It was not as bad as I thought it would be.  I was told it was one of the hardest certs to get, which is not a bad rummor because I actually got an interview because of this cert.  The highering manager was saying how impressed he was that I passed the certification and kept asking how hard it was. If he only knew.

I almost feel bad that this certification holds as much wieght as it does not certs like OSCP are unknown. Rule number 1 in the IT field is don't try to make sense of what the situaton is just be grateful.

Possiblities are opening up but that is not holding me back.  Next step is CHFI and then OSCP.  So for those whom are not sure about the CEH, if you are in the goverment field i say take it.  It opens doors lots of them.

It will be the EC-Council because when I bought the books and videos for the CEH they threw in the CHFI books and videos.  So presently I am learning that one, hopefully will be ready to test at the end of the month.  About half way through the labs right now.

Congrats!!

Congrats. I am glad to hear you did not think it was as hard as you had heard. This is comforting as I just got my voucher and will be scheduling my test next week! This certification is to expensive to fail!  

What I used to study:
1. AIO book - read cover to cover and note carded highlighted points that were new to me. I went back and re-read areas I needed work in.
2. CEH official review guide. Read cover to cover, went back and covered areas I was week in. I also note carded areas that seemed to be stressed.
3. Practice questions from AIO and from CEH review guide.
4. 7.1 Official courseware - Note carded new stuff to me as well as stuff that AIO/CEH Review guide called out.
5. Years of security background/experience.
6. Over 740 note cards I created and memorized/learned-understand the concepts.
7. Free TrainSignal videos at http://www.trainsignal.com/blog/tag/ceh
8. Three months of intense study. - 1 hour at lunch at work in study room, several hours each night at home. 7-8 hours each weekend day.

Once I pass (*knocks on wood*), I will be doing my elearnsecurity.com professional course (60 hours). Not sure if I will take the certification or not. I am very short on time - less then 1.5 months before I "have" to take sign up for it. After that, I hit my studying for the CISSP hard.

Dalobo