It’s a typical Monday morning. I’m running behind schedule as per usual; the FedEx parcel remains unopened and I’ve got my next batch of CCIE Voice wannabes waiting outside, sharing stories of previous lab attempts. Oh well, better open up shop before the neighbors complain.
We start off with class introductions. I’m Vik Malhi, CCIE Voice and Senior Instructor at IPexpert. There’s nothing else they need to know about me so I keep it simple and straight to the point. Now it’s their turn…
Statistically, I’m bound to have one “world class” engineer -- one with no weaknesses, one who is better than the rest -- and then there is the one who has never logged onto a router or a server. I often wonder to myself why? Why would someone spend thousands of dollars and not ensure maximum return on their investment? Why sit like a lost sheep for a week when a little bit of hard graft in the preceding months would have made life so much easier for the student (and for the instructor, I hasten to add).
Becoming competent in Cisco IP Telephony technologies, competent enough to pass the CCIE Voice lab at least, is no different from the learning experience in any other walk of life. It’s all about life cycles. You need to be able to walk before you can run. You need to be able to run before you can sprint. You need to be able to sprint before you even consider the Olympic 100 meter finals. The CCIE Voice Lab is the 100 meter final and you need to grab the gold to get your number.
Sticking with the analogy, the one week CCIE Voice Instructor Led Training Class offered by IPexpert is best utilized by candidates who are competent sprinters if not quite at the Olympic level. The question that should be asked by so many, but is in reality asked by so few is, “what can I do to best prepare myself for the ‘bootcamp’ experience?”
Learning to Walk
The answer to this question is not a simple one. We have other awkward dependencies that get in the way of our path to a successful lab attempt, such as employers, families, football and elections. These are the first roadblocks one must overcome. Now, I’m not for one minute suggesting you detach yourself from everyday life and end up living the life of Robinson Crusoe. However, you do need buy-in and support from those who expect things from you. You must commit to being in it for the long-haul.
When making a comparison of all 5 active CCIE tracks, the Voice lab is unique in the sense that it has a breadth of scope that other tracks do not inherently possess. From configuring Quality of Service on switches and routers to setting up Cisco Unity voicemail on phones, to customizing IP Contact Center Express scripts to bringing up your ISDN. One thing is for sure; you have your work cut out if you’re going to be able to get everything configured correctly in a measly eight hours. You are obliged to try and narrow the scope as much as possible, without violating Cisco’s strict NDA policies, so getting your hands on as much training material as possible is the most sensible tactic to employ in helping you achieve this.
Everybody has a starting position that varies, depending on experience, intellect and, most importantly, a willingness to learn. It is the third of these factors that you will need most of all. There’s a saying that you might have heard in previous seminars or classes; “You only remember 10% of what you hear but 90% of what you do.” I think that, of all the things they tell you in the Train the Trainer class, this is the one that holds the most truth (which must mean that there were 9 other things I’ve forgotten… oops!) Essentially, what I am saying here is that you’ve got to get your hands dirty to nail this exam.
Workbooks offer perspective -- the perspective of at least one other person who at one stage was embarking on the same journey as you and presumably came through with battle wounds and a certificate to show for it. The fundamental concept of a workbook is to validate your knowledge in the same manner as might be expected on the big day itself. Building your own rack or hiring rack rental equipment is essential in the making of an IE. Learn by doing. Work through hands-on lab scenarios contained in workbooks and spend the time researching topics that you struggle to grasp. Spend time researching topics that you think you have grasped. One thing every instructor will tell you is, “there’s always more to learn.” Invest in on-demand media that complements the thousands of pages you’ve printed (preferably on recycled paper to appease any environmentalists) and tens of books you’ve purchased from the suggested reading list. Organize your time by taking a modular approach to the topics listed on the blueprint. Break it down by technology and explore as much as your imagination permits. Do not waste your time by simply repeating lab after lab without thinking about the impact of what you are doing. It’s not a typing contest, so you should try and challenge everything. Ask yourself, “what if I did it this way?”
The obvious question is, “how long is this phase of the learning process going to take?,” Unfortunately, there is one simple answer; it depends! It depends on how much time you have to invest behind the closed door. It depends on what your starting position was at base camp. It depends on how many kids you have. Let’s give it a ballpark figure of two or three months.