From: Daniel Sheedy (dansheedy@gmx.net)
Date: Wed Oct 06 2004 - 04:45:51 GMT-3
Hi guys,
Just wanted to drop a line and let you all know that I passed on October 4th
at RTP. I know that I always looked for encouragement to keep going by
reading the 'success' stories. So, if you are interested, keep reading,
otherwise... drop it in the recycle bin! :)
After blasting through the CCNA a couple of years ago, I was looking around
and asked,... what is the top Cisco cert? CCIE? cool... I'll have that in a
year! heh heh... looking back, what a fool...
I started in Australia at Global Knowledge, working through the CCDA, CCDP,
CCNP, before sitting the written. Ended up moving countries after finding a
nice little Frdulein in Austria, so the studies took a backseat for a while
while i got the hang of learning to speak German with the customers.... poor
things...
I bought a copy of Tom Laurus' prep book, which I found really great, and
worked my way through that. I didn't have a lab of my own, and the company
nearly choked when I told them what a lab would cost, so I ended up buying all
my time through CCOnlinelabs. The service I got from Tony was great, and I
can really recommend him to any of you without all the gear to practice on.
I sat the 1st lab in Br|ssels, and missed it by 'that' much. I got the result
pretty quick and drank myself into a stupor at the Br|ssels airport on Wheat
Beer before getting on the plane back to Vienna... woo.. wicked stuff...
I decided to put in the hard yards and keep going. I knew I needed to find
out how to read the labs properly. The stuff is not rocket science... but
knowing HOW to read the questions is part of the battle I think. I flew to
Chicago for a week, and had a full on week with Cyscoexpert, and they really
opened my mind as to the little tricks and nuances in questions.
Flew back to Europe... went to Br|ssels one more time... no dice. Man.. was I
p*ssed! Asked for a rescore and got a few more points, but not enought for a
cigar still.
Anyhoo... While waiting for the rescore, I knew the % of getting a pass where
like... infinitesimal, so I forked out the cash for some more time with Tony &
bought a copy of the Internetworkexperts Lab Book. Man... what evil minds
put that thing together? Anyway... That book dragged me kicking and screaming
through the length and the breadth of the IOS, and for that I am grateful.
A month before I went for my third time, I took a CheckIt lab from Netmasters.
More evil minds... the industry is full of them! I ended up passing it, but
found a lot of the areas that I needed work on. So, I concentrated a little
more on those areas for the next month, brushing up on the weaker points.
I ended up scheduling for RTP for my third time. I decided I would break the
cycle and travel 16 freaking hours to sit the test, at least to be with some
people who could speak English. What can I say..? Howard the proctor was a
great guy to talk to. Friendly, professional and made you feel at ease. He
didn't give any points away, but every question I asked, at least he gave me
an answer that at least clarified the situation to me. Maybe I'm a little
dense that way... :)
I got my results about 9pm the same night, and am glad that finally this whole
thing is over... Finally I can have some weekends to myself! heh...
I think there were two things I did wrong, in my whole process. One, I didnt
have my own lab. There is nothing like spending lots of hours on your own
routers at all hours of the day.
Second, I started an MBA about a year ago. Studying at university, working
full time, and CCIE studies dont all fit easily into waking hours. :)
Finally... this list was the greatest motivation. The gems of wisdom from the
regular contributors, and the occasional flames for amusement. It really kept
it alive for me.
So.. thank you one and all for your help.
I'll drink a beer or three for you!
Cheers
Dan
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Nov 06 2004 - 17:11:43 GMT-3