CCIE written study tips- part 1

As promised, here are my suggestions in regards to prepping for the CCIE written.  Just to be clear, I am not an expert.  These are just some observations on how I would do things if I had to start over from scratch.

I am of the mindset that the written exam should be your main focus from the beginning.  You should get that out of the way and then focus on the lab.  Other will focus mainly on the lab from the beginning and kind of throw in the written exam somewhere down the line.  Both plans work.  But I think there are advantages to focusing on the written exam first.  The written exam requires you to learn a bit more of the theory behind the topics and a lot of the technical details.  These are important foundations for lab preparation.  Also, I like the idea of getting the written exam out of the way so that once I do focus on the lab exam, I don’t really ever have to shift my focus away.  Of course, you do have to pass the written exam before you can even schedule the lab exam.  If you have a target date for the lab that you really want to hit, be sure to at least pass your written exam 2-3 months before then.

So for me, the goal then is to efficiently study for and pass the written exam while getting as much benefit as possible towards passing the lab exam.  In order to do that, let’s look at some tools to use for studying.

Books

These are the books that I would recommend picking up for your written studies.  I consider these must-haves.  In addition to the books, you’ll want to be using the documentation on Cisco’s website as a study source.
• Cisco Press- Official Exam Certification Guide
• Cisco Press- Routing TCP/IP volume 1
• Cisco Press- Routing TCP/IP volume 2

For the written test, these will definitely get you by.  You may pick up one or 2 more when it comes time to focus on the lab.  But you don’t really need to worry about them now.

Practice Exams

You will get a Boson practice exam program with the Official Exam Certification Guide.  It’s not what most people would call a high-quality product.  But it is helpful, and you get it included in the book.  So use it.  If you feel that you want some better practice exams, check out the practice exam from NetMasterClass.com.  They have a pretty good product available for $99.  I liked it much more than the Boson exams.

Instructional Videos

You can purchase these from most CCIE training vendors.  Look for videos that focus on the CCIE technologies as opposed to just bootcamp videos.  These are excellent companions to the books.  If you are going to purchase these for lab preparation, get them early so you can use them for your written preparation.

From my personal experience, the videos included in the IP Expert Blended Learning Solution as well as the Advanced Technologies Class on Demand videos from Internetwork Expert are great videos to use.

Workbooks

You can also purchase workbooks from CCIE training vendors.  Look for workbooks that have exercises focuses on specific technologies as opposed to workbooks that replicate the full CCIE lab. Hands-on practice is a great leaning tool, and good workbooks will get you exposed to all aspects of the technologies.  Just coming up with you own practice scenarios won’t always expose you to all of the things that you should experience.  Again, if you are going to buy these for lab preparation, get them early so you can use them for your written preparation.

From my experience, the Volume 1 workbooks from both IP Expert and Internetwork Expert are great technology specific workbooks.

Training Packages

Some of these tools are included in some great packages from CCIE training vendors.  Definitely look into them.  IP Expert has their Blended Learning Solution which has videos, audio files, and 3 different workbooks for about $2000.  There are also some extra miscellaneous things in the package.  Keep an eye out, because it goes on sale for $1000 every so often.  Internetwork Expert has their CCIE 2.0 package for about $3000.  It has tons of videos, 3 workbooks, and some other unique learning tools.  A cheaper alternative from them is to just buy the Advanced Technologies Class on Demand and 3 workbooks for around $1300.  Both vendors have payment plans to ease the pain.  I highly suggest getting a package from at least one of these vendors.  They are both great products.  I own both.

Study Plan

Since this post is getting long, I’m going to break off the study plan itself into another one to come later.  Look for part 2 to come soon!