I have been studying networking for at least 12 years. It all started out in High School when Cisco had their CCNA 640-801 exam set. I have found it fascinating and knew that I would work in a fast paced career in computer networking. While I attended college at S.U.N.Y Ulster I studied both CCNA and CCNP material.  Most of the material was interesting while other material wasn’t. I found I had problems with Subnettings and ACL’s. Those two topics are something that you need have a rock solid foundation to build other skills on.

After I finished college and started working at Time Warner Cable I attempted the 640-802 exam set. I studied for months using the 2 routers I had and 1 switch. I read all the material I can get. Most of the material was the same when I studied the 640-801 with the addition with Basic Wireless. Needless to say the day of the exam arrived and I went to the exam. I failed. I failed by 10 points or one question.

Needless to say I was disappointed. Disappointed that I failed the exam and that I failed myself.  I put so much  time studying and money on training materials. At that time I took 2 years off of my career training but I didn’t give up.

After the time off I started to focus on obtaining my CCNA again.  I Have used all the networking equipment I had as well as the Cisco Learning Material, however, I used another source of training material which I believe helped me get my CCNA Goal in April of 2010.

That Training Source was the CBT Nuggets CCNA Series. It is a two disc series that contains the ICND1 and ICND 2 training sets. The instructor Jeremy Cioara has a great way with how to explain the concepts and how to practice for the exams. Not only is the Video series structured in a way that  you can learn on your own time, Jeremy gives you real life examples and information on how to take the exam and to succeed.

 Tips to help you succeed in obtaining your CCNA.

1. Fall in love with Cisco (This is a Tip from Jeremy)
2. Schedule the exam giving you enough time to study.
   1. Schedule it at least 1 month or so out this will essentially lite that fire and help give you a goal.
   2. Take the ICND1 exam first then ICND2 second (Tip from Jeremy)
3. Watch the videos at least 3 times. The first time was to watch the videos on each disc from start to finish. The second time take notes and write questions down. The third time was to enforce what was learned to make sure you  understand all the concepts that were taught. (Tip from Jeremy)
4. Review questions you have written and which ever ones you haven’t answered research the answer and make sure you can understand what you didn’t know
5. Practice, Practice and Practice.  This is essential to learning and enforcing all those concepts
   1. If you have a home lab build a network topology and get it working. If something is broken or not working as expected research why it isn’t working by using Troubleshooting commands and other tools within your tool kit. This will help you with the troubleshooting

I followed the above tips and I was able to successfully obtain my CCNA within 2 months. I started training in February and obtained my CCENT Certification in March and Got my CCNA in April.  I feel this approached helped me with my certification goal.

There are many resources online that will help you obtain your goal.

Sites that I have used  are:

• Tekcert
• CBT Nuggets
• Cisco Learning Network
• Google

I plan on getting my CCNP. I have been using the tips noted above . I will be scheduling my first exam CCNP Route sometime after the new year. I will be posting more information in the future on how that goes. I hope this information help you get your career certification.

RTA