Going for the CCIE Security

[ande0255]

I didn't get to say this yet, good luck!

[Iristheangel]

Thanks! I had high hopes before of taking the CCIE Security v5 early but life and my new role got in the way so I'm now catching up. I'm thinking I'm going to do what I did last time: Take the lab 10/5 (and probably fail) and hopefully be ready for vengeance on 11/5

[ande0255]

That is my plan for ROUTE (fail, re-cover material, pass), so I am right there with you

Hope to see you continue posting articles on LinkedIn as well of Security topics, I'm double timing ROUTE right now, but I read the NAT post during work while on hold and that was a great explanation.

If I ever turn into a zombie, your brain will be at the top of my to-eat list, along with all you other CCIE's!

[gorebrush]

Have you not done the lab yet Iris?

I've been out of the loop for some time now, hello!

[t3ch9]

Hi Iris, I've been reading many of your posts here on this forum. I just passed my received my CCNP Security certificate and want to start working on my CCIE Security. Do you think the Zero to Hero (saturday courses) will be enough to pass the CCIE Security exams?

[Iristheangel]

Have you not done the lab yet Iris?

I've been out of the loop for some time now, hello!

Hello Gorebrush! Nope.. Labbing away still Slow and steady wins the race

[Iristheangel]

@t3ch9 - No, no single bootcamp, book or set of books is enough to pass any CCIE. If any vendor promises that, they're either a) shady or b) lying. You don't want don't either of those things


If you're going to study for the CCIE lab, expect a good solid year of labbing, reading, and possibly a bootcamp. The Z2H bootcamp was a great start for me and I loved it but the lab itself is much deeper than any single bootcamp

[Iristheangel]

Still cranking away on this thing. Been updating my blog more than this thread.

My goal is to hit the lab in early October like I did the last one. That way if I fail, I'll still be able to go back for November depending on how far off my miss is.

[dmarcisco]

How do you structure your studying one topic a day/week or until you get to the point that you can recite how to configure it?

[PersianImmortal]

Iris, you're such an inspiration! If I could ask, how do you manage your time when studying? Do you tend to take whole blocks of dedicated time to study or do you rather squeeze in some study time when you can, or perhaps another method I haven't thought of?

Right now I'm prepping for the CASP exam (which is cake compared to a CCIE), but with a full-time middle management position and finishing up my doctoral program I end up not having a tremendous amount of time to study, so time management becomes pretty critical. How you are able to get all of these certifications while simultaneously working is astonishing!

Anyway, I was just wondering what your time-management strategies are as you prepare for your exams?

Best Wishes,

PI

[Iristheangel]

The last CCIE, I procrastinated the topics I was rougher in until last and did more "fun" ones first. Usually its a combination of videos, reading and some light labbing. Eventually I move past a topic but keep extensive notes. When I'm done hitting major topics, I usually go through full blown lab workbooks that incorporate many of the technologies together.

This CCIE I'm doing it differently - I'm hitting up the weaker subjects first and working my way back to the easier. I would rather spend more time upfront on the "teethpulling" topics and have sort of a downhill run from there there. I think I in few more weeks, I should be past my core weaknesses and working on the "downhill."

[Iristheangel]

[QUOTE=PersianImmortal;1093558
Anyway, I was just wondering what your time-management strategies are as you prepare for your exams?
[/QUOTE]


If I had a normal 8-5 job, it'd probably be easier but it's more just getting a routine in place and trying to get hours in every day in any way I can. I more try to tackle subject now and when I get past that, I'll go for full scale labs

[shimasensei]

Still cranking away on this thing. Been updating my blog more than this thread.

My goal is to hit the lab in early October like I did the last one. That way if I fail, I'll still be able to go back for November depending on how far off my miss is.

Hi Iris! Thanks for keeping us posted on your CCIE:Sec journey. It's an inspiration to someone like me who aspires to be a future CCIE

Between the demands of a busy job, IT consulting, studying and labbing for difficult exams / college, how do you manage your work/life balance? I understand you're married, and may or may not (not sure) have kids. I have a young family (wife and young son), and would like advice from someone with extensive experience like yourself (and other TE sages).

[Iristheangel]

Howdy Shimasensei,

I'm married and planning for kids soon. Having kids adds a different wrinkle in the study plans but it's not a showstopper by any means. Some folks like Nick Russo and Mrock got multiple CCIEs with young kids in the house.

I think the big thing is accepting some realities when you go for the CCIE:
1. It's going to be expensive
2. It's going to take a lot longer than most other certs you studied for
3. You're going to have to sacrifice quite a bit to get it

1 can be offloaded if you work at a company that will help pay for it
2 & 3 are going to be realities. Best thing you can do is make sure your spouse and friends are supportive. If you have a full time job and do side consulting, you'll probably have to quit it during your CCIE. That's a reality. You can't do a full time job + 10-20 extra hours a week + 30-40 hours a week of studying. You'll see a lot of weekends and nights eaten up in CCIE studies but you do what you have to do.

I also recommend finding people online or locally that are going towards a similar goal and will lab with you on hangouts. That takes a lot of the isolation aspect out of it.

Going into it with that mindset is going to get you succeeding. I think the majority of people that fail or never go through with it are those that go into CCIE studies thinking it'll be over as quickly as any other certification and are surprised by the amount of work it is. Or their spouses are surprised the commitment. Better to level set right away and decide if it's worth it for you.

