Planning - budget and other misc. things.

Hi,

I am wondering what sort of efforts CCIE candidates put into their consideration to attempt for the "big" one. What sort of budget are you working on? is it completely paid for by your employer, or are you shelling out yourselves? also, timeline, what sort of timelines have you set for yourself? Did you do some reading on what vendor material to use, bootcamps and on and on. All in all, what sort of considerations did you all make, so you can plan the entire journey out?

I have been following alot of CCIE blogs to learn this stuff, and is very interested in your stories regarding the above.

I am interested in information for both written and lab.
Thanks for sharing!

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Turgon

kpjungle wrote: »

Hi,

I am wondering what sort of efforts CCIE candidates put into their consideration to attempt for the "big" one. What sort of budget are you working on? is it completely paid for by your employer, or are you shelling out yourselves? also, timeline, what sort of timelines have you set for yourself? Did you do some reading on what vendor material to use, bootcamps and on and on. All in all, what sort of considerations did you all make, so you can plan the entire journey out?

I have been following alot of CCIE blogs to learn this stuff, and is very interested in your stories regarding the above.

I am interested in information for both written and lab.
Thanks for sharing!

Every candidate's experience along the journey is different. In my case every single penny has been paid for by myself, books, equipment, rack hire, books, workbooks, exams. It certainly adds up particularly rack hire.

In terms of time, I have had little or no time 9 -5 to prepare for the lab. As a contractor my client's are non too keen to pay my hourly rate while I do lab preparation. So I have been generally kept far too busy at work to do any significant lab prep during work hours except for the odd hour snatched here and there. On that basis my timeline has been a long one. Add to which our first child was born in September 2007 and he has kept us pretty occupied ever since at home. Those two things combined, the lack of studytime 9-5 and starting a family have made a long period of elapsed time the only realistic option where I am concerned. Each person is different regarding the time and energy they have available to prepare for this track properly. The best advice is an honest assessment of your resources as compared to your requirements. I might add that this is often a moving target as you realise later in your studies just what you have actually taken on and how much more you will need to work on.

Time is not the only factor however. You need to be realistic about how well you will use the available time. Over the years I have seen lots of people with plenty of endeavour make hopeful projections of how much time they think they need and how much time they believe they have available each week to prepare for the exam. They then plan accordingly, figure out they will be done in a year but it doesn't work out. Life gets in the way of long term plans. Add to which while theoretically you may have 30 hours a week available to do cisco studies on your own time, in practice for many people this can be very difficult to maintain for even a period of a couple of months. Some people can seemingly live in a cave and do what often seems like 24/7 8 hour sessions for months on end. For others (myself included) that doesn't sit so well, either as a learning experience or the cumulative toll it takes on all the other aspects of one's life and the people around you. It can work for some people and good luck to them, but I have seen a lot fall by the wayside by making unrealistic demands of themselves and pushing far too hard for the CCIE in a narrow window inside 12 months. I recall one guy who did the cave thing for a few months only to find it was too much too soon come lab day. Over a year has passed since he failed and I don't think he was able to pick up the ball again. The point was he was trying to cover too much material too hard in a few months. A lot of gruelling work. No doubt after the lab he couldn't face going through all that some more. The point is, he didn't have to. Just reassess and study for the thing properly. If it takes longer so what if you get your number? A few doomsayers in 2007 reckoned we would be up to 30000 by now. It's 23500 last time I looked and lots of people still want to be a CCIE and need a CCIE.

So in a nutshell, figure out the available time and then factor in the realities of just how you might be able to make best use of it. A measured approach with intense bursts works for me, for others the schedule can be more aggressive. Either way, even if you have lots of time available during the best hours of the day when your energy levels are high to prepare for the lab you will still need evenings and weekends to clear the CCIE inside 12 months.

kpjungle

Thanks for your reply Turgon. I think you are completely right regarding how it varies from person to person how much time is available. Even though there's quite a few hours during evenings for this sort of stuff for me, I know that I cant study for that long, my brain cant focus for that amount of time. I hope this is a skill I will pick up eventually.

I have seen people use Google Calendar to plan their study time, and I think its a good idea, in order to keep your eyes on the ball, so to speak. Do you use any other study aid or tools? Did you invest in any equipment for yourself before starting down the path, cisco equipment, laptops/servers or anything? Again, some have and use elaborate note-taking tools, while others dont have much of that sort of thing. For the written, did you go through all of the recommonded book-list on cisco.com?

