From: Joe (joe.clyde@utah.edu)
Date: Fri Jan 16 2009 - 21:45:53 ARST
In an attempt to keep this email list from filling up with non-technical
and non-ccie related conversations, I won't ramble on about my "success
story". Suffice it to say, like most IE's I had to put in a lot of time,
money and effort into my pursuit and it finally paid off...If you don't have
to sacrifice, then you are either a networking savant or you're not doing
what you need to to pass.
With that said, I would like to throw out some advice that I think is
relevant to this list and hopefully helpful to those of you who are serious
about obtaining your IE, especially those of you, who like me, haven't
passed on your first attempt;
1st) Do practice labs! It's that easy, do as many as you can from a
reputable vendor. I'm not here to prop one vendor over another...just find 1
(more if possible) that has a proven track record and do their labs. *The
key is not so much the material but how you study it! Do the labs just like
you're are going to do the real lab! Meaning...in the real lab you don't get
to see the questions or the topology before hand, you don't get to go to a
proctor guide or google when you get stuck, you have 8 hours. So, when you
have a lab manual, schedule your 8 to 10 hours, don't look at any of the
material before hand...then just sit there for 8 hours straight, beating
your head against the wall, using only the doc cd. When you start, don't
touch a router until you have read through the whole lab, written down your
"blue print" and point values and have a plan for the lab. Then go at it, if
you get stuck or stumped, don't look up the answer! Track your points and
save your configs (maybe a show ip route or ip bgp or what ever is relevant
as well) to your PC for grading yourself later.
When you have finished (either right after if you're that impatient) or
the next day go through the lab and grade it, be honest with yourself, and
find out what you missed, then study it, learn it and understand it. (Those
are your "off" days). Then, schedule your next Lab session and do it again!
At first you'll get owned, feel like crap and wonder what in the hell
you are doing. Probably will take you more than 10 hours to get through the
labs, but do it all. After the first 5 to 10 you'll get to where you can
finish them in 8 hours, hopefully even sooner after 15 or 20 (the assumption
is the labs get progressively harder but you are getting even faster). *part
of completing a lab, is going back through the questions and verifying each
task...without fail you will find at least one thing you did wrong or
missed...that means you need to calculate that into your 8 hours. Get in the
habit though
2nd) Once you have done 5 or 10 labs, if you are in a position, do a
graded mock lab or... 7. See how you do. I wouldn't worry so much about the
score or "explanations" after the fact, but more of "did I come up with A
solution for every section?" "Did I finish it in time?" "How was my time
management?" "How well did I think on my feet?"
(While I did not pass one of my mock labs, I always completed them, came up
with solutions and learned how important it is to notice the little details)
Use the mock labs to evaluate your testing strategy.
In all I did over 30 full labs (including my mock labs)...so sitting
down for 8 hours in the real lab was nothing for me, I had been doing it 2
to 3 times a week for months. That kind of experience is crucial for success
in the real lab. What's more, I finish my lab (had a solution in place for
each question) in 5 and a half hours and was able to spend the next 2 hours
going back over each question. I easily earned between 15 to 25 points that
way. Having that extra time allowed me to re-read scenarios, pick up on
key-words, verify syntax et...You need to be able to get through the lab
quickly...if you have done 20+ "labs" all ready, the real lab isn't nearly
as daunting in terms of time or manageability.
The point is this, you can't do practice labs one way and think that
you'll do the real lab another. The real lab should be 2nd nature in terms
of your initial read through and assessment, your time management and
troubleshooting of individual scenarios, and your re-read and verification
at the end.
I hope this has been helpful. Doing simple math 8 hours X 2 or 3 times a
week = a lot of time and that doesn't include the "off" days where you need
to "grade" your self, study weak areas, practice configs, and browse the doc
cd. It's a huge investment of time, but if you're going to do it, do it
right and don't "cheat" yourself.
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
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