When to go for the CCIE?

Hi Guys,

After such a busy week travelling away for work doing core upgrades and installing ASRs, i finally passed my CCNP. Im at a bit of a crossroads at the moment and thought i would turn to you guys for advice. Now that im finished my CCNP i am unsure which direction to head to next. Someday i would love to get the IE so have a few questions that i hope you can help with

1. When is a good time to begin the IE track? i currently have over 3 years networking experience and currently work for a small isp/managed services company. I know i am not at the IE level but hey, everyone has to get there somehow. Do you think it would be a reasonable point in my career to start this now?
2. ive been considering doing the CCIP track because i work with BGP and we are about to deploy MPLS where i will be heavily involved. I know this would be a good track to do as it goes covers the MPLS, BGP, QoS material required for the IE R&S. So i feel this will contribute well towards my IE studies and will not be a waste of time. Do you think it is worth me going for the IP then onto the IE instead?
3. Do you think i should wait on the IE due to my experience and go for other Pro level certs such as the DP/IP or Juniper equivalents and eventually attempt it when i have more experience? I could also upgrade my MCSA to the 2008 track but i rarely work with MS products now.
4. How many hours will be required to pass the CCIE written exam? i know it can vary between people and from what ive seen on the boards about 200 hours is a good estimate?

From the boards its clear what kind of dedication is required to pass such a exam/lab and are fully aware of that. Ive had time to sit down and think about it and i dont think i would want to try to pass the lab within 12 months of having the written cert. My main reason is im 26, have a great social life and i love doing other things hobbies too as well as IT. So its important that it doesn't take over my life completely and im willing to do it over a longer period as a result. Im also single at the moment so dont have the worry of putting a wife and family to one side

I do have to complete my Masters dissertation first to achieve my masters degree so once i have done so i can continue on with my cert plans. Long term wise i would like to move into a architect based role and stay in the technical side as thats what i really enjoy. I have access to use 4x 3560's so from a switching perspective i have that area for the lab covered. I figured i would use something like gns3 for the routing aspects.

What do you guys think?

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

Plazma

Firstly, congrats on the CCNP!

Second, I did the CCIP track before hand and it has greatly helped me in my work as well as my IE studies so far. Instead of starting from 'square 1' in a sense for BGP, it's just adding a whole lot on as well as forcefully refreshing the stuff I already learned. It's not required, but from personal experience, it's helped.. considering how massive BGP is.

Third, as for "what to go for or wait" I say screw everyone else and do what you feel is right. The IE is hard, but it's not impossible (though at times it seems so). My only piece of advice is don't let anyone tell you what to do.. not even folks who you respect as your 'superior'. listen to their suggestions, act on what you want.

As for the 'hours' required to pass the written... it's true that a lot of studying can be broken down and played as a 'numbers game' but I personally don't like using this as my primary approach, but just a bit of a measuring stick. I'm the slow/methodical type who stresses "Quality over Quantity" any day. What good is studying 200 hours if you're only receptive to 10% of it ? Many will disagree with this statement but that's just what I've found true for me.. and it's not failed me yet.

Your social life.. sounds great.. just realize that to get the best quality and most out of your studies, you might have to sacrifice some of that , but just remember.. it's temporary. I'm not the most social of creatures, so it's not a huge sacrifice for me, and my significant other is similar.. makes it a lot easier.

GNS3 will be mostly sufficient, especially if you have 4 x 3560's. I just use dynamips and some gear at work I've managed to borrow.

Whatever you decide, good luck !

dtlokee

CCIE preperations are a marathon not a sprint.. no harm in taking some time off but there's no harm in continuing a 1-2 hour a day study habit. There is no formula for how much time it takes, all depends on how you learn and when you feel ready. There is value in doing the professional level certifiations, especially if you need to gain employment or better employment. If you can wait it out I would go straight for the CCIE and not detour through the other tracks because that is where you will see the best return on your investment. I've rarely had a customer be impressed by any of my professional level certifications, but the CCIE changes every conversation.

NOC-Ninja

Its really up to you. You have to be willing to sacrifice all the time in the world to study CCIE. Are you okay with that? A lot of people will say that its hard but not impossible. I truly believe that the hard word is an understatement. It will eat out your money and VERY precious time.