Sorry for all the questions. Its just very interesting imho

GT-Rob

I didn't get a cent from my employer, but they suck.

I have one of those big calenders beside my desk, and I write in my rack time schedule, and other goals along the way. Its nice to be able to just look up and see whats going on all month.

I would recommend planning for at least $5000, but probably closer to 10k in the end (if not more). There are ways to save money here and there, but it adds up still.

kpjungle

GT-Rob wrote: »

I didn't get a cent from my employer, but they suck.

I have one of those big calenders beside my desk, and I write in my rack time schedule, and other goals along the way. Its nice to be able to just look up and see whats going on all month.

I would recommend planning for at least $5000, but probably closer to 10k in the end (if not more). There are ways to save money here and there, but it adds up still.

The $10k mark is also what I kinda figured. For example the End-to-end solution from IPexpert is what, $8,5K, then additional rack time + maybe some books from Narbik. Its more or less a rough estimate im looking at, so I can start saving up (or ask my very nice bank-lady) when at some point in the future i will think about committing myself to the journey

(Why dont someone say: You definately need a new Macbook Pro for the journey so I can justify getting one

)

CCIEWANNABE

for me the path to become a CCIE fell into my hands. for one, i get re-imbursed for the written and lab test even if I pass or fail because I have the GI BILL through being in the military active duty. the second, and very important factor is that i work mid shift. so i get around 6 hours a night to study non-stop. so that is exactly what i have been doing. i am not shooting for obtaining the CCIE within a year from now, I am giving myself plenty of time to go over the material enough to where it sinks in and I can understand all of the material in great depth. i plan on creating a part virtual lab, part real lab environment that a lot of people have done who have passed the CCIE R&S lab. I will be using GNS3 for virtualizing the routers and then tie the virtual routers into real switches (3500's) to get the full effect of the lab. i plan on spending several thousand on my route to the CCIE, but that is nothing compared to a real equipment ccie lab which can easily go over 10 grand. this all really couldn't have happened at a better time and i feel this year will be a great year. good luck with your studies!

Turgon

kpjungle wrote: »

Thanks for your reply Turgon. I think you are completely right regarding how it varies from person to person how much time is available. Even though there's quite a few hours during evenings for this sort of stuff for me, I know that I cant study for that long, my brain cant focus for that amount of time. I hope this is a skill I will pick up eventually.

I have seen people use Google Calendar to plan their study time, and I think its a good idea, in order to keep your eyes on the ball, so to speak. Do you use any other study aid or tools? Did you invest in any equipment for yourself before starting down the path, cisco equipment, laptops/servers or anything? Again, some have and use elaborate note-taking tools, while others dont have much of that sort of thing. For the written, did you go through all of the recommonded book-list on cisco.com?

Sorry for all the questions. Its just very interesting imho

Well the CCIE is very much unfinished business for me. I have been working towards it on and off (but more off than on) since 2001! I guess work and life got in the way there. I'm not a dynamips guy but then Im old school and used to save all my pennies just to buy a single router. A 2503 set me back 700 dollars back in the day. Written prep was books on the recommended reading list, white papers on the lists and legit practice tests like Odom. Lab prep is a stack of old routers at home or remote racks to work examples from Cisco Press books or Vendor labs.

No fancy wiki or notetaking here. My notes are a simple spreadsheet. Early on I did a lot of note taking but with so much to cover it got unmanagable and took up way too much time. My notes these days are a lot better as I need to record so much less at this stage of my preparation and what I do record makes lots more sense! In the early stages notetaking can be a little futile. Better off just getting the rackhours in and reading your books.

For fun and motivation you can see my rack hours logged on the left under my username. I do not log the session booked as sometimes session time is wasted. These are the actual hours I have spent doing config. So if I book a 5 hour session and for whatever reason I only get 2 hours of actual work done, that's what I record. I find it keeps me honest

Rack time you must do. Reading difficult books and papers off CCO you must do. You should also do that patiently and in a quiet room. You cannot pass the CCIE on a stairclimber or with CoDs. Not that alternative media doesn't have it's place but patient quiet reading and patient quiet labtime is what does it. Do not try to speed read 200 pages of Doyle in one evening. You cannot possibly take it in that way.

