Comments for Tech Justin

Comment on Thoughts about the CCIE lab by Darby Weaver

Darby Weaver — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:53:11 +0000

Hmm…

Not independently wealthy by any means. Unfortunately my company does pay the bills for my somewhat eccentric training and education either.

So it comes down to just plain ole me and the 20% of my annual salary I tithe to stay in shape (maintaining the concept of being a good and well-trained employee who is productive) each year.

I take about 20% of my gross and I spend this on training, books, equipment, office equipment, etc. to maintain my current set of skillsets, pay for certification exams, and whatever else comes up under that heading.

Some think this stuff should be free somehow and I’ve been privy to quite a bit of free in my day (luck of the draw) however, most of my history has been preparing for the next job or certification.

To each his own. We all find our way.

Good luck Justin!

Wish you well on your upcoming lab attempt.

Comment on How to study for a Cisco exam by jgmitchell

jgmitchell — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:34:43 +0000

I don’t print them out, but I make sure to copy them to my computer so that I can read them whenever I have some spare time. I tried to carry the actual books for a while so I could always read from the same spot, but they get heavy after a while when you consider everything else the typical networker carries. Now I use the PDFs to review random things I read previously.

Comment on How to study for a Cisco exam by Francis

Francis — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:56:08 +0000

One of the things I like to do to prepare for the exam is to print out the included pdf (most Cisco Press books have these) and read them over and over again while I’m on the train or bus. I’ll highlight and note the important points along the way as well.

Comment on Thoughts about the CCIE lab by jgmitchell

jgmitchell — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:10:29 +0000

Thank you both of you for your comments. I figure any exam should be passable using the vendor supplied/created materials, it’s just a matter of focusing. I plan on getting the Cisco Press practical books once I’ve taken the written. I need more time in a lab working on configurations. Right now I get to do a wide variety of stuff (wireless, security, voice), but don’t really have the chance to work on more complex routing and switching configurations, which is definitely what I need at this point.

I figure once the written is passed, then I will order the TCP/IP vol. 1 and the first practical lab book. I’ll have to watch for a sale on study materials. I should have purchased the BLS from IP Expert before the end of the year when it was half price.

Comment on Thoughts about the CCIE lab by stretch

stretch — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:40:33 +0000

I agree, most CCIE training material is pretty expensive. But, if you keep an eye out, you can often grab some pretty significant discounts when vendors hold short sales to boost profits for a quarter or what have you. And like GP said, if you have the motivation, you can get far just reading the docs and practicing your own labs. For a real lab simulation though I’d recommend vendor-written material though.

Comment on Thoughts about the CCIE lab by GP

GP — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:36:23 +0000

I think on the Cisco website/DocCD you can find 100% of the material needed to pass CCIE for free so, why buy some vendor’s material?
I’ve bought IPExpert BLS (a good choice) and had the opportunity to check CBT Nuggets from Jeremy Cioara (he’s cool!) and InternetworkExpert Class On Demand.
These materials are well organized, you get from an overview of the topic to the fine tuning of the protocol so you learn faster. Self study sometimes requires more time to search for the material to study than on the study itself.
For sure you can’t learn everything on any vendor manual, many hours must be spent on the DocCD but just starting from the DocCD could be the hardest way!
Good luck for your journey!