You'll figure out what I'm saying when you are researching, studying, reading, labbing, (live & breathe) for it. How about go for CCIE so you know how much time it really demands? Say goodbye to your social life.

nel

dtlokee wrote: »

CCIE preperations are a marathon not a sprint.. no harm in taking some time off but there's no harm in continuing a 1-2 hour a day study habit. There is no formula for how much time it takes, all depends on how you learn and when you feel ready. There is value in doing the professional level certifiations, especially if you need to gain employment or better employment. If you can wait it out I would go straight for the CCIE and not detour through the other tracks because that is where you will see the best return on your investment. I've rarely had a customer be impressed by any of my professional level certifications, but the CCIE changes every conversation.

Interesting comment there DT. Im surprised that more employers were not impressed with your other pro level certs. Although i can see what your saying from recent job ads ive seen. From my perspective this is something i will be doing to not only gain further knowledge in the field but to also try and advance my career prospects. I would very much like to become an "expert" in the area and have a senior role. Eventually i may try and back R&S up with voice or security but that is a long time away and i work with neither in much depth at the moment so arent thinking too far ahead.

In regards to sacrifice i have no problem with that for the last 5 years ive worked full time, taken an under and postgrad degree whilst working FT and studying for certs too. This has taken a huge amount of my time up. With uni it felt like something i had to do, and im glad i did, however i really enjoy R&S so i dont think the hours will feel as "forced" as my uni work.

Ive ordered Odoms cert guide 5 mins ago and have others already such as the doyle books. My only big bug is that i wont have the senior level experience to go with the IE yet. Have any of you been in this position before? if so, how was it when you landed your first IE gig? did you feel out of your depth or is it not as daunting as it seems?

ptilsen

nel wrote: »

Interesting comment there DT. Im surprised that more employers were not impressed with your other pro level certs.

CCIE is one of the most-respected, highest-valued certs there is. I'm a systems guy, but I will give any CCIE the respect they're due. The breadth and depth of a CCIE's knowledge is greater than the sum of all of his other certs, in dtlokee's case. The only other certs that can even near that level are the MCM, MCA, and maybe the high-level GIAC certs. Even they aren't as well known as CCIE. Dtlokee could probably obtain an MCM if he wanted to, given triple-MCSE-with-both specializations. As a systems' guy not nearly as highly certified as that, I can't even sit back and be impressed by his MS certs simply because he has his CCIE.

I'm not a networking guy, but when I see those four letters, I get what it means. I don't even need to see your other acronyms or your resume; I know what kind of skill you must have. Edit: That is not to discredit those who have gone beyond the CCIE with non-Cisco certs or multiple CCIEs. I just mean, for lack of a better way to phrase it, you had me at the CCIE part.

nel

ptilsen wrote: »

CCIE is one of the most-respected, highest-valued certs there is. I'm a systems guy, but I will give any CCIE the respect they're due. The breadth and depth of a CCIE's knowledge is greater than the sum of all of his other certs, in dtlokee's case. The only other certs that can even near that level are the MCM, MCA, and maybe the high-level GIAC certs. Even they aren't as well known as CCIE. Dtlokee could probably obtain an MCM if he wanted to, given triple-MCSE-with-both specializations. As a systems' guy not nearly as highly certified as that, I can't even sit back and be impressed by his MS certs simply because he has his CCIE.

I'm not a networking guy, but when I see those four letters, I get what it means. I don't even need to see your other acronyms or your resume; I know what kind of skill you must have. Edit: That is not to discredit those who have gone beyond the CCIE with non-Cisco certs or multiple CCIEs. I just mean, for lack of a better way to phrase it, you had me at the CCIE part.

Thats a great point actually and for some reason it never occurred to me as such that its quality over quantity. I guess its a case of having a single IE level pass under your belt is better than having 10 pro level certs, regardless of the vendor.

bertieb

Congrats on the CCNP fella!

nel

bertieb wrote: »

Congrats on the CCNP fella!

Thanks Man!

dtlokee

The discussion about CCIE often needs to be looked at in 2 different ways, one is when you work for Cisco or a Cisco Partner and the other is when you work for a Cisco customer/end user. I have seen some Cisco partners who need CCIE's to obtain gold certifications basically willing to pay CCIE's decent salaries to sit around and do whatever they feel like becasue they can justify the salary with the additional product discounts (5% extra discount on $20,000,000 would cover a few CCIE's on staff). When looking at end customers they are usually far more concerned about that CCIE on the team being able to "do it all" which in today's world there are very few projects that are pure routing and switching or security projects. Most projects will require the input of multiple teams with different disciplines. This is where having the knowledge across different areas becomes very valuable in more of an architect role to unify the solution across multiple teams.