Turgon

CCIEWANNABE wrote: »

for me the path to become a CCIE fell into my hands. for one, i get re-imbursed for the written and lab test even if I pass or fail because I have the GI BILL through being in the military active duty. the second, and very important factor is that i work mid shift. so i get around 6 hours a night to study non-stop. so that is exactly what i have been doing. i am not shooting for obtaining the CCIE within a year from now, I am giving myself plenty of time to go over the material enough to where it sinks in and I can understand all of the material in great depth. i plan on creating a part virtual lab, part real lab environment that a lot of people have done who have passed the CCIE R&S lab. I will be using GNS3 for virtualizing the routers and then tie the virtual routers into real switches (3500's) to get the full effect of the lab. i plan on spending several thousand on my route to the CCIE, but that is nothing compared to a real equipment ccie lab which can easily go over 10 grand. this all really couldn't have happened at a better time and i feel this year will be a great year. good luck with your studies!

Good luck with all that. Don't waste that quiet time at work to do some regular studying when you are feeling fresh. I could certainly have used that kind of available time to the good. It will go a long way towards attaining your goals providing you use it whenever you can!

A longer burn will help you understand things in more depth providing you stay motivated (which can be difficult with a long haul as you have to be patient), but try not to get hung up about not understanding *everything* in depth because you can't really and if you insist on trying you may end up needing professional help

CCIEWANNABE

Turgon wrote: »

Good luck with all that. Don't waste that quiet time at work to do some regular studying when you are feeling fresh. I could certainly have used that kind of available time to the good. It will go a long way towards attaining your goals providing you use it whenever you can!

A longer burn will help you understand things in more depth providing you stay motivated (which can be difficult with a long haul as you have to be patient), but try not to get hung up about not understanding *everything* in depth because you can't really and if you insist on trying you may end up needing professional help

i think you may have mis-understood me when i was talking about studying at work. i said that i get to study about 6 hours every night, and that is exactly how i use that time by using GNS3, reading books, watching vids and so on.

thanks for the advice and i know what you mean. there is a lot to learn, sometimes it can be very intimidating!! i will try to take your advice about not learning everything. there is too much to learn! i wan't to be able to get into the lab and have complete IGP, layer 2 and BGP reachability (core tasks) and then go from there working on the secondary tasks.

Turgon

CCIEWANNABE wrote: »

i think you may have mis-understood me when i was talking about studying at work. i said that i get to study about 6 hours every night, and that is exactly how i use that time by using GNS3, reading books, watching vids and so on.

thanks for the advice and i know what you mean. there is a lot to learn, sometimes it can be very intimidating!! i will try to take your advice about not learning everything. there is too much to learn! i wan't to be able to get into the lab and have complete IGP, layer 2 and BGP reachability (core tasks) and then go from there working on the secondary tasks.

It's all good. Your work regime then seems to provide you with a great gap outside of work to get a lot done. Keep the workrate up for a few months and see how you go. You may want to put up a thread like Akhiran and myself have done. Certainly fun looking back!

dtlokee

CCIEWANNABE wrote: »

i think you may have mis-understood me when i was talking about studying at work. i said that i get to study about 6 hours every night, and that is exactly how i use that time by using GNS3, reading books, watching vids and so on.

thanks for the advice and i know what you mean. there is a lot to learn, sometimes it can be very intimidating!! i will try to take your advice about not learning everything. there is too much to learn! i wan't to be able to get into the lab and have complete IGP, layer 2 and BGP reachability (core tasks) and then go from there working on the secondary tasks.

Murphy's Law - Whatever you don't know will be on your lab

Turgon

dtlokee wrote: »

Murphy's Law - Whatever you don't know will be on your lab

Very true, and there comes a point when you just have to take the lab so you don't spend your entire life preparing for it. On that note, should I clear the written soon I expect to be facing what I don't know in about April/May. Assuming I can get a lab slot.

liquid6

kpjungle wrote: »

The $10k mark is also what I kinda figured. For example the End-to-end solution from IPexpert is what, $8,5K, then additional rack time + maybe some books from Narbik. Its more or less a rough estimate im looking at, so I can start saving up (or ask my very nice bank-lady) when at some point in the future i will think about committing myself to the journey

(Why dont someone say: You definately need a new Macbook Pro for the journey so I can justify getting one )

Yeah I have convinced myself that i "need" a new Mac Pro for my CCIE studies. Looking to pick it up within the month

Good luck!!

kpjungle

liquid6 wrote: »

Yeah I have convinced myself that i "need" a new Mac Pro for my CCIE studies. Looking to pick it up within the month

Good luck!!

Thats the spirit!