Thanks for the advice guys, @Tyson - Do you know if this is a real possibility?
I wasn't allowed to wear an analog watch in the exam, use my own pencils, or have anything not provided by Cisco on the desk other than a bottle of watter, a snack, and my ear plugs. I would certainly leave a keyboard in the lab if it was possible! Should I open a ticket with certification support or make the arrangement in advance through some other channels? I don't want to make this out to be a huge problem, anyway, because now that I have been there, I will know what to expect. Never the less, if I can bring a keyboard that will be more natural to type on, it would make the experience that much easier on me! Thanks again, Mike On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 3:27 PM, Tyson Scott <[email protected]> wrote: > Michael, > > Buy a standard US keyboard and take it to the lab and tell them you are > willing to leave the keyboard as long as they let you use it. Is a $50 > dollar keyboard worth sacrificing to pass the test? Most definitely. I > don't have technical advice for you because if you missed the entire exam > because of one question it sounds like you already have most of the > answers. > > Your nerves should be calmed down on this next attempt. I remember feeling > the same way on my first attempt and I had only failed by a few points > myself as well. > > Regards, > > Tyson Scott - CCIE #13513 R&S, Security, and SP > Managing Partner / Sr. Instructor - IPexpert, Inc. > Mailto: [email protected] > Telephone: +1.810.326.1444, ext. 208 > Live Assistance, Please visit: www.ipexpert.com/chat > eFax: +1.810.454.0130 > > IPexpert is a premier provider of Self-Study Workbooks, Video on Demand, > Audio Tools, Online Hardware Rental and Classroom Training for the Cisco > CCIE (R&S, Voice, Security & Service Provider) certification(s) with > training locations throughout the United States, Europe, South Asia and > Australia. Be sure to visit our online communities at > www.ipexpert.com/communities and our public website at www.ipexpert.com > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Miller > Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 5:54 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [OSL | CCIE_RS] Failed First Attempt / Advice Needed > > Guys, > > I took the lab yesterday in Brussels. I passed the configuration section, > but failed the TS by one ticket as far as I can tell. When I walked out of > the exam, I felt that I had surely passed the configuration, but I felt > that > I had only solved eight tickets in TS. > > In my score report I noticed that I have the option for a rescore, but > seeing that it was the TS section that I failed, Is it even worth it? > > I felt that a few factors contributed to me struggling with the tickets: > > 1) The keyboard was quite different from the standard US layout. Many > crucial keys including the pipe and double quote were either in different > locations, or not even labeled. The proctor was able to help me through > this, but I must have hit the \ key instead of enter fifty times in that > section alone. > > 2) Stress / Nerves - It was my first attempt at any CCIE lab. My thought > processes were in panic mode for probably the first ten minutes of the > test. > It wasn't until the afternoon that I really felt comfortable in the lab. > The > fact that I seemingly couldn't type some of the most basic commands (show > run | i ...) due to the strange location of the pipe only compounded this. > The problem wasn't that I couldn't find the key, but that I kept > instinctively reaching to the wrong position. > > With all of that in mind, I'm wondering if I should schedule my next > attempt > right away, or if I should wait and study? > > My feeling is that I should probably brush up on my troubleshooting methods > based on what I saw in the exam, but I feel like I should be able to do > that > within the month that I have to wait. > > A few final notes: The DOC-CD was incredibly fast in my lab. I didn't > attempt to open any PDFs, but I felt that surfing it was just like when I > was home. I didn't refer to it once, but at the start of the configuration > section I opened up a few pages for later reference. I would suggest > that candidates learn the hot-keys to open links in new tabs and windows in > IE. The task bar can get cluttered, so being able to open a tab saved me > space. > > I can't recall the proctors name at the moment, but I would say he was > incredibly nice. I asked him several questions during the config section, > and he did his best to answer them when possible. I would say that the > advice to explain the technology help me, because I found he was much more > willing to discuss the task when he felt I was only attempting to clarify > the wording. In fact, he had to check the answer key for one section, > because there was a task that was clearly contradictory. > > In any case, any feedback would be appreciated! > > Mike > _______________________________________________ > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please > visit www.ipexpert.com > > _______________________________________________ For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please visit www.ipexpert.com
