What did you give up to get certified?

What did you give up to get certified? Staying up with technology takes a lot of time, so surely something had to go.

Gaming?

Hobbies?

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NOC-Ninja

Kuroki wrote: »

I thought the CCIE was $1400 (roughly £1000) per attempt? Or is that just because it's wireless?

Its currently $1,600 per attempt. Now you have to add up some things to get there.

building a lab
bootcamp
training materials
books
videos
hotel fees
airplane ticket
vacation time since my work wont pay for it
money for food and gas when traveling.
now repeat all the traveling expense and attempt cost if you fail

NOC-Ninja

fredrikjj wrote: »

The thread asked about what you had to give up to get certified, and you answered that in the first post, but what you are doing in the second post is taking that personal experience and extrapolating that this is what it takes for everyone. Not sleeping properly for example is not what anyone with a clue would recommend if you want to learn something properly. I'm also skeptical that someone can consistently sleep very little without occasionally having days where the sleep deficit is recovered, say on the weekends.

Furthermore, will a person be more or less likely to pass for example the CCIE if they lose their friendships because the only thing they do is grind the Cisco CLI? You could argue yes, that's what it takes to get good enough to pass, you can't be at any social events and you must spend all time studying. You could also argue that a person that becomes unbalanced to that degree will not be in a good mental state, will feel like ****, and be more likely to give up. Giving up physical training completely seems like a moronic thing to do as well considering that being a good physical state can only help your focus.

I understand that you need to justify your own behavior, and the fact that you did pass does validate that it "worked", but that doesn't mean that it is the optimal route to take for everyone, or even the optimal route for you. What if another CCIE comes in here and says "yeah I studied 3 hours Monday through Friday by staying at the office until 8 PM, then I went home and hung with my wife, saw friends, trained and then on weekends I went back to the office like it was a normal work day and studied 8 hours. I made sure to get proper sleep, nutrition and exercise. Not much changed besides having to give up video games and essentially having a 7 day work week". It seems extremely likely to me that many CCIEs have done it just like that.

True friendships will always be there. They will understand what you are doing if they are good friends.

I may have given up BJJ but I still lifted weights on lunch time.

THere were days that I got sick. I still studied unless i felt like i was dying then i go to sleep.

Yes, it is not the optimal route. There are things that I hope I knew. I cant do much about it since I had no CCIE helping and guiding me to the right path. It was a very rough road.

I think Turgon said this before. Im not sure if you remember him. He always say that CCIE's are navy seals of IT. I never understood it until I got through the pain. You will push yourself on what you believe is possible.

Like I said, you draw the line on what you believe. You will fight for what you believe.

If another CCIE comes in here and only studied 3hrs then I am happy for him.

RomBUS

Honestly haven't given up anything. Maybe some nights of sleep but usually I study at work whenever I can because we have dead time frequently (there's just not enough to do and I think there are too many IT personnel for this job)

I still go out with friends, play games when I want to (most of time hold for brushing up on studies) and enjoy my weekends. I feel bad compared to the rest of you guys but it's the honest truth. I still think I will end up where I want to be in my career at some point.

[Deleted User]

I guess what I am getting at is nobody is the jack of all trades and can't be. I know nobody can so I'm not going to stress myself over it trying to be that. I'm just going to do some certs and enjoy the ride and still enjoy time for myself/friends/family. My dad always told me you can be the jack of all trades and a master of none. True though.

fuz1on

Pretty much the same as everyone else. I pretty much study 24/7!

It takes dedication and determination to become semi-proficient in many specializations within IT. I'm glad for this forum - though - because it gives you a blueprint to start and a strong support system for the failures and triumphs alike.

gorebrush

CCIE's are $1900 if you're doing it the Mobile way as I am...

instant000

gorebrush wrote: »

CCIE's are $1900 if you're doing it the Mobile way as I am...

From your signature:

CCIE: R&S lab: 6th Feb 2015, London UK
R: 833 hours | L: 500 hours | T: 1,333 hours

You will have probably put in 1,400 hours by the time you get to the lab.

At a conservative estimate of $50 per hour for a network engineer, that puts the cost at $7,000 for lab prep. And that's just your time. It doesn't include the equipment and training materials.

NOC-Ninja's $15,000 number is really not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. From what I can tell, he put over 2,000 hours into getting his CCIE. He also changed tracks, as he was pursuing R&S at first. It may have actually cost him in the range of $25,000.

From my perspective, these costs are relative, too.

I spent $10,000 on my Masters.
I spent about $20,000 or so on my Bachelors.

Don't look at the $15,000 as blowing the money. Look at it as an investment in yourself.

If you invest $15,000 in yourself, and you make "only" $10K more a year on the promotion/job change, then you break even in less than 2 years.

kohr-ah

Kuroki wrote: »

I thought the CCIE was $1400 (roughly £1000) per attempt? Or is that just because it's wireless?

It is the cost of study materials, Lab materials or rack time rented, a lot of time boot camps, the cost to fly to X city to take the test, the cost of hotel to stay over night, cost to fly back. It adds up quick. A lot of people I know took CCIE worked for MSPs who footed the bills and then they had to say 18 months or else had to repay them for it (About same. 10 - 15k bills).

