From: Joseph Ezerski (jezerski@xxxxxxxxxxxx)
Date: Fri Nov 30 2001 - 14:10:46 GMT-3
Well, my friends, I took the one day lab on Nov. 28th, in San Jose. I
failed, but not by much. I want to share the general experience and maybe
pass on some hope to all of you who are taking it in the future.
First off, my biggest fear was the fear of the unknown. I was intimidating
myself as this was my first attempt. After taking the test, I can honestly
say that it was a very fair exam and not that difficult. I am surprised
that I failed, but thinking back I know where I went wrong. It wasn't that
I did not know how to do something, it was just that I made a boneheaded
mistake with my ISDN config that cascaded into other sections and cost me
critical points. But, I am no longer afraid of this exam. It is very
doable! VERY!
So, basically, here is how I approached the test.
The lab at San Jose is very neat and tidy. It is actually a comfortable
place for geeks like us. I had two proctors present and they were both very
fair and very helpful. I must have asked a million questions! As you all
know from the Lorne webcast, the lab is pre-cabled and much of the
addressing is done. I read through the whole manual in the beginning. And
I was shocked! There was nothing on this test that I did not know how to
do! There was a fair smattering of a lot of different topics and a few
little Tier 3 things that I knew a quick Doc CD lookup would help me
configure. I was feeling pretty good. As I went through my tasks, I did get
stuck a few times as the "issues" crept into the scenario. My strategy was
to give it a try and if I could not get it right, I moved on. I managed to
get more than half way through the lab by lunch time. Lunch was 30 minutes.
I do recommend writing your configs and rebooting before you go to lunch.
It lets your routers reboot and reconverge while you are eating. After
lunch, I went back and fixed all the "issues" that I had bypassed. Having a
30 minute break lets you calmly review where the problems might lie. I
mananged to finish with about 1.5 hours left. However, as I went through
the tasks, I wrote down areas that I felt might still need work. I spent
the final 1.5 hours trying to fix those things and checking my work. I did
use a simple ping script and it does save time. I am kicking myself because
I did not check well enough. That one boneheaded mistake cost me, and the
"no partial credit" rule is a killer!
At the end of the lab, the proctor was nice enough to give us all one extra
minute to write our configs. I thought that was very nice of him.
Sometimes you get so focused that you lose track of time. Walking out of
the lab, I felt pretty confident that I had a good shot at passing.
However, the worst part is that night, you absolutely cannot sleep a wink
and your mind is spinning as it suddenly hits you where you may have messed
up. You start realizing, "Oh my God! Did I type that subnet mask right?
Did I forget to apply that ACL?" etc.... It is excruciating as you wait
for your score.
When I found out the next day that I had failed, initially, I was crushed.
Afterwards, I realized....this exam is decidely within my grasp. I
practiced and studied and did labs for many months before. I am ready. I
have a good understanding of all the core topics and a pretty fair knowledge
of a lot of the little things. I really wanted to go take the test again
the next day. There is not much more I can study. Now, at least I know
what to expect, how the test is structured and where I came up a little
weak. I will review those areas and keep myself sharp, but I fully intend
to take this exam in 30 days. Next time, I will try to avoid the easy
mistakes that I made.
Although I am disappointed I did not pass, I am very upbeat about my future
chances. If I stay sharp and keep practicing, I will conquer this beast. I
do have the benefit of working for a company that fully supports me in my
quest. Go Broadcom!
I hope my experience can help you focus yourself for your own test. Don't
be intimidated! Practice a lot, and I will see you in San Jose in 30 days!
Oh, and BTW, typing speed was a non-factor in my lab.
**********************
Joseph Ezerski
Network Engineer
Broadcom Corporation
jezerski@broadcom.com
+1 (949)926-7037
**********************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Fri Jun 21 2002 - 06:45:27 GMT-3