From: Joseph D. Phillips (josephdphillips@fastmail.us)
Date: Wed Oct 06 2004 - 11:02:33 GMT-3
Congratulations!
Daniel Sheedy wrote:
>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
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
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