Pursuing CCIE at 39... Too late?

silalavalsilalaval Member Posts: 33 ■■□□□□□□□□
in CCIE
Hi,

I am seriously considering starting my CCIE pursuit at the age of 39.. In your opinion, is it too late? I dont think so, but nonetheless, would like to have a few opinions.

I have a CCNP but I am currently very rusty as I have been working more on the SysAdmin side rather than the networking side.... The truth i that I am fed up with Sysadmin crap and what I really like is networking hence the idea of pushing forward for some tears and sweat on networking. I need to take an exam anyway soon to keep my old CCNP, so why not push for the CCIE written?
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  • no!all!no!all! Member Posts: 245 ■■■□□□□□□□
    It's never too late! Go for it!!
    A+, N+, S+, CCNA:RS, CCNA:Sec

    "In high society TCP is more welcome than UDP. At least it knows a proper handshake" - Ben Franklin

    2019 Goals: CCNP:RS & relocate to St. Pete, FL!
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  • EssendonEssendon Member Posts: 4,546 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Have you considered virtualization? There are few folks who have solid networking + virtualization skills. Quicker ROI if you already work on virtualized servers. Just some food for thought. Good luck either way!
    NSX, NSX, more NSX..

    Blog >> http://virtual10.com
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  • joelsfoodjoelsfood Member Posts: 1,027 ■■■■■■□□□□
    Definitely not too late. I'll be taking my lab right at 35. Senior level certifications like this are supposed to be done with some experience, not as someone new to the profession.

    If you're doing lots of sysadmin work, you might consider going with the Datacenter track. That's what I'm doing, as I'm primarily systems/storage in my day job.
    http://www.joelsccie.com
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  • RouteMyPacketRouteMyPacket Member Posts: 1,104
    It's never too late but it's definitely going to be a battle since you aren't an active Network Engineer. It's typically said it takes 2,000hrs to master something, CCIE is no different. With your background having some knowledge, let's say it'd take you 1,600hrs..start laying out a plan and treat it like a college course, structured and detailed.
    Modularity and Design Simplicity:

    Think of the 2:00 a.m. test—if you were awakened in the
    middle of the night because of a network problem and had to figure out the
    traffic flows in your network while you were half asleep, could you do it?
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  • ZartanasaurusZartanasaurus Member Posts: 2,008 ■■■■■■■■■□
    I got mine not too much younger than that. :p
    Currently reading:
    IPSec VPN Design 44%
    Mastering VMWare vSphere 5​ 42.8%
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  • silver145silver145 Member Posts: 265 ■■□□□□□□□□
    depends, are you dead?
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  • lrblrb Member Posts: 526
    If you have the desire to put the work in to getting the CCIE than you can get it :) Have a solid plan for studying, pick a vendor that you enjoy, and be consistent. There are no shortcuts, just hard work! Age is not even a factor
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  • bharvey92bharvey92 Member Posts: 420 ■■■□□□□□□□
    silalaval wrote: »
    Hi,

    I am seriously considering starting my CCIE pursuit at the age of 39.. In your opinion, is it too late? I dont think so, but nonetheless, would like to have a few opinions.

    I have a CCNP but I am currently very rusty as I have been working more on the SysAdmin side rather than the networking side.... The truth i that I am fed up with Sysadmin crap and what I really like is networking hence the idea of pushing forward for some tears and sweat on networking. I need to take an exam anyway soon to keep my old CCNP, so why not push for the CCIE written?

    It's never too late mate, as someone else here has said you need your experience before getting your IE, I think of it as a balance (experience and theory).
    2018 Goal: CCIE Written [ ]
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  • networker050184networker050184 Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
    Certainly more important factors than age. The time and discipline it takes to study are going to be the two biggest hurdles. At least for me those are.
    An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made.
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  • Jon_CiscoJon_Cisco Member Posts: 1,772 ■■■■■■■■□□
    You need to consider how much longer you might be able to work. Some people can't function after age 39 and if your one of them then I would not attempt it. The rest of the world would say you probably have 20+ years to go and you can do whatever you want.

    I do think you should consider the commitment very seriously. If age is even one of your considerations your probably not fully committed yet. I think people usually pursue expert level for personal reasons and age would have very little influence on the choices.

    Good Luck!
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  • WiseWunWiseWun Member Posts: 285
    silver145 wrote: »
    depends, are you dead?

    LOL. Laughing so hard made me look crazy at the coffee shop.

    I wouldn't worry about your age but do consider the Data Center track as others have mentioned. What technologies/platforms were you working on as a SysAdmin?
    "If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” - Ken Robinson
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  • jamesp1983jamesp1983 Member Posts: 2,475 ■■■■□□□□□□
    My boss passed on his first try when he was 39.

    Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but I believe Turgon was 39-40 when he started his quest as well?
    "Check both the destination and return path when a route fails." "Switches create a network. Routers connect networks."
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  • gorebrushgorebrush Member Posts: 2,743 ■■■■■■■□□□
    I wonder where/how he is getting on these days.
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  • FloOzFloOz Member Posts: 1,614 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Yeah he used to be a very active on these forums. I wonder what he is up too.
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  • FloOzFloOz Member Posts: 1,614 ■■■■□□□□□□
    It's weird I've noticed a lot of people on these forums that when they achieve the CCIE they disappear. All those job offers must be taking up their time :). Mrock comes to mind here
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  • gorebrushgorebrush Member Posts: 2,743 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Well he got banned.. but still wonder what he's up to :)
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  • lrblrb Member Posts: 526
    FloOz wrote: »
    It's weird I've noticed a lot of people on these forums that when they achieve the CCIE they disappear. All those job offers must be taking up their time :). Mrock comes to mind here

    It takes a lot of time to count the stacks and stacks of money that comes with obtaining the CCIE!

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  • snadamsnadam Member Posts: 2,234 ■■■■□□□□□□
    OP: Never too late. Dedication is not dependent on age, just determination.

    gorebrush wrote: »
    Well he got banned.. but still wonder what he's up to :)
    Turgon was banned? (pardon my hijack)
    **** ARE FOR CHUMPS! Don't be a chump! Validate your material with certguard.com search engine

    :study: Current 2015 Goals: JNCIP-SEC JNCIS-ENT CCNA-Security
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  • ccie14023ccie14023 Member Posts: 183
    I just finished my JNCIE-SP at 41. And I've been a CCIE for 10 years. You're not even close to being too old. If you want to do it, do it.
    http://www.subnetzero.info
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  • NOC-NinjaNOC-Ninja Member Posts: 1,403
    It is never too late. You can do it as long as you are willing to give everything they've got.
    www.cliwarriors.com
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