How does one to three weeks of total seclusion near the Rocky Mountains, Florida beaches, Las Vegas, or even the European country side sound?

Before you pack your bags, you should know I’m not describing your next holiday excursion. These remote settings are typical sites training companies select for their IT boot camps. And while you’ll find yourself totally immersed, it won’t be in blue ocean waters, inviting swimming pools or scenic mountain views. Rather you’ll find yourself diving in head first in accelerated course work and long, arduous hours of study.

Be Prepared

Unlike military boot camps that take a raw, inexperienced recruit and initiate them to the military ways, IT boot camps are designed for professionals who are already proficient in the basic fundamentals of the course topic. You should not plan to use an IT boot camp to get your feet wet. Take the time to prepare and equip yourself with a solid background in theory and practical application. Because advanced preparation is so critical to a successful boot camp experience, many training companies require students to meet prerequisites before accepting them into a boot camp. “Possessing extensive hands-on experience and familiarity with the vendor’s certification blueprints is crucial,” says boot camp instructor Nikolai Pitaev, CCIE #12721. “Being prepared allows you to take full advantage of the boot camp’s intense format to refine your skills and achieve mastery level proficiency.”

Manage Your Time

Time management skills are also crucial in passing certification exams, so boot camps will drill you to perform tasks using severe time restrictions. This is especially true for Cisco’s CCIE lab exam, considered the most difficult IT certification to achieve. “You must allow enough time to check for mistakes. If you make a mistake early on, it will affect each subsequent task,” says Wolfram Seidel of Germany, CCIE #15942 and recent boot camp student who passed his CCIE lab exam on the first attempt. “During the boot camp, the first week it takes all week to do one “scenario”. By the third week, you can do a scenario in one day. If you can’t, you stay up all night if you have to so you don’t fall behind.” As Jeff Doyle, CCIE #1919 and author of “Routing TCP/IP, Volumes I and II” wrote “the greatest benefit you will gain from the commercial preparation labs is a feel for being under the gun, working difficult problems within tight time constraints.”

Stay Motivated

You can expect to work a minimum of 10-12 hours a day at 100% full concentration, so you must be well rested and have your mind clear of outside distractions. Some training companies provide 24/7 equipment access, so students often work into the early morning hours practicing. “It’s essential that students possess staying power and motivation to handle phases of frustration and stagnation,” says boot camp instructor Heiko Groeger, double CCIE #8689. “It is important to know your own mind power and concentration abilities so you know when to take a break and avoid mental burn out,” advises Groeger.

Next: Handling the Stress