Call to arms

Im in the last few months now. You know Akhiran passed what 5 months ago and it seems like five years with all the work I have put in. I may get through before year end if I keep this pace up. Some time is opening up as Im taking a break from contracting to concentrate on finishing up although v4 prep will not be easy. We will have to pass four exams - written - OEQ - lab - troubleshooting. OEQ isn't funny. It came in because of written dumping and reallab cheating. I would hate to tank the lab on 5 questions, but honestly even the best prepared candidate could do so.

Anyone seriously putting the IE hours in the next 6 months can post up here and we can keep in touch offline. Not many IE passers on this forum the two years I have been here. The hours required to prepare properly if you are fully engaged at work and at home are difficult to amass on a regular basis over a long period of time. Not many people can hack it. It is difficult!

Regards

Turgon

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CCIEWANNABE

I'm with you brother. I know it won't be easy and I think about that everyday. V4 will not be easy. Trust me, I am going through MPLS VPN's right now as I study for the BGP/MPLS composite exam. However, I am starting to catch on to them and that is awesome. Like you said, it takes great dedication the CCIE. One must put in a lot of time, money and hard work. The first two I have now, but the last one is the deal breaker. There are several guys at my work going for their CCIE R&S as well so that helps my situation. Whenever I have questions about stuff we can bounce theory off eachother.

We'll get through it. Just put your head down and keep on studying!

dynamik

The topic made me believe you had actually scheduled something. Way to get my hopes up

Just keep plugging away dude; you're going to get through this before you know it. I'm still following your journal, even though I don't know what half of it means

nullrouter

Turgon,

With the effort you've put into your studies for many years, based on your posts from this forum, and your forum sig, you should be ready to take your lab. If you can get a 3.0 seat still, I would take a shot. Don't fall into the trap of studying for years (a candidate with already done 18 months - 2 years of good, not hard study) without taking any attempts at all, you just end up psyching yourself out when it's lab time. The lab even with the OEQs, isn't the monster some more well known CCIE candidates that get around in other CCIE forums make it out to be. It might kick your ass the first(few) time(s), but that's more to do with the time pressure/cascading fail with final grading, than the actual technology / tasks on it.

Turgon

nullrouter wrote: »

Turgon,

With the effort you've put into your studies for many years, based on your posts from this forum, and your forum sig, you should be ready to take your lab. If you can get a 3.0 seat still, I would take a shot. Don't fall into the trap of studying for years (a candidate with already done 18 months - 2 years of good, not hard study) without taking any attempts at all, you just end up psyching yourself out when it's lab time. The lab even with the OEQs, isn't the monster some more well known CCIE candidates that get around in other CCIE forums make it out to be. It might kick your ass the first(few) time(s), but that's more to do with the time pressure/cascading fail with final grading, than the actual technology / tasks on it.

Some good advice. I will keep an eye on those slots!

liquid6

I'd love to be right there with you this next 6 months, but I think I'm about a year behind you in that respect. It must be quite a relief to be able to focus on just the CCIE, no work hassle. I would say studying full-time is hard too, staying focused for a full day would be challenging...I find work breaks up my studying quite nicely sometimes. Although I'm sure that once you got into a rythm for studying full-time it would be heaps better than trying to fit it around your work schedule.

I would agree with nullrouter and take a shot at the 3.0 lab...but a 2k shot is a big ask

I wish you the best, you don't need luck, but I look forward to the progress updates and the eventual pass!

liquid

nullrouter

liquid6 wrote: »

I would agree with nullrouter and take a shot at the 3.0 lab...but a 2k shot is a big ask

A 4.0 lab with just as much chance to fail would still be 2k, or 2.5k for some of us with non USD

liquid6

oh definitely, I was just saying that instead of taking the 3.0 lab not completely "ready", by your own standard/view it would be a financial risk to take it...rather than waiting until you felt your were "ready" which might mean waiting until 4.0.

i'm looking forward to the changes in 4.0 but i'm not in the last stage of my prep.

liquid

nullrouter

liquid6 wrote: »

i'm looking forward to the changes in 4.0 but i'm not in the last stage of my prep.

I very interested in how the troubleshooting section works out, should be "give me" points for those of us that fix network faults in the real world

apd123

I am thinking its gonna end up random goofball troubleshooting tasks, but I will try to stay optimistic. I took the CCIE twice and the exam that felt more recent also felt more relevant so that is good I guess.

Turgon

nullrouter wrote: »

I very interested in how the troubleshooting section works out, should be "give me" points for those of us that fix network faults in the real world

It should suit me fine because that's what I do. Add to which I have now taken a break from contracting for a couple of months so I can really pull things together now some serious study time had opened up. Im feeling pretty good about things as studies have gone really well the last few months.

Ahriakin

I'd agree with giving it a shot, treat it as recon if nothing else. Until you do you have no way to no if you are really ready and can put it off indefinitely if the aim is to make sure you pass first time.

Turgon

Ahriakin wrote: »

I'd agree with giving it a shot, treat it as recon if nothing else. Until you do you have no way to no if you are really ready and can put it off indefinitely if the aim is to make sure you pass first time.

Its looking like I will sit this year but not v3. There are no slots available now from the looks of things.

APA

Still keep your eyes on the prize.... in case someone pull out of a v3.0 spot at the last minute.... I'm sure there will be a few....

As for me.... knocking over the last CCIP exam.... then I'll begin my quest... I'm actually starting to hint towards giving the SP track a serious go....

GT-Rob

I'm still in the game, although not really in a defcon 3 or anything like that. I still have close to a year before my next attempt, and have been busy with a move, a new job, and a couple of side projects. I plan to step in up during the winter months more.

I still plan to get those numbers though. I have too much time and money invested to ever not.

ccie15672

I scheduled the CCIE SP for Sept 11. NO, not for any patriotic reason.

Nothing motivates you more than having an impending and non-refundable, immutable test date approaching...

Just wrapping up some INE videos.. then will blow through the practice labs, read the command references... and hope for the best..

Turgon

ccie15672 wrote: »

I scheduled the CCIE SP for Sept 11. NO, not for any patriotic reason.

Nothing motivates you more than having an impending and non-refundable, immutable test date approaching...

Just wrapping up some INE videos.. then will blow through the practice labs, read the command references... and hope for the best..

Good luck Derek.

Ahriakin

Ya know Dynamik was right, there really are a lot of Dereks in the Cisco biz. I think it comes down to something that suits the name. Derek Bond? - spy's out....Derek Pitt - super actor's a no.....Derek Klum - Transgender Heidi clone probably not the best choice....but Geek, AHA!

Mrock4

I got faith in you Turgon. I'm behind schedule..originally was going to take the lab in approx. 9 months. Now, It looks like I'll be taking the written before the new year, and the written late next summer if all goes well. Main reason for the delay is that I have a wedding coming up in October, and then I'm hoping to spend an enjoyable Christmas with my new family before having to head overseas (again).

Turgon

Mrock4 wrote: »

I got faith in you Turgon. I'm behind schedule..originally was going to take the lab in approx. 9 months. Now, It looks like I'll be taking the written before the new year, and the written late next summer if all goes well. Main reason for the delay is that I have a wedding coming up in October, and then I'm hoping to spend an enjoyable Christmas with my new family before having to head overseas (again).

Family matters should take precidence. Stay patient and keep chipping away at it and you should be fine!