How to become a CCIE
Posted in CCIE Certification by admin on 06-21-2010.I have just completed writing down an article ‘How to become a CCIE: Cracking CCIE Security Labs’ and I have sent it to various study forum.
In summary, there are only 12 easy steps to become a CCIE:
1. Start with the self-assessment, check the CCIE Security lab blueprint and verify your current skill level
2. Use other certification as steeping stone, for CCIE Security I recommend to take CCSP and CCIP, not CCNP
3. Build your home lab, with several routers and 1 PIX firewall at minimum
4. Passing written exam doesn’t mean anything, so just pass it with any way and register for your lab
5. Read a lot, no single source can make you pass CCIE lab, so you must spend lots of time with Cisco website, RFCs, Networkers, Ciscopress books, study forum, CCIE workbooks and any related links on the Internet.
6. Build your speed: practice, practice, practice. Keep repeating the same thing until your fingers, not only your brain, memorize how to configure Cisco security technology.
7. Join the community, you can’t fight this battle alone. Create small study group.
8. Learn how to ask, to the study forum and during the real lab to the proctors.
9. Understand the Lab questions, you need to know what Cisco expects from your answer.
10. Trust no one, trust no solution: You should not trust any of your resources (books, Cisco website, workbooks etc) until you prove it by yourself in your lab.
11. It’s all in your mind, CCIE is completely a mind game. You will pass if you believe that you can pass.
12. The journey must be fun. It is only an exam even it’s really hard and you will not have social life at all during the journey, but at least you should enjoy it.