CCIE: Academy or self-study?
marco_fera
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in CCIE
I'm about to finish the CCNP (new version) in a local academy. The quality of the academy is quite good, we've got a lot of equipement for all the modules and we made a lot of labs, in other words I'm satisfied of the investment.
I'm still undecided whether to attend the ccie r&s course in the academy or try with self-study. I know myself and I know I can be quite tireless; I would make the most demanding labs with ****.com, the rest with dynamips.
What do you think? is it madness or I can make it?
I'm still undecided whether to attend the ccie r&s course in the academy or try with self-study. I know myself and I know I can be quite tireless; I would make the most demanding labs with ****.com, the rest with dynamips.
What do you think? is it madness or I can make it?
Comments
if you can afford it then you should go for the academy it will always work as a catalyst, in contrast to self study which is slow and requires a lot of energy and time.
In relation to this, I was thinking to take CCIP before CCIE, because it gives you a stronger knowledge of BGP and MPLS, and also because it's a sort of deeper study of what I've already saw in CCNP.
However my teacher at the academy criticized the idea suggesting to take CCIE directly after CCNP, mainly because on the job market the CCIP is not seen as too different than CCNP.
In your opinion, how much valuable is the wisdom given by CCIP in the CCIE course?
Kinda sounds like the IE course may cost more money and they want you to attend that instead, IMHO.
Well, actually their CCIP course, considering all four modules, is more expensive than a RS written + RS boot camp.
I wouldn't attend again the BSCI, but this way the RS track would only be slightly more expensive.
Now, if I were paying for any of the training, I'd probably go straight to the CCIE R&S course.
There is a list on the CCIE section of cisco.com that lists classes that apply to the CCIE.
http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/ccie/rs/training.html
That may be helpful.
I don't recommend a bootcamp unless you can retake it as meny times as you like. It's too much information with too little time to asorb it. The CCIE lab isn't about a high level overview but a detailed study of each topic down all the obscure options that can be used on a command.
What does your experience in the job market tell you?
He has got a CCIE for instructors, not the "normal" CCIE.
Personally I've got only one year of experience
There is no "CCIE for Instructors". Is he a CCAI for the academy? If so that is not even close to a CCIE. He can't be a CCSI unless he works for a learning partner.
Mike rasied a good point there, might be something to think about.
Is your one year experience using your CCNA or does it involve networking? If not, you might want to consider using your CCNA to get an entry level networking job and start getting some experience while you're working on the CCNP.
Even if you get a CCNP (and the "book knowledge" to go with it) an experienced CCNA could probably beat you out on job interviews.
You might be able to get a job with a CCNP and no (or little) experience with a Cisco Business Partner if you can fill one of their required roles for their Business Partner Level -- but you might start out driving a delivery truck and racking the routers/switches.
With the CCIE there is a much greater expectation of experience. From the Cisco CCIE website:
He's the owner of the academy. I do think he's quite competent in his field, he never missed a question, so my dilemma is not the teacher's preparation (however I admit I'm totally uninformed on Cisco certifications for instructors).
Mike pointed at Cisco's recommendation for job experience before attempting to take the CCIE, and that's why I thought at CCIP as a sort of cushion before CCIE. Note that after CCNA I've got one year of experience on traditional telephones and basic troubleshooting on cisco routers. Now I'm exclusively on cisco routers and switches in a bank.
I'm a bit surprised by this: I thought the bootcamp was a must for everyone. So basically, provided that I exercise with emulators and renting racks, I can prepare for the lab without it?
IMHO, regardless of how someone seems, if they haven't climbed the mountain I don't think I would want them leading me up it, even if they did sleep at a Holiday INN Express last night. The CCIE lab experience is not something you can read from a book, and I would want someone who can tell me about it from personal experience. It took me the first attempt just to realize some of the strategy about the lab that I didn't know. A qualified instructor may have taken that part of the learning curve out of the picture so I could walk in and get down to business.
So it wasn't the pizza that did it for you it was the Holiday INN!
Cisco does contract out to other CCIE's to train their own employees. Scott Morris aka IPExpert, Brian Dennis aka InternetworkExpert, and I think Brad Ellis aka NLI have either themselves or their employees have instructed at Cisco. However, they may or may not be CCSI. A CCSI must adhere to the Cisco Curriculum. Cisco does use KnowledgeNet materials for the CCIE Lab Training (I own copies of the RS and Security Labs).
You instructor may be very experienced. I've met lots of CCNA's whose actual experience level is higher than their own level of certification. Your instructor may well be a CCNP or better. But if he were a CCIE, you would know it.
A lot of trial and error here on your own time to get to that point IMHO. There are many offerings these days sold to help you on your way but it's important not to buy in too hard to products (and this includes training courses) that you may think may shortcircuit the requirement to spend many hours under your own steam learning things. COD's and everything else have their place but you will not get upto lab standard relying on things like listening to lectures while you workout.
I have been working with cisco and following the certification process for 9 years now and during that time I have seen a multitude of training options emerge. This isn't a bad thing itself and you should elect to use what you think will be useful, but I have noticed more people drawn to the CCIE who seem less prepared to put the necessary work in these days. I think the marketing fluff is a factor here!
You have to put the hours in. Some people clear lab preparation in a relavtivly short period of elapsed time, as little as 3 months but during that time they put in a tremendous amount of work. Further they start the process sharp on many fundamentals and to get themselves to that pre-requisite point they did a LOT of work and perhaps enjoy a very hands on role in employment where they are constantly configuring things on a daily basis.
A generous employer can help with the opportunity to train on works time during the best hours of the day when you are fresh and alert. This really helps a lot. and can amount to the necessary hundreds of hours practice in a relatively short period of elapsed time i.e few months. For the weak like us, it's self study evenings and weekends after another demanding and tiring day at work and the occasional week off contracting (at cost) to fully immerse oneself in an entire week of hands on practice.
Good luck with it all.
Wow 5000 euros (excluding VAT)? Boot camps in Australia (Perth) are AUS$5000 - $6000 inc GST. Of the top of my head that course your looking at would be about $12,500 Australian.