From: Ken (cliffy@lighthouse-networks.net)
Date: Mon Sep 09 2002 - 13:56:15 GMT-3
Jim,
Congratulations! What a story. WOW is all I can say.
I can appreciate your experience and will gladly take your
advice with me as I prepare for my lab in February.
I can plainly see your number was well-deserved.
Ken
---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 09:50:58 -0600
>From: Jim Brown <Jim.Brown@caselogic.com>
>Subject: CCIE 10139 (Longish)
>To: "'ccielab@groupstudy.com'" <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
>
>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