Re: Passed CCIE R/S

Yeah - this is really great. And as Sid stated - so amazing of you to
detail your journey like this for the benefit of the community.

Anthony Sequeira, CCIE, CCSI, VCP
http://www.stormwind.com
Twitter: @compsolv
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/compsolv

On 10/30/12 12:34 AM, "Sidney D'Souza" <mail.sidney_at_gmail.com> wrote:

>Congrats Jose. Appreciate you taking the time to describe your journey so
>that it can help others achieve the certification.
>
>Regards,
>Sid
>Nobody's really listening, until you make a mistake...
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: nobody_at_groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody_at_groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
>Jose
>Jara
>Sent: 30 October 2012 04:40
>To: Cisco certification
>Subject: Passed CCIE R/S
>
>Hi mates,
>
>I passed the CCIE R/S lab the past week and I would like to share with
>you a
>bit of my journey, and hopefully it will help or motivate others to pass.
>
>My journey started at the end of 2010 when I was working in another
>country
>doing network support ( Czech Republic and I'm spanish) for AT&T. My
>approach was to start with more theory but not 100%, so more like 80 or
>90%
>and some mini-labs to understand the technologies. After 2 months I was a
>bit tired and the reason was that I was not very motivated in that job,
>so I
>decided to move again to Spain and concentrate on CCIE. Back to Spain in
>january 2011 without a job but highly motivated with the idea of the big
>thing (CCIE), I decided to go to a bootcamp and I chose Narbik's Bootcamp.
>During 3 months I studied full time and I improved a lot, with a bit of
>luck
>I got a job at Telefonica for Network Design. My first day at job was the
>first time I met a CCIE (my boss). Now, I laugh but at that time was a bit
>scared to talk to a personality like a CCIE :)
>
>- Bootcamp: Regarding the bootcamp I was going to attend, unfortunately
>was
>cancelled. However, Narbik offered me a discount to attend it in Herndon
>(april 2011) and I went there. The bootcamp was superb and I met there
>Paul
>Borguese (really nice guy) and other members of GS like Darby Weaver and
>Andrew Lissitz, cool guys. We did two Mock Labs of CCIE360 and I scored
>75%
>in the first one, surprise for me as it was easier than I thought and
>around
>50% in the second one. The most important thing I learned in this bootcamp
>was not from the protocols/technology standpoint, was more about how to
>learn/attack a technology. I learned with Narbik to "divide and conquer",
>be
>very specific, and that what separates a CCIE from a
>beginner/intermmediate
>engineer is that a CCIE knows how the protocols work and can
>give/manipulate
>the protocols to achieve a desired behaviour. Also, I broke mental
>barriers
>talking to another guys and seeing that the expert level is doable with
>hard
>work.
>
>I changed my plan, and my program now was more relaxed putting more effort
>on understanding and to master the core topics (one by one). The summer of
>2011 was intense as I did some migrations windows for a big customer
>during
>weekends but I continued my plan. I was working with another CCIE and it
>helped me as I was comparing myself with her, I saw how I was reaching the
>level. I covered the core topics by october-november 2011 and I thought
>that
>a good idea would be to do the bootcamp again.
>
>- 2nd Bootcamp: I attended the second bootcamp in november 2011, in Milton
>Keynes. BTW, the retake is for free. I enjoyed a lot this bootcamp as I
>was
>much better prepared. I remember the OSPF Filtering part as one of the
>most
>interesting. OSPF is a protocol that I love and I became an addict of OSPF
>filtering from that day. However, I saw that still I have to cover the
>security/IP Services part and, after that, go for troubleshooting before
>my
>first Lab
>
>Initially in my plan, the idea was to go for my first attempt at the end
>of
>2011, even though I had to pass the written first. Finally it was delayed
>as, fortunately, I got a new contract directly with Telefonica. So, I got
>a
>bit relaxed for 1-2 months but I was back on track on january 2012. Now,
>the
>idea was to study the parts of the blueprint that I have not covered yet
>and
>attack the written, then, do tshoot labs and go for the lab. I passed the
>written on feb 2012 and schedule my lab on July 2012. Until july
>2012 the plan was to focus on weaknesses, and the last weeks to do the
>tshoot workbook of Narbik.
>
>Also, one month before I subscribed to INE ALL-Access-Pass for One month.
>Brian Dennis videos are my favourites from INE. Some posts of Lapukhov in
>the blog are also superb. It is one thing that I recommend, to include
>more
>than 1 vendor, but be careful as you can get confuse.
>
>- 1st attempt: I did my first attempt on july 2012. I remember that I was
>damn nervous, just too much. The exam was a big disaster and I could not
>think properly. I could resolve just 8 tickets out of 10 and before the
>config part I was sure that I have failed. The config part was very
>tricky.
>However, the result was not than bad: PASSED TSHOOT, FAILED CONFIG.
>
>After the first fail, I focused on weaknesses and the plan was to give
>another try in september, as during the summer I had to work less hours.
>
>- 2nd attempt: went to the lab again in september. I started very well
>and I
>have resolved 8 tickets in 1 hour 20 min. They looked very easy. I got a
>bit
>relaxed and it took me some time to resolve another one and I did not have
>time to resolve the last one ( my fault...). The config part was not so
>bad
>and finally I had doubts in 2-3 questions and overall I thought I passed.
>However the result was FAILED :( I just missed 2 tickets and failed with
>73
>% in tshoot and passed the config. As I thought that I resolved 9 tickets
>I
>went for a reread but unsuccessful :( I thought that I would never pass
>the
>exam. I said to myself that I was going to give another try in 1 month and
>if I fail again, I will take a big rest of at least 6 months.
>
>- 3rd attempt: 22th october. I was a bit more tense than in my second but
>ok. It was a bit better to have some pressure as in the previous attempt I
>was confident in the tshoot part that I was going to pass and finally
>failed. This time I resolved all the tickets and I had 10 minutes for
>verification. The config part was ok too and I verified everything lot of
>times. I thought that I was going to pass but, after the experience in my
>2nd, who knows!! but finally PASSED!!
>
>I think that one thing that it has helped me a lot is to divide the
>technologies one by one and to focus in one aspect. Then, increase the
>complexity and think "What If I change this...." In that way, you may end
>up
>creating your own labs which I think it is definitely better to follow a
>rigid structure of XYZ labs. I would like to do an analogy with something
>that I know much better than this : weightlifting. I have 18 years of
>experience and have competed in powerlifting/other sports.
>
>When you train for a powerlifting contest, your goal is to increase the
>total weight lifted in one competition. The lifts are the squat, bench
>press
>and deadlift. You make a plan of 12/16 weeks, trying to peak at the
>contest
>with max lifts. In your plan, you train the lifts by separate in different
>days and you add special exercises to focus on your weaknesses to improve
>your lifts. Also, as the date of the contest is near you increase the
>intensity but the volume goes down.
>
>In my opinion, the preparation for a CCIE should be similar. Focus on your
>weaknesses, dividing the technologies, as the exam is near work more on
>accuracy and have some rest. I think that sometimes we overcomplicate
>things
>and rely more rigid on plans/structures etc... than thinking and
>understanding. That was one of my faults during the initial part of my
>preparation.
>
>Hope this helps, Good luck to everyone :)
>
>Jose Jara.
>CCIE #37132
>
>
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Received on Tue Oct 30 2012 - 15:15:09 ART