As for what I gave up:

Gaming I only do on the weekends if daughter is sleeping or wife is sleeping.
Sleep. I learned to sleep very short shifts. Figure average person is supposed to sleep 8 hours a day. I learned for a while to function very well on 4. Positives were when my daughter was born I knew how to deal with sleep loss already.
Family Time - This I learned to balance. Life is short and I dont wanna give up family time for my cert. I'd get up early and study for CCNP. Study while eatting lunch. Study at night when wife fell asleep or read while she watched TV and on my train ride home.

What I gained:

The list of certs to the left
Experience - A lot of the people I know that went and got the CCNP barely use it. I went out and found a job where I get to use it.
Respect - At work I have a lot of people come to me first because I took the time to study my butt off to get what is on the left to further my career.

Node Man

I wouldn't think of my time as $50 an hour when studying because a lot of the studying is being performed when already on the clock.

Polynomial

dave330i wrote: »

Didn't give up anything. I invested my free time to myself.

Thank you voice of reason.

The highest performers in the workplace generally are more balanced than only living for work.

RouteMyPacket

My health...

No longer, what good is it being an expert if you're 700lbs and can't leave your bed?

E Double U

Used to use free time at work to listen to music and surf the web, but for the past two years I've only used that time to study. Completed the CCNP Security and now working on CISSP.

The week before an exam I give up quality time with my wife. I'll study instead of watching something with her.

I've put off studying Dutch to the side for years because of my focus on learning networking and security related material.

I have two small children so I definitely don't cut into their time. Have to draw the line somewhere. I need balance.

N2IT

@Poly

+1 I couldn't agree more.

SteveO86

Sleep, Money, Social life. Similar to the rest.

There were times when I would I lab/study till the early AM hours. Other times when I get up in the early AM hours to study for a few hours and knock out labs before going to work.

Also spent a good chunk of change over the last few years. (Workbooks, videos, read hardware, books, I've definitely shelled out a good couple of grand)

Social life, there have been times when I opted to stay in and study and lab opposed to going out.. Most of my friends understood. Ironically some of friends eventually found themselves in the IT field (Networking) so we eventually found time to study and BS about the studying.

Time, time is money, I've sacrificed a good amount of time and even side/extra work to continue studying

Gaming, this was probably the first I gave up on. I used to game online with friends on the Friday nights/weekends. Haven't done that in years.

Don't get me wrong while I have sacrificed a lot, I still have fun. Still go out, hit the gym (at least 4x times a week), socialize (Weekends). Just not as much as I once did.

gespenstern

Social life, games, some time from family, less involved on my job. I don't have any hobbies, don't play guitar, don't do sports besides some fitness, don't have friends to hang out with.

dou2ble

I didn't give up much until I started studying for the ISSEP, barely failed it, and now studying more. My opinion is that the harder the test the more time you have to give up. Tougher tests have more to remember, hence more to review. They take longer to study for because there's more material = more reviewing.

JoJoCal19

dave330i wrote: »

Didn't give up anything. I invested my free time to myself.

Sure you did. Time is a scarce resource and there are opportunity costs when you choose to study

jibbajabba

Node Man wrote: »

I gave up:
1) music as a hobby
2) gaming
3) sleep
4) a social life
5) reading fiction

Actually if that would be the requirement for getting certified, I'd go rather filling shelves in my local supermarket

There need to be a balance me thinks ...

bertieb

Amen to that Jibba. That list contains most of my favourite things

EdTheLad

I gave up my virginity to get certified, or did i get certified to give up my virginity?

JoJoCal19

jibbajabba wrote: »

Actually if that would be the requirement for getting certified, I'd go rather filling shelves in my local supermarket

There need to be a balance me thinks ...

Agreed! That's actually one reason I've cut back on my original plans for this year. Just too stressful.

dave330i

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Sure you did. Time is a scarce resource and there are opportunity costs when you choose to study

I have x amount of free time. Bulk of that time is spent entertaining myself when I'm not studying for a cert. When I'm studying for a cert, bulk of that free time is spent educating myself. If you want to see it as giving up entertainment that's fine. I prefer to see it as investing in myself.

JoJoCal19

dave330i wrote: »

I have x amount of free time. Bulk of that time is spent entertaining myself when I'm not studying for a cert. When I'm studying for a cert, bulk of that free time is spent educating myself. If you want to see it as giving up entertainment that's fine. I prefer to see it as investing in myself.

Oh I agree, I view all of the time I spend studying as investing myself. And it's paid off wonderfully. Doesn't mean there's not an opportunity cost associated with the time that I invest in myself.

LeBroke

My best friend was originally the one pushing me into IT and getting certified.

....I think it's all just a conspiracy so he doesn't have to study his CISSP alone, and he's trying to make me get there.

Cyberscum

All in all about 80 hours of my life I will never get back. I only plan on getting certs that are absolutely a necessity.

Master Of Puppets

I haven't been into gaming for quite some time but my social life definitely takes a hit. 24 hours are just not enough!

rowelld

I gave up having a social life, video games, and a lot of sleep!

tjb122982

How many hours a week would you guys say you spent studying for exams? 20, 30, or more? I'm asking because I may need to make a decision about what road to take soon.

ccnpninja

teenage hobbies, leisure time, sleep time, a lot of family time

kohr-ah

Depends the exam to be honest. CCNP I gave up about three hours a day five days a week. CCDP I gave up about ten hours a week. Aruba certified mobility professional I gave up about six a week.

All depends on how interested you are and how fast you want to do it.