From: Neil Moore (neil@Droopy.com)
Date: Fri Apr 21 2006 - 14:38:39 GMT-3
Congrats! Studying for those labs sure does eat up time!
Neil Moore CCIE #10044 (R/S,Security,SP,Voice)
On Fri, 21 Apr 2006, Larry Roberts wrote:
> Well, finally I get my chance to write this e-mail. On the 19th of April I
> officially became CCIE 16084. (Security)
>
> Its been a long road for me and I have paid the light bills more that once or
> twice for Cisco.
>
> First time was 4 or so years ago. I wasn't ready, but I didn't have a clue
> how to study for the lab. At this point I had never even heard of groupstudy
> and I don't think anyone even offered a workbook at this point. I failed,
> but it was semi-respectable.
>
> Fast forward another year and its time again. This time I think that I'm
> prepared. and I go in and give it a good shot. Turns out I wasn't. I had a
> couple questions that I didn't understand what they were wanting.
>
> Fast forward another year. I know I'm ready at this point. I have subscribed
> to groupstudy and really started digging into the material. I take the lab
> and I'm sure I nailed it. I get my results and its my poorest showing yet. I
> finished early, reviewed my work and still failed. At this point its no
> longer material thats getting me, but rather the questions.
>
> Fast forward 2 months. My written is about to expire and I need to get this
> thing done. The format has changed and now the lab is pre-configured. R&S
> points were gimme points so now I'm a little nervous. I go in and nail the
> lab. I'm convinced I pass. I almost celebrate. Then I get the result...Fail.
> In my lab the IDS sensor wouldn't save the config. I get my results back and
> I get 0 for the IDS stuff. If I calculated correctly I was within 3-4 points
> of passing and the IDS stuff killed me. I was smart enough to ask the
> proctors to grade me IDS stuff before they do any work on it, so either they
> didn't or I missed something. Who knows.
>
> Fast forward 1 year and 3 months to April 19th 2006. I have been working at
> Cisco since last August. Its baptism by fire! When I started working at
> Cisco I decided then and there that this certification was mine. What I
> needed was a new approach. My last two attempts I had failed not because of a
> lack of knowledge, but because I didn't get what they were asking for or I
> didn't give them *EXACTLY* what they asked. I finally broke down and
> purchased a workbook and decided to get some training. With my IPExpert
> workbook in hand I sat down and started going over each section. At the end I
> would look and compare my answers to what they had. Each line was analysed to
> see why they used the commands they did.
>
> For me, the workbook made the difference. Yes there were errors, but being
> able to find those and even better, be able to tell you WHY they were wrong
> is what told me that I was ready. I know that Wayne is updating the material
> now and that those books will be even better. They really do make the
> difference...
>
> What I'm trying to say is DONT EVER GIVE UP. It took me 5 times to get it,
> but nowhere on my number does it mention how many times I took it to pass,
> only that I passed! Its also more than knowing the material. You need to read
> the question and analyse every word. When I was going back over the test to
> review I found words that would alter something I did. If I hadn't done that
> I wouldn't have passed. And finally BUG THE CRAP out of the proctor. Its what
> he is there for.
> I seeked clarification or definition at least 15 times. I wasn't going to
> fail because I didn't understand what they were asking for.
>
> Last but not least I want to thank my loving wife and my now 7 month old
> daughter for showing the patience to let me get this out of my system. I
> promise to no longer be "the man that lives in the basement".
>
> Larry Roberts CCIE 16084
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Subscription information may be found at:
> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon May 01 2006 - 11:41:58 GMT-3