From: Jack Heney (jheneyccie@xxxxxxxxxxx)
Date: Wed Nov 15 2000 - 19:19:01 GMT-3
Just got back from my first attempt at RTP yesterday, CCIE number in
hand....First of all, I'd like to say thank you to all of the people (CCIE's
and CCIE's to be) that contribute their valuable time to helping others make
it through this test. I think the test would have been much more
challenging for me were it not for this list. That being said, here's a
quick synopsis of my experience.
Day 1 - Surprisingly, the nervousness had subsided a couple days before the
test...I figured if I didn't know it well enough yet, there was nothing I
would be able to do about it in the few days leading up to the test. I
arrived a little early, and I talked to the 5 guys that were there for day 2
(unfortunately, only one of them made it to day 2, and I don't know if he
passed or not). After what seemed like hours of waiting, they finally
called us in, explained the lab layout, and got us started. I have to say I
was shocked by how little depth the test went into on most topics. It seems
as though you do need to know about every subject, but not to the degree
that I expected. I was done by 1:15 on the first day, never needed the CD,
and that actually made me more nervous than anything....I spent the whole
night worrying that there were some very subtle things I missed, and that
the lab couldn't have been as simple as it appeared.
Day 2 - Much more nervous the second say, but that was eased early...I
managed to get a perfect score on the first day, 45 out of 45...I was
thrilled, to say the least. The morning of the second day was more of the
same, I hit the CD a few times, and then sat in the lobby for about 3
hours....Seems that in setting up my troubleshooting scenario, a port on the
patch panel failed, so it took them a while to solve that problem. When
they finally called me in for troubleshooting, I had lost 6 points that
morning....Upon explaining what I had done, all 6 points were given back to
me, leaving me with 75 going into troubleshooting. The only real problem I
had during troubleshooting was determining what they had changed since the
port on the patch failed, aside from that, it wasn't too bad.
Now, before I get a thousand emails flaming me for claiming this test is
easy, that is not what I am trying to say. The reason I wrote this is to
let people know that I think a lot of the difficulty associated with this
test comes from people psyching themselves out...I was almost a victim of
it, I had convinced myself that I didn't know enough to even think about
taking this test, and I figured I'd go fail the first time and get an idea
what to expect. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I would pull it off on
the first shot. In my humble opinion, there are three keys to passing this
test:
1. Do what it tells you to do...Don't try to get tricky or creative, don't
go looking for problems where they don't exist. You only need to accomplish
what it asks you to accomplish on the test...Yes, some of those things can
create issues when you use them in conjunction with others, but if you are
aware of the more common "landmines," you shouldn't have too tough of a
time. If you try to do too much, you're just wasting valuable time.
2. Know enough about the different technologies that you know what they are
getting at and what you are looking for. These tests were written with a
specific solution in mind, and if you know enough about how the technologies
work, you'll see what they are getting at. Also, if you need to go to the
CD, know what you are looking for...Time spent searching the CD is wasted
time.
3. Know the basics cold...Every time you come to a section that you can
configure without a second thought, that's like free points, and it gives
you more time for the things you don't know well. I flew through the first
80% of the test, and had all the time in the world for the last 20%.
Thanks again to everyone who has helped me out....Everyone who hasn't made
it their yet, know your stuff, and know that you can do this. A combination
of the right amount of dedication and attitude can get anyone through this
test, I am thoroughly convinced. Good luck, and thanks again.
Jack Heney
CCIE #6439
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