I don't know your situation but as for mine - I worked as a trainer for about 5 years which allowed me to have a good amount of free time to study (especially when stuck in a hotel room 4 hours a night for those week long classes out of my home training center). In that environement the more classes you were certified to deliver the better your chances of staying busy so it was an ideal situation to persue different certifications.

if your goal is to change jobs sooner rather than later then continuing the professional tracks would make the most sense. The only thing that I usually find is that when you start a new job for the first 6mo-1yr you are going to find that you are using your own personal time to get up to speed on the requirements of that job which can cut into your continued time to study for CCIE

nel

Well i do work for a cisco partner but we are not of a gold standard. Even if i achieved a CCIE i would most probably not get the role/salary for the achievement of the Cert. So its more for future career and knowledge advancement. Eventually, in a year or two i would like to go travelling for approx 6 - 12 months as its somewhat of a dream of mine. I have the date of summer 2013 for that in mind so it would be tight to get the IE in by then i think. Sadly, i dont have a wide birth of experience in networking and have worked mainly with R&S.

Unfortunately, i am not in a position where i can study at work. I can get the occasional hour or so from time to time but not often.

At the moment i have no plans to do so. Theres some exciting things being deployed at work so it will be great experience to get under my belt plus its not a bad company to work for. Like i say, one day i want to go travelling, once i get back im quite tempted by contracting or working for a gold partner so will likely head to the London areas if all this happens. Thats why im determined to have myself in a strong position when i return to the UK so its easier to get a job too.

I guess if i do decide to go ahead and travel then i could have my IE written tucked away by that summer. too many things to consider lol.

dtlokee

nel wrote: »

Well i do work for a cisco partner but we are not of a gold standard. Even if i achieved a CCIE i would most probably not get the role/salary for the achievement of the Cert. So its more for future career and knowledge advancement. Eventually, in a year or two i would like to go travelling for approx 6 - 12 months as its somewhat of a dream of mine. I have the date of summer 2013 for that in mind so it would be tight to get the IE in by then i think. Sadly, i dont have a wide birth of experience in networking and have worked mainly with R&S.

Unfortunately, i am not in a position where i can study at work. I can get the occasional hour or so from time to time but not often.

At the moment i have no plans to do so. Theres some exciting things being deployed at work so it will be great experience to get under my belt plus its not a bad company to work for. Like i say, one day i want to go travelling, once i get back im quite tempted by contracting or working for a gold partner so will likely head to the London areas if all this happens. Thats why im determined to have myself in a strong position when i return to the UK so its easier to get a job too.

I guess if i do decide to go ahead and travel then i could have my IE written tucked away by that summer. too many things to consider lol.

Just something to think about when you work for a partner... when you acheive a certification and you are associated with the partner they automatically get the benefit of you having the certification. The rules changed 2 years ago and the same rules that apply to the CCIE now apply to some professional level certs (I am not sure if CCNP is one but the VP and SP and IP count). That is when you leave the partner they still get to "use" your certification for 6 months and you can not "use" it to help another partner gain partner status for a year. If you plan to persue the CCIE or other pro level certs you might want to talk to the company first otherwise you may end up hurting your marketability to another partner. I know of a few friends that were offered significantly less (20-50k less for the first year) for a role becasue the partner could not use their certifications to help their partner status.

nel

dtlokee wrote: »

Just something to think about when you work for a partner... when you acheive a certification and you are associated with the partner they automatically get the benefit of you having the certification. The rules changed 2 years ago and the same rules that apply to the CCIE now apply to some professional level certs (I am not sure if CCNP is one but the VP and SP and IP count). That is when you leave the partner they still get to "use" your certification for 6 months and you can not "use" it to help another partner gain partner status for a year. If you plan to persue the CCIE or other pro level certs you might want to talk to the company first otherwise you may end up hurting your marketability to another partner. I know of a few friends that were offered significantly less (20-50k less for the first year) for a role becasue the partner could not use their certifications to help their partner status.

