him, and
ecstatic for myself!
For those aspiring to achieve this certification, it can be done! I did it!
(Derek, my thoughts are with you. You won't see this until after Day 2, but
here's hoping you are #493x!)
Barry Poston CCIE #4932 (That feels good!)
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