Earning the CCIE: My Story and Tips for Achieving Your Goal

Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert is Cisco’s most prestigious and most difficult certification to achieve, typically requiring years of industry experience and a deep understanding of networking technologies. The lab portion of the exam alone is eight hours long and costs $1,600, and candidates typically spend much more than that on preparatory courses. But professionals with the expert-level CCIE networking certification are in demand, and the value is reflected in significantly higher salaries.

I passed the CCIE Routing and Switching v5 exam (now called CCIE Enterprise) December 2019. It was the most difficult thing I have ever prepared for. I'm sharing my story, how I got into networking, and how I approached studying for and earning the CCIE. I hope it helps give you an idea of what it takes, and I hope that if you're considering going for this exam, to do it! Its a journey, but 100 percent worth it.

Welcome to Network Engineer Pro. I'm Rafael, CCIE 64356.

I'm working on ton of content (videos, labs and more) to help you learn networking. If you want to stay up to date on what I'm working on and be the first to know then head to my website where you can sign up and get notified:

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#ccie #cisco #ccnp

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[dylanmorin]

I spent 6 months studying for ccna. I took it yesterday and passed so i know the feeling. I know its only the ccna but it was a big accomplishment for me i put in 5 hours a day sometimes 8 hours

[CT-zqkz]

Man i remember how relieved and happy i was when i read my Security+ and Network+ exam results. Cant even begin to comprehend what it would feel like to see a CCIE pass. Currently studying for my CCNA, maybe in many years i too will be able to see a CCIE pass result.

[knight-NC]

2:22 you are actually kind of lucky to have seen the newer topics like MPLS. When I first took the CCIE written it had things calculating Token Ring source route bridging RIFs. Thanks for sharing your story and congrats on getting your number

[kylemandt]

Great video. The amount of hours of studying is incredible. Good work. Your story is similar to mine. I used INE and IPExpert. I went to a 2 week INE bootcamp in Orlando before taking the lab in RTP in NC. In my first two attempts, I didn't pass the trouble shooting section and knew I failed the test but continued taking the labs. On my third attempt on version 4.0, I was able to pass. A TCL script for pings was a great sign when I saw all the IP addresses respond and verifying full reachability. One thing I did was save all my configs onto the desktop of the workstation in case of a problem. I ran into a problem and was able to load my configs back on my devices and continue the config section with a fresh start from where I left off.

[troskeyj]

Narbik is a networking guru. He came to Hawaii for a boot camp. The organization I worked for paid for it. Game changing!

[froedge]

That's incredible man! I'm only half way through my CCNA studies (a month in) and this really gives me hope for the future out there.

[NetworkBits]

Well done sir! Similar background to you, except I was in the Marine Corps. There are a lot of great engineers in the industry who've gotten their start in the military. Narbik's workbooks were amazing, the INE workbooks and Brian's videos were amazing. I also liked the Cisco 360 labs. I've never sat the lab exam, but the training was well worth the time.

[ferdieferdieferdie]

man... i just failed the ccie dc june 7, 2022. no plans of giving up. its hard been preparing for almost 2 years with 1 decade of experience.. still its not easy. thank you for motivating me

[NetworkBruh]

dude these are awesome tips. I been studying for the CCNP for a long time and can't wait till I get to this level. Thanks!

[sinanfr]

Few years ago I got CISSP and moved in France but nobody knew that certification and had been useless, I decided to pass CCNA, CCNP and CCIE and I hope I won't regret :-)

[codsta]

This is the kind of person I'd expect to have a CCIE. Badass.🤘

[matthewsokolik]

Great story, I failed my first time on the CCNA. Passed the second time. Just passed ENCOR in Dec. I saw that pass and cried. Now been studying for ENARSI. I feel ya on the waking up at 4 am and weekend studying. But party is for the passing of the test.

[begarianilkumar]

wow! I cannot imagine the level of dedication you have.

[jeanburgos]

Rafael, thank you for your story brother. Your journey is so inspiring. Thank you for your service. I am happy that you got the most out of your time in. I just retired from the Army, and just made the decision to pursue the CCNP certification. No plans at this time to take that rough CCIE journey for now.

[ChasedWheels]

Thanks for sharing your experience.
My first CCNA training was in 2009 in Australia, unfortunately, that time I made others decisions.
Luckly in 2020 I decided to take the lead of my life, I began to read/learn/practice more, and I began to see the benefits of it.
Beside IT Networking I want to improve my german language skills as well. I am living in Germany and would be nice to interact to local businesses with the local language.

[Daftiel]

Great to hear your tips, I am just now preparing for my CCNP ENCOR + ENARSI :)

[shishsquared]

Absolutely love this! Got my CCNA at community college in Summer 2019, just before transferring to a university for my bachelor's.
I'm done with my Bachelor's now, but out of everything I ever studied my CCNA was by far my favorite. Looking for a job now where I can use it, and about to begin the process to recertify, as it sadly expires in January. I probably should have begun studying sooner, but I'm fine letting it lapse for a while to take the time to study and pass my exam

I'm only just now starting my career journey, and there's many steps between here and there (like CCNP), but getting my CCIE is one of my long term career goals

[mahendrakumarsahu]

Many congratulations for your dream goal CCIE achievement
💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐
Your CCIE achievement journey encouraged me to prepare for my dream goal CCIE R&S !!!
I am glad to hear your success story with beautiful tips.

Good luck from India 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

[kenpojeb]

I'm early on my journey and studying for my ccna. I'm older in the IT game. Mostly as a system admin, end user support and management. I'm new to network engineering and trying to learn as much as possible. I'm glad you shared your story. Thanks.

[mtnsolutions]

Excellent storytelling skills! Every one of those emotions made me feel like I was living the journey right along with you… Or maybe that’s just the shared experience… My CCNA at the beginning of this month felt almost exactly the same