OUCH! what if the partner doesnt contribute towards it in any significant way? so could i retract my association to the partner before i took the Lab to achieve the CCIE? because in all honesty, if a company doesnt contribute significantly, and by that i mean financial help/time towards lab costs etc then i cant see how thats a fair deal. A few books wont count towards the value of the benefits the cert will bring them.

The following two links show some discussions by a few CCIEs and can see there point if the company has actively encouraged and offered support to the engineer but hardly fair if they dont and then refuse to release their number before the 12 months is up.

Channel partner association and the 365 day timebomb - IEOC - INE's Online Community

Monica is my new best friend! : Eman

Turgon

nel wrote: »

Hi Guys,

After such a busy week travelling away for work doing core upgrades and installing ASRs, i finally passed my CCNP. Im at a bit of a crossroads at the moment and thought i would turn to you guys for advice. Now that im finished my CCNP i am unsure which direction to head to next. Someday i would love to get the IE so have a few questions that i hope you can help with

1. When is a good time to begin the IE track? i currently have over 3 years networking experience and currently work for a small isp/managed services company. I know i am not at the IE level but hey, everyone has to get there somehow. Do you think it would be a reasonable point in my career to start this now?
2. ive been considering doing the CCIP track because i work with BGP and we are about to deploy MPLS where i will be heavily involved. I know this would be a good track to do as it goes covers the MPLS, BGP, QoS material required for the IE R&S. So i feel this will contribute well towards my IE studies and will not be a waste of time. Do you think it is worth me going for the IP then onto the IE instead?
3. Do you think i should wait on the IE due to my experience and go for other Pro level certs such as the DP/IP or Juniper equivalents and eventually attempt it when i have more experience? I could also upgrade my MCSA to the 2008 track but i rarely work with MS products now.
4. How many hours will be required to pass the CCIE written exam? i know it can vary between people and from what ive seen on the boards about 200 hours is a good estimate?

From the boards its clear what kind of dedication is required to pass such a exam/lab and are fully aware of that. Ive had time to sit down and think about it and i dont think i would want to try to pass the lab within 12 months of having the written cert. My main reason is im 26, have a great social life and i love doing other things hobbies too as well as IT. So its important that it doesn't take over my life completely and im willing to do it over a longer period as a result. Im also single at the moment so dont have the worry of putting a wife and family to one side I do have to complete my Masters dissertation first to achieve my masters degree so once i have done so i can continue on with my cert plans. Long term wise i would like to move into a architect based role and stay in the technical side as thats what i really enjoy. I have access to use 4x 3560's so from a switching perspective i have that area for the lab covered. I figured i would use something like gns3 for the routing aspects.

What do you guys think?

Go for the CCIE if you have the time to put enough regular work in. We have a TE regular with 1000+ lab hours put in inside one year who failed his first attempt. Intellect you will need, but work ethic is this clincher! Good luck.

Turgon

dtlokee wrote: »

The discussion about CCIE often needs to be looked at in 2 different ways, one is when you work for Cisco or a Cisco Partner and the other is when you work for a Cisco customer/end user. I have seen some Cisco partners who need CCIE's to obtain gold certifications basically willing to pay CCIE's decent salaries to sit around and do whatever they feel like becasue they can justify the salary with the additional product discounts (5% extra discount on $20,000,000 would cover a few CCIE's on staff)

Exactly. In the UK I have seen partners filling up on developing world CCIEs to make the gold status. They are *very* affordable. In the operational field though if you get hired with the CCIE moniker everything is coming at you to keep services up and running.. and VSS, Nexus, 6500, FWSM, ACE, MPLS, MEC, ASA and Nokia Clustering isn't on the CCIE R&S curriculum. In a crisis situation in the field, far away from partner land, it's a bad time not to be as good as that number says you should be.

nel

Turgon wrote: »

Go for the CCIE if you have the time to put enough regular work in. We have a TE regular with 1000+ lab hours put in inside one year who failed his first attempt. Intellect you will need, but work ethic is this clincher! Good luck.

So would you agree with DT in saying it would be more beneficial for someone like myself rather than going for additional pro level certs?

Turgon wrote: »

Exactly. In the UK I have seen partners filling up on developing world CCIEs to make the gold status. They are *very* affordable. In the operational field though if you get hired with the CCIE moniker everything is coming at you to keep services up and running.. and VSS, Nexus, 6500, FWSM, ACE, MPLS, MEC, ASA and Nokia Clustering isn't on the CCIE R&S curriculum. In a crisis situation in the field, far away from partner land, it's a bad time not to be as good as that number says you should be.