[shimasensei]

Howdy Shimasensei,

I'm married and planning for kids soon. Having kids adds a different wrinkle in the study plans but it's not a showstopper by any means. Some folks like Nick Russo and Mrock got multiple CCIEs with young kids in the house.

I think the big thing is accepting some realities when you go for the CCIE:
1. It's going to be expensive
2. It's going to take a lot longer than most other certs you studied for
3. You're going to have to sacrifice quite a bit to get it

1 can be offloaded if you work at a company that will help pay for it
2 & 3 are going to be realities. Best thing you can do is make sure your spouse and friends are supportive. If you have a full time job and do side consulting, you'll probably have to quit it during your CCIE. That's a reality. You can't do a full time job + 10-20 extra hours a week + 30-40 hours a week of studying. You'll see a lot of weekends and nights eaten up in CCIE studies but you do what you have to do.

I also recommend finding people online or locally that are going towards a similar goal and will lab with you on hangouts. That takes a lot of the isolation aspect out of it.

Going into it with that mindset is going to get you succeeding. I think the majority of people that fail or never go through with it are those that go into CCIE studies thinking it'll be over as quickly as any other certification and are surprised by the amount of work it is. Or their spouses are surprised the commitment. Better to level set right away and decide if it's worth it for you.

Thank you for the great life advice Best of luck in your CCIE:Sec studies!

[tunerX]

Howdy Shimasensei,

I'm married and planning for kids soon. Having kids adds a different wrinkle in the study plans but it's not a showstopper by any means. Some folks like Nick Russo and Mrock got multiple CCIEs with young kids in the house.

I think the big thing is accepting some realities when you go for the CCIE:
1. It's going to be expensive
2. It's going to take a lot longer than most other certs you studied for
3. You're going to have to sacrifice quite a bit to get it

1 can be offloaded if you work at a company that will help pay for it
2 & 3 are going to be realities. Best thing you can do is make sure your spouse and friends are supportive. If you have a full time job and do side consulting, you'll probably have to quit it during your CCIE. That's a reality. You can't do a full time job + 10-20 extra hours a week + 30-40 hours a week of studying. You'll see a lot of weekends and nights eaten up in CCIE studies but you do what you have to do.

I also recommend finding people online or locally that are going towards a similar goal and will lab with you on hangouts. That takes a lot of the isolation aspect out of it.

Going into it with that mindset is going to get you succeeding. I think the majority of people that fail or never go through with it are those that go into CCIE studies thinking it'll be over as quickly as any other certification and are surprised by the amount of work it is. Or their spouses are surprised the commitment. Better to level set right away and decide if it's worth it for you.

I have worked with Nick on several self contrived projects like STIG'ing vmware. He wasn't even "new boots" when I first started working with him and now he is doing pretty good.

It is nice working with the next generation coming in when you are going out...

[Iristheangel]

Welp.jpg

Welp. I went and done it now. I probably won't pass on the first time go but I'll shoot for the stars!

[stryder144]

Attachment 8632

Welp. I went and done it now. I probably won't pass on the first time go but I'll shoot for the stars!

See now, you went and inspired me to schedule both of my CCNA: Cyber Ops exams. Love the "shoot for the stars!" attitude! Good luck!

[michael172]

Best of luck for December. Just passed my CCNP ISE, I have a couple of CCIE sec colleagues, they all say dont bother with the remaining CCNP sec exams just commit to the CCIE. So thats what I am now exploring. Ive no doubt this will be a huge commitment and for me its a topic Ive not really thought about to give me time to certify to CCNP level, but I want to get an idea of what its going to take and this thread has been a lot of help to me, so thanks for blogging and keeping this thread up to date. Biggest thing for me to figure out now is what will suffice as a LAB (one colleague says an AP, phone, 3850 and a VM server will do the trick and keep things simple) and also what study materials are available. I am tempted by INEs workbooks but its all v4 and will probably use the rack tokens further down the line.

[Iristheangel]

I reset my lab date a couple months ago to 1/11 so I could take a month off of work and couple it with the yearly end-of-the-year shutdown.

I'm 61 days away from my lab date and working through a vigorous review/lab schedule which anyone can see here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

If you have to ask how I find the time in the day, a couple things:
1) Buy-in from your boss and spouse is essential
2) Going from number 1, you have to taper expectations at work to have the work laptop shut by a certain time of night
3) Less sleep in some cases
4) Setting your daily goals and sticking to them. Failing or compromising on them has a snowball effect. Military-like dicipline is needed in the final sprint to the lab


Not sure if I'll pull off a "first time pass" since I didn't do it the last time but if I'm within the ballpark, I'll be rescheduling and retaking that beast in 30 days

[jamesleecoleman]

The spreadsheet is an awesome idea for tracking! I might have to try it out.

[MitM]

I know you took the Z2H and KB classes but with your Lab < 2 months away, will you be attending another bootcamp? If so, which vendor?

[Iristheangel]

I'm not needing another bootcamp this close to the lab. I'll just be labbing until the date. I have a month off of work starting on December 18th to almost my lab date so I'll just be labbing hardcore for 10 hours a day

[MitM]

I'm not needing another bootcamp this close to the lab. I'll just be labbing until the date. I have a month off of work starting on December 18th to almost my lab date so I'll just be labbing hardcore for 10 hours a day

A month off of work! Niiiice

[dwemer]

Good luck!