From: Tom Larus (tlarus@cox.net)
Date: Mon Sep 09 2002 - 13:31:56 GMT-3
Congratulations! You deserve it. Great philosophy about the exam, too.
Tom Larus
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Brown" <Jim.Brown@caselogic.com>
To: <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 11:50 AM
Subject: CCIE 10139 (Longish)
> I thought this day would never come. It is finally my turn to compose this
> message. I passed the lab on Saturday in RTP. I can't begin to explain
what
> a relief it is to pass.
>
> I slightly embarrassed at my number, five digits, and the number of
attempts
> it took me to pass. This was my fifth attempt in 13 months. The "number of
> the day" was 8101 on my first attempt last August and I thought it
wouldn't
> be any big deal to pass before 10,000. I was wrong.
>
> This exam was probably the single most humbling experience I've had to
date.
>
> I wrote a Background, Advice, and Comments section if you don't want to
read
> the whole message.
>
>
> BACKGROUND
>
> I was in the hunt on every attempt, I just befell some bad luck on the
first
> couple and missed by only a handful of points on the last two.
>
> I walked out of the lab in San Jose last month expecting to receive my
> number. I was SURE I had passed. I thought I possibly dropped 8 points at
> the most and this left me with a cushion of 12 points. There wasn't any
way
> I could fail. I was waaaaaay wrong.
>
> During my daily jog I ran over the experience in my head time after time
and
> couldn't figure out what I had done wrong. I verified the logic in my
> solutions to the lab problems and knew it wasn't bad logic. This left only
> one thing, careless errors. I finished with only 45 minutes and had
checked
> my work only to find a few things wrong. Last minute fixes and no time to
> regression test them killed me.
>
> Attempt number 5 was to be my last. The night before the exam, I decided
if
> I didn't pass on this attempt I would quit. I'm not a quitter, but I
thought
> I had given it all I could and there is a time to concede. I didn't want
to
> wind up one of those freak stories you hear about like...."20 attempts and
> they still haven't passed." I knew I was a good engineer, but I just might
> not be able to pass the exam.
>
> Before attempt number 4 and 5 I hadn't really studied any since January I
> have a new infant daughter. I would look at the material and there wasn't
> anything for me to learn. I just wasn't motivated and you can only read
the
> same things over and over so many times. I only did one lab before each
> attempt to get my speed up and some light reading on certain topics I felt
> might pop up.
>
> I probably only invested 30 study hours for the past two attempts.
>
> On this attempt I basically finished at lunch. I had one core technology
to
> implement and I knew how to do it except for a couple of minor "knobs".
The
> knobs were worth a bunch of points. I had everything up and running on the
> first pass by 1:15. Now began the task I had skimmed over in the past.
> Checking every single command I had implemented!
>
> I found so many freaking errors it was unbelievable. If you had asked me
to
> bet my life if I had implemented command X on router Y, the bet would have
> been on. Some things just weren't there. I had skipped them, miskeyed
them,
> or whatever? This is why I had failed in the past.
>
> I spent the remaining time scouring my configs and this is why I passed!
> Plain and simple.
>
> Mike Reed told me there are some people who just keep making the same
little
> mistakes that prevent them from passing the exam. He let me know they
might
> be good engineers, but the minutia kills them on the exam and I thought I
> was destined for this category.
>
> If I had known what it would take when I started this journey, I can
> honestly say I might not have embarked. It was consuming and humbling but
is
> over. For me it would have been over on Saturday one way or another.
>
> ADVICE
>
> I used all the same materials, blah, blah, blah. This is not worth
> mentioning. Some standouts are the McGraw Hill book for DLSW+ by Tam Nam
Kee
> and both Cisco Press Parkhust Configuration Guides for BGP and OSPF.
>
> Know the core technologies cold! AND I MEAN COLD! You should know BGP,
OSPF,
> DLSW+, ISDN, EIGRP, and redistribution like no ones business!
>
> Know how almost every other technology works in theory and you should have
> messed around with it in a lab environment at least. A proctor once told
me,
> "We don't expect you to know everything, just eighty points worth."
>
> You should be comfortable finding anything on the documentation CD without
> using the search engine. Try to use it exclusively as your lab date
> approaches, remember this is all you will have on game day.
>
> And the most important advice I can give anyone is.... check, check, and
> check your work again. This is what kept me from passing for 13 months.
Even
> if you know you implemented it correctly you should still check it again.
I
> found a minor error with 10 minutes to go that would have cost me 5
points.
>
> Stay calm it is only a stupid exam. If you fail, you can just come back
and
> take it again.
>
> I wish I had tested at RTP from the beginning. It is more relaxed and
> cheaper in my opinion. I paid for my hotel, air, and car for what I paid
for
> my hotel in San Jose!
>
> The proctors are there to help you understand the requirements. They want
to
> see you pass, they enjoy success as much as you. They aren't trying to
fail
> anyone. Be thankful there isn't any subjectivity to the grading. We are
all
> on a level playing field and it make it that much sweeter when you achieve
> it.
>
>
> COMMENTS
>
> If you are fortunate enough to receive exam requirements before your
> attempt, I see them pop up on lists all the time, at least have the
ability
> to solve the problem on your own with research and DON'T post them to the
> list. If you can't solve them without using a public forum you probably
> should be sitting the exam and what kind of engineer would you make if you
> pass.
>
> The number doesn't mean someone should know everything about Cisco
> networking. It means I could pass a practical exam designed by Cisco to
test
> my understanding of their idea of networking on the specific topics
> presented that day. It also means I can do research to develop a solution.
> If I don't know it I can most likely learn it. I know there are
individuals
> out there without numbers who know a hell of a lot more than I do about
> networking and vice versa.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Oct 07 2002 - 07:43:47 GMT-3