Once you pass, I recommend a nice vacation
by Yung Hung
My name is Yung Hung, I started my journey last year on March when I passed the voice written exam, this was very exciting time, I then started preparing, look for proper documentation on CCO, and proper workbooks I would use. In my case I decided to go for the IPExpert instructor led bootcamp and the workbooks, and use Proctor Labs as my virtual racks.
I received the BLS kit about a month after, and started to work on the class on demand, and some of the lab walkthroughs, I went to the instructor led bootcamp at the San Jose IPExpert office, Vik Malhi was my instructor in this case. He’s very knowledgeable, very patient, and in overall the lecture was very good, it covered all the topics of the lab’s blueprint, and he was also able to provide some tips regarding the lab, and the way we should approach it, although I think that if you’re at a CCIE level you should go for their 5-day lab experience bootcamp, as it’s a more practical way to learn. During the bootcamp, day’s usually start at 9am local time, and you can decide at which time you want to leave, usually the mornings are for lectures and the afternoon for labs, and you can access the labs from your hotel as well.
I allowed one month after the bootcamp, so I could work on labs, before I attempted the lab, although what’s ultimately recommended is that you take the lab after the bootcamp. In my case I used the bootcamp to setup my base knowledge and have an idea of how the lab might look like, and for leveraging the percentage of knowledge I’m still missing. I felt I was in good shape.
So in october I went and sat at the lab, I sat at the San Jose Lab, the first attempt is as they say, it’s really a psicological struggle. I brought my computer, and worked on labs even the day before the lab, which was a huge mistake, my mind was really stressed and I think this is one of the major reasons I failed this first attempt. When I came into the lab, I felt knowledge wise I should’ve been able to complete the lab, but being as I was lacking strategy, game plan, and time management, I felt time was really limited, and the end result was that I wasn’t even able to finish the lab.
It took me a couple of weeks to recover from the loss, but well, you know life goes on. So I started working on labs, and reading again at evenings after work. When I only had one and a half month to go before my lab, I had the chance to practice labs locally at my company’s lab which helped, as I was able to focus on topic-focused labs, as well as mock labs. I also found very important to look at other people’s blogs and forums as you will see tips from other people preparing for the lab, also if you can team up with other people to study, it helps answering other people’s questions, and helping people. This time my strategy was to follow a sequential way of configuring things, this way you won’t miss anything , and was more aware of time management. So I took my second attempt at the lab in San Jose again since I thought I already know the place, and I passed the lab on my second attempt in April. I found very important that you go with someone, as this will help you keep your mind off the lab, kind of detoxing your brain before the actual lab.
Once you pass, I recommend a nice vacation in San Francisco, beautiful place. :)
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