You see, this is my worry as i do not have the additional exposure required for this which is why i feel i will be out of my depth

Mishra

Nice to see you again dtlokee!

shodown

Mishra wrote: »

Nice to see you again dtlokee!

Same thing I was thinking. I haven't seen him since before I Got my CCNA, now I'm on a IE track. Time flies

dtlokee

I forgot my TE password and it took 2 years for the password reset email to show up

Just kidding! Life is what gets in the way when you're busy making other plans.

nel - there are very few reason that you can compel Cisco to release a CCIE from a partner before the 12 months is up. I know of one person who did it but only because the company lost their partner status for other reasons. It does not matter if the company has supported you or not once associated the one year rule is in effect. Also it applies to some professional level certifications which also matter to a partner because of the specializations.

I still say go for it... my circumstances are a bit different but it's still been the best career move I've made outside of owning my own business.

Essendon

Welcome back dtlokee!! Thank God your still alive, you were certainly away for a while!

Essendon

nel wrote: »

Hi Guys,

After such a busy week travelling away for work doing core upgrades and installing ASRs, i finally passed my CCNP. Im at a bit of a crossroads at the moment and thought i would turn to you guys for advice. Now that im finished my CCNP i am unsure which direction to head to next. Someday i would love to get the IE so have a few questions that i hope you can help with

1. When is a good time to begin the IE track? i currently have over 3 years networking experience and currently work for a small isp/managed services company. I know i am not at the IE level but hey, everyone has to get there somehow. Do you think it would be a reasonable point in my career to start this now?
2. ive been considering doing the CCIP track because i work with BGP and we are about to deploy MPLS where i will be heavily involved. I know this would be a good track to do as it goes covers the MPLS, BGP, QoS material required for the IE R&S. So i feel this will contribute well towards my IE studies and will not be a waste of time. Do you think it is worth me going for the IP then onto the IE instead?
3. Do you think i should wait on the IE due to my experience and go for other Pro level certs such as the DP/IP or Juniper equivalents and eventually attempt it when i have more experience? I could also upgrade my MCSA to the 2008 track but i rarely work with MS products now.
4. How many hours will be required to pass the CCIE written exam? i know it can vary between people and from what ive seen on the boards about 200 hours is a good estimate?

From the boards its clear what kind of dedication is required to pass such a exam/lab and are fully aware of that. Ive had time to sit down and think about it and i dont think i would want to try to pass the lab within 12 months of having the written cert. My main reason is im 26, have a great social life and i love doing other things hobbies too as well as IT. So its important that it doesn't take over my life completely and im willing to do it over a longer period as a result. Im also single at the moment so dont have the worry of putting a wife and family to one side I do have to complete my Masters dissertation first to achieve my masters degree so once i have done so i can continue on with my cert plans. Long term wise i would like to move into a architect based role and stay in the technical side as thats what i really enjoy. I have access to use 4x 3560's so from a switching perspective i have that area for the lab covered. I figured i would use something like gns3 for the routing aspects.

What do you guys think?

Congrats nel, achieving this cert is no small feat!

Turgon

nel wrote: »

So would you agree with DT in saying it would be more beneficial for someone like myself rather than going for additional pro level certs?

You see, this is my worry as i do not have the additional exposure required for this which is why i feel i will be out of my depth

hehehe..any CCIE in the field has the same worries. The track doesn't cover everything you *need* to know, but if you are the senior network guy with the title you will be expected to just either know all that or handle it

I say if you think you have the time to prepare properly for the track just go for it. Even if you dont get through, providing you give the studies a really good go for at least a year you learn a great deal that helps you in your work, even if it involves technologies the CCIE doesn't cover. At least that has been my experience.

jamesp1983

dtlokee,

it is great to see you on here again!

nel

Turgon wrote: »

hehehe..any CCIE in the field has the same worries. The track doesn't cover everything you *need* to know, but if you are the senior network guy with the title you will be expected to just either know all that or handle it

I say if you think you have the time to prepare properly for the track just go for it. Even if you dont get through, providing you give the studies a really good go for at least a year you learn a great deal that helps you in your work, even if it involves technologies the CCIE doesn't cover. At least that has been my experience.

