Passing In One Shot

December 31, 2007 @ 5:09 pm · Filed under CCIE Study

This is my response to someone else… pretty much sums it up…
Its full of things why it took me 4 times…
1. What hotel to look for that is closest to the campus and convenient to stay in terms of budget and all.
JB The Radisson is nearby and it’s expensive (AVOID). I stayed there in JULY for my first attempt, that was not successful (I DIDN’T LIKE THE BED, it was the one with air, but it never felt good, I didn’t sleep all night!!)
Last month, when I passed, I stayed at Crestwood Suites Durham, which is like 2 exits on highway 40 away from the DAVIS DR exit (when you get off the highway, head about 1 mile south on Davis drive and you’ll see the CISCO sign on the grass, that’s kit creek drive make a RIGHT on to it, and then you just make a left at the Cisco logo & flags…) You can also take NC highway 54 (which runs along 40) to get from the hotel to Davis drive… (just remember Davis drive, to kit creek road if you’re driving)
Here is the hotel info…
Crestwood Suites Durham 300 Meredith Drive NC 27713 919-361-1234
I just checked, for 1/13-/15 its 74.99 USD per night. It was a very nice environment for the CCIE, very quiet at night. And the rooms are spacious! I will definitely be staying there at least 2 more times, for the security and voice labs!
2. How about the ambience in the examination hall (reminds me of college days )
JB Its very nice, and you wont feel stressed. Bring some favorite snack foods. Many people are afraid of the food, but the day I passed it was a beef roast and mash potatoes… it was very very good! I think a big part of passing was I had a great lunch. You only get 20 minutes for lunch, so eat fast!!!
3. Are the proctors user friendly??
JB
They are gentlemen. If you ask them a question at 2:45 pm or later they will answer it if you start the question with enough information to prove you know your stuff! I’ll make up an example out of thin air… lets say if you didn’t know whether to use BGP med, or BGP origin code to influence inbound traffic flow (lets say the task said “DO NOT CHANGE AS PATH INFORMATION”).
Here are two ways you could ask…
A) What other way could I complete this task if I can’t change the as path length?
B) I can use BGP metric (MED) or I can make one path’s origin code less preferred, say I set one to incomplete, which would you say I should do to complete this task successfully?
Obviously B is going to give the proctor enough confidence in you to get help!!! They are VERY VERY smart guys. Don’t underestimate their knowledge. They personally do many 8 hour full CCIE exams themselves each year as part of their creating and testing new exams inside Cisco. They often talk about this during lunch. They could do your exam in 4 hours and pass with a near perfect score… trust me. You SHOULD NEVER ask them ANYTHING until 2:45pm unless you’re having an equipment issue… TRUST ME. If they think you are a baby and can’t get the test on your own, they won’t want to help you! If you try hard all day and just feel you need clarification in the last hour, you’ll probably get help!
4. On technical front, could you help me bit with the sort of questions that were there. I’m kinda weak or can say not fully confident with QOS over FR, NAT , AAA, CBAC, Multicast BSR etc. Although these are the topics on my hit-list these days, it could be really helpful if you can share some lines on the sort of stuff that was in there. Sounds bit naive, but thats how it is….I cant afford a second chance..really.
JB
The test itself is protected by a strict NDA (non disclosure agreement). No one can’t say what they had or even a hint!!!! I CAN NOT and WON’T talk about what I faced on the test. Once you take it you’ll understand why. It’s really exciting and an honor to sit in there and test your judgment about what to use and when. Really smart guys at Cisco work hard to make the CCIE a challenge. I respect the process more now than ever. It’s to make sure you are worthy of the program. PERIOD.
I will say if you used a workbook, make sure you know where EVERY thing in that workbook is on the DOC CD in about 30 seconds or less. Look around the DOC CD areas that you didn’t ever use in the workbook, just to make sure you can QUICKLY look up ANY THING AT ALL!!!! Knowing the DOC CD to “the level of a CCIE” is the only sure thing that will get you a number… Don’t worry about affording the test etc.; you need to forget all the stress and pressure. If you are stressed out and have pressure you may not sleep the night before and you’ll fail for sure. I recommend you just look at this as a training exercise. If you pass, great! If not god will give you a second chance, or more! I risked my financial position to pass the test. It was worth it.
5. Do you get the result same day or what.
JB
If you leave the test by 4pm (its usually 7:20am or 7:30am to 4pm) the “results are ready to check online” email will be in your email box by 11pm or so”. If you passed then about 7am the next day, a second email later on will say “congratulations on becoming CCIE certified”.
6. Is it ok if I dont go out for lunch during the paper..or is it mandatory.
JB You can’t go out. You must remain either in the lab lunch area, or you can take a quick trip to the bathroom, or the Cisco employee coffee/drink area for a drink. Drinks are not “served” to you, like lunch is. You MUST leave your rack for 20-25 minutes when everyone else does. You can’t skip lunch. But you won’t want to skip lunch! You need food and a break to focus in the afternoon part!
I’m the first guy from my entire organisation to attempt the lab exam, I have enormous eyes on me…I dont wanna shrug them off at all. Hope you’ll help.
JB
This is about you and the material on the doc cd. That’s it! YOU and only YOU are going to pass or fail that test. It’s as much a test of YOU and YOUR abilities as a person to focus, as it is your ability to recall data or commands. Don’t worry about everyone else. The only thing on your mind should be
1. being fully rested… don’t travel the day before your exam, TRUST ME 2. don’t eat any sugar, or caffeine the day before your lab. 3. sleep early. Be in bed by 8pm or 9pm the latest. Don’t worry if you wake up at 3am. Don’t get nervous. Getting 5 or 6 hours of good restful sleep will be enough. Getting none, will kill your chances… don’t watch tv at all after 6pm. Clear your mind. If you like music, don’t listen loud music at all the day before your test. 4. eat enough food the day before your test. 5. don’t talk on the phone much the day before your test. 6. bring sleeping pills to take at 8pm if you need to fall asleep if you have trouble sleeping. I used UNISOM and it worked very very fast and well!
GODSPEED TO YOU!
Joe
—–Original Message—– From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of Banks, Ethan Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 2:32 PM To: ccielab@groupstudy.com Subject: Passing In One Shot
A question to those who took multiple times to pass the R&S lab: if you could do it all over again, how would you prepare differently to pass on the first attempt?
/Ethan - CCIE Candidate Blog http://www.ethanbanks.net ———- Learn more about Chase Paymentech Solutions,LLC payment processing services at www.chasepaymentech.com.
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