Re: My first LAB attempt

Hi Brad,

I follow the complete 360 program and completed all assesment lab, followed
the two workshops.
The stupid thing is that there wasn't a technology I did not know. it was
just my time management and stress from the troubleshooting section. Next
time I know what to do and to expect. I will work on my time management and
some topics I wasn't very good at.

I will take all your advices and prepare for my next attempt the best I can.
I know I can do this. When I look back at the exam I know I could have
(maybe) passed it. If I just be calm and take it step by step, follow my
stratagy

Thanks

Maarten

2010/7/14 Brad Ellis <brad_at_ccbootcamp.com>

> Maarten,
>
> Hi! Sorry to hear you didnt make it. You mentioned "panicking" several
> times below. That's probably one of the worst things you can do during a
> lab exam (or any exam for that matter). If you panic, it will through
> you off your game, you won't think straight, and you'll make extra
> mistakes. If you calmly try to think through the problem and solution, I
> think you'll find much better results. The key to not panicking or
> stressing about a situation is proper preparation and knowing what to
> expect. Since this was your first lab attempt, there's typically a
> little learning curve involved when it comes to the unknown of the lab
> exam...think of it this way, at least you know what to expect next time
> - this should help calm your nerves. Good luck in your continued
> preparation. You should check and see if there is a Cisco 360 provider
> in your region and take a few practice graded labs. :)
>
>
> thanks,
> Brad Ellis
> CCIE#5796 (R&S / Security)
> CCSI# 30482
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: nobody_at_groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody_at_groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
> Maarten Vervoorn
> Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 11:39 PM
> To: Cisco certification
> Subject: My first LAB attempt
>
> 30 june, my first lab attempt.
>
> The day before 29 june. Tried to relax, have a nice diner and went to
> bed
> early.
>
> Next morning 30 june I woke up early I needed to drive 1 hour to
> Brussels. I
> took 2:15 hours for it. I arrived at 7:30 and talked to some other
> candidated who arrived early, one whas from kenia he did wireless, and
> one
> from norway. I didn't spoke to the other ones.
>
> About 8:10 the proctor arived and brought us to the exam room. He
> explained
> the rules and gave us our rack numbers. I put all my things in the
> lockers
> and sit down on my chair. I look arround to make my self as comfortable
> as I
> could. Nice big screen. I had a bit worn keyboard. I think there were 7
> candidates in total, most of them did R&S. After everybody sit down the
> proctor explained the last exam rules and made everything very clear,
> Than
> we could start.
>
> Troubleshooting section:
> I started off with the troubleshooting section the questions were very
> clear
> and good to understand. When I got at question 2 I couldn't solve this
> instantly I spended much time on this and kind of paniced out here. I
> went
> to the next questions. I whatched the time and noticed I didn't got very
> much time left I rushed a bit and started to worry about failing in
> troubleshooting. I knew I had one question wrong. Then the time ended.
> Wtih
> worries in my head I started at the configutation section
>
> First question paniced me out I couldn't solve instantly what they were
> asking. I spended to much time thinking what was wrong here. After 20
> minutes (way too long) I continued. I knew those things I configured,
> configured and configured at some point I looked at the time I had and
> then
> how may questions I needed to do. I kind of scared out of the many tasks
> I
> still had to do. So I stept a way from my stratagy (very wrong to do) I
> went
> on question by question just to finish the exam. I didn't verify well
> enough
> and didn't reboot my routers. I finished every questions but didn't
> verify
> it well enough and hadn't time to read it over again.
>
> The proctor tells us to finish the exam and save our configurations.
>
> I went back in my car thinking and thinking(....troubleshooting went
> bad,
> finshed configuration, not much time, didn't verify well enough...) I
> thought maybe, maybe I did it. When I arrived with my wife I talked it
> over
> and thought maybe is not well enough you need to be sure.
>
> Next day logged in to Cisco
> Troubleshooting pass
> Configuration Fail
>
> So I paniced out on troubleshooting which I passed and screwed up my
> configuration part. This first time added lots to my experience. of the
> real
> exam and what to expect.
>
> I was dissapointed about the configution result I thought I did it
> better
> then that. I think the lack of verification and carefully reread of the
> question is the cause of this because I knew the technologies and what I
> needed to do. Well I need to go on.
>
> What I learned for the next time.
> - Take a hotel near the Cisco building where no driving is required.
> - Stay focused and keep calm during the exam, skip TB question after 10
> min
> - Just stick to my stratagy
> - Verify verify and verify
> - Read the question, read it again and once more to verify your
> configuration meets the requirements
> Planning to do the next on 7 Oktober.
> I planned 250 hours of studing in between now and the lab date. I'm
> still
> thinking what my study stratagy shall be. I think doing for about 13
> labs
> and study on technologies which I am the least good at in the evenings.
> During the practice labs I will try a couple of different strategies and
> look which one best fits me. I especialy want to practice in reading the
> questions well enough and verify every requirement.
>
> Any new good advise for my second time are very welcome. Also some good
> advise in my study approach is welcome
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Maarten Vervoorn
> http:\\ccie.forumotion.com
>
>
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Received on Wed Jul 14 2010 - 19:15:22 ART