> Those three have pretty much echoed my themes. Hansang, in fact, has > admitted that he accelerated his ccie studies so that he would take (and > pass) the 2-day exam because he didn't want to run the risk of being known > as an "asterisk-ccie" (meaning the one-day ccie).
I know someone who took both the two day and one day. He felt the one day was harder. He might have been an exception, I do not know any other two dayers who took a one day. He was R&S first, then he just got a Security one to get the double. Of all the CCIEs I do know, none of them ever wanted to really take it again (except one other CCIE I know... he wants to see if he still got the touch!) While I agree to some degree about how the "old style" might have been "harder" to some degree, I feel it is more of a preference. I think depending on the kind of problem solver you are, one will appear easier than the other and vice versa. I only took the one day, and all I have to say is it is a real speed torture exam. One slip up, and it's pretty much over. You have a SLIGHT margin of the error and that is only if you are very fast, both in the mind and on the keyboard. This is not to say if you are slower you are necessarily any less qualified, just, some people do not type as fast or take longer to formulate a very solid plan anyway. Those people suffer greatly from this new format. This is also probably why I got some seriously mixed reviews from different CCIEs in terms of the difficulty of the exams (be it one day or two day). For the record, the one day exam was more suited to my style than the two day sounded like. Oh well, I will never have a direct comparison now. The same was said about the two day as well in terms of speed but with some ancillary tricks such as the physical element, etc. I suppose that is good to know, but hey, nothing 5 minutes couldn't figure out on a web page. The troubleshooting element was definitely a sorely missed element from the two day lab, but trust me, with the one day it is a dynamic truobleshooting element built in. It is VERY easy to break your working network while you perform the exam. Unfortunately, because it is more speed driven and because the content, while jam packed, is probably 'less', it also means it might be more prone to some form of bootcamp brain dumpage. But this is not really conclusive. It might just be that, the CCIE is becoming "more popular" and people have recently tapped into this market. The drop in Cisco gear pricing on the used market probably had a LOT to do with bringing down this barrier to entry. Regretably, it is difficult to say whether or not it is the slippery slope we are going up if we really believe a one day exam is instantly easier than a two day and that is the reason why there are more CCIEs per month, or if it is because the failure rate is the same, and the expected value of passing CCIEs goes up due to the higher volume of candidates per month. Whether or not it is easy or not, I cannot say. I encourage any CCIEs of the two day to take a one day and see how it is. I only know of one who did it, and he felt it was worse than the two day lab. But, like I said, different types of people, different types of problem solvers. Might be easier for some. One thing is true though. By law of numbers, even if the percentage rate of failure IS the same, since the NET number of CCIES passing is higher, by supply and demand the value of the CCIE is dropping. (someone else mentioned this as well). If the percentage of failure is even lower... then the value just drops exponentially. :) As for having a lower CCIE number, I do not care, I do not know. Most of the really older CCIE numbers I know tend to be mediocre with the new technology and are sick of knob turning anyway (although some are still verry good). The medium numbers seem to be the best. ;) The ones on the highest numbers end seem to be a mixed bag. And while someone said the "higher number ones" have "less experience" that should not be true in theory since the CCIE was designed for people who already worked in the networking field for years. However, I will agree in practice, that does seem to happen often (higher numbers, less experience). I think as with all things in life, take the individual on a case to case basis. You are going to find good and bad apples in every basket. The CCIE is still a very good certification, I do not think anyone is denying that. But I do not think it is clear if it is blatantly easier now. -Carroll Kong Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=70806&t=70151 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
