Importance of self-study for CCIE or CCDE

Studying for a CCIE or CCDE practical lab exam is a lot of work. As a rule of thumb, it requires about 1000 hours to pass one exam. It takes time to read, watch videos, take notes, review information, and do labs. Depending on your background, current level, available time, it might take longer or shorter.

Those who are thinking about studying for a CCIE or CCDE lab might think they have to follow a course, or bootcamp in order to pass the lab.

Think about those 1000 hours.

1000 / 40 hours per week = 6 months of full-time studying. If you have a job or other obligations, you won't be able to study so much so it can easily become a commitment for more than 12 months.

You will be spending a lot of time studying on your own. Even in small chunks of spare time, you can always read, highlight, process, or watch something.

One or two week bootcamps can be useful, but they are only a fraction of the required study hours you need to put in. They can be useful to get rid of any knowledge gaps in the last few weeks before the exam.