Turg, your not supposed to laugh at me man! your supposed to be wise and give sensible advice and all that jazz

Yeah i agree actually. I think i'll spend the next 2 months finishing my masters dissertation and then i can have full concentration on going through the Written

. Looking at the material alot of it will really help me in my day to day duties and theres some areas such as QoS, MPLS and IPv6 i need to get stronger in too anyway.

Turgon

nel wrote: »

Turg, your not supposed to laugh at me man! your supposed to be wise and give sensible advice and all that jazz

Yeah i agree actually. I think i'll spend the next 2 months finishing my masters dissertation and then i can have full concentration on going through the Written . Looking at the material alot of it will really help me in my day to day duties and theres some areas such as QoS, MPLS and IPv6 i need to get stronger in too anyway.

hehehe..we all need to get stronger on MPLS. You wont find too many people on here designing SP MPLS cores.

down77

A CCIE will not know everything there is to know, but they most likely have become an expert at researching the answer.

Nel if it makes you feel any better I'm working on finishing MPLS fundamentals now and I'm still a little fuzzy on some areas in regards to implementing MPLS. I'd expect a CCIE R&S to know the basics of configuring a CE to PE hand off, but as others have said the crux of the MPLS configuration is more on the SP side of things.

You will be more than fine on the studies and have plenty of time! Don't worry about how long x or y takes and set your own pace/schedule.

nel

down77 wrote: »

A CCIE will not know everything there is to know, but they most likely have become an expert at researching the answer.

Nel if it makes you feel any better I'm working on finishing MPLS fundamentals now and I'm still a little fuzzy on some areas in regards to implementing MPLS. I'd expect a CCIE R&S to know the basics of configuring a CE to PE hand off, but as others have said the crux of the MPLS configuration is more on the SP side of things.

You will be more than fine on the studies and have plenty of time! Don't worry about how long x or y takes and set your own pace/schedule.

Very True, i think its just because everyone knows that you are a CCIE and they automatically think that you know everything

Yeah your right about the MPLS stuff, im probably crossing paths with what im talking about at times between SP/R&S as i do a combo of both . It was more in reference to the fact that i will be one of two people expected to implement a MPLS network from core to edge from our company - thats why i have to brush on my MPLS skills that currently sit at 0%

I maybe tempted to ask work to buy me some INE/IPExpert workbooks.

vinbuck

Turgon wrote: »

hehehe..we all need to get stronger on MPLS. You wont find too many people on here designing SP MPLS cores.

It's funny that you mention that, it's part of my job and i'm just a lowly CCNP candidate.

I don't work for a huge SP, but it's a multi-state network and we run an iBGP/MPLS core. I've been fortunate enough to get several large projects related to design or re-design of our core. Working for an SP forced me to push my knowledge way beyond what I thought I could assimilate in a given timeframe. I'm planning on taking a stab at the CCIE in 2012. I wouldn't consider myself an expert on MPLS by any means, but I work with it frequently enough to implement it. I got an extra gold star on my last review because I used GNS3 to sim our MPLS core so we could test some design changes. props to the TE community for introducing me to that wonderful gem.

nel

vinbuck wrote: »

It's funny that you mention that, it's part of my job and i'm just a lowly CCNP candidate.

I don't work for a huge SP, but it's a multi-state network and we run an iBGP/MPLS core. I've been fortunate enough to get several large projects related to design or re-design of our core. Working for an SP forced me to push my knowledge way beyond what I thought I could assimilate in a given timeframe. I'm planning on taking a stab at the CCIE in 2012. I wouldn't consider myself an expert on MPLS by any means, but I work with it frequently enough to implement it. I got an extra gold star on my last review because I used GNS3 to sim our MPLS core so we could test some design changes. props to the TE community for introducing me to that wonderful gem.

Yeah, im in a very similar boat. I work for a small ISP in a small team so have to get involved. The experience is great for someone at my level whos trying to work up.

instant000

dtlokee wrote: »

...if your goal is to change jobs sooner rather than later then continuing the professional tracks would make the most sense. The only thing that I usually find is that when you start a new job for the first 6mo-1yr you are going to find that you are using your own personal time to get up to speed on the requirements of that job which can cut into your continued time to study for CCIE

Not necessarily studying for IE myself, but I agree that transitioning into a new job does cut down on your study time. Not too wise to let any recruiters woo me right now, when I need to concentrate on my Master's for now, and easily make up the difference in a year or two of pay when I decide to make my next move.