Time to start aspiring

Enticles

Hi All,

i have been working in the IT industry for a relatively short period of time (3 1/2 years). but have always had a keen interest in PC's and the technologies that they run on. I'm not as young as most of the people who begin their path to IT career success but looking at some of the success story posts on here that isn't as much of a hindrance as my mind tries to make me believe.

I am currently going through the Motions of obtaining an MCSA in Windows Server 2008 R2, before people state the obvious i am aware that the exams are retiring, however i was able to obtain a set of 3 books for quite cheap and it is still (somewhat) relevant... so i am working on it.

I have passed the 70-640 exam already, and am about 60% through the course material for the 70-642 - but thats not the reason for posting here.

I have an A+ which is due to expire in 3 1/2 months, and instead of just sitting a recertification exam i am switching gears to the Network+ in order to renew the A+ and gain a new cert to put on the resume at the same time.

this post is not really asking for any feedback as such (however feel free to offer any advice, tips, tricks that you may know about). it is more of an introduction for myself on TechExams (been a member for a while but not actively posted), and also a declaration out on the internet where other people can hold me accountable that i will be sitting and passing the network+ between now and December of this year.

What i am using currently is as follows:

Mike Meyers N10-006 All-In-One Network+ book
Professor Messer's Youtube playlist for N10-006 Network+

I am soon to be obtaining access to a testing engine through my employer, which i will be using to verify that i am ready for the exam before heading in to sit it for real.

So Hello! and hopefully there will be a "i passed N+!" post from me in the coming months

I am expecting to sit the exam in 4 - 6 weeks time, depending on how my preperation ritual holds up!

Enticles

so a further update to this:

I obtained the Transcender N10-006 practice exam pack from my employer. I used the TotalTester demo that came with the Mike Meyers N+ book and scored a fairly satisfying 92% on the single practice exam that came with the book, with that in mind i was becoming confident about the prospect of pushing my exam date forward to get this cert faster...

then i fired up the Transcender practice exam... (crowd groans)

went from 92% down to 70%, with a level of complexity otherwise not expected. Needless to say i am still not ready, it was good to discover this now instead of when i am in the exam itself.

this is a testament to the level of importance of practice exams for anyone reading this looking for preparation advice. I am working through the Transcender practice exams and the flashcards that they come with to validate myself. I want to hit an average pass grade of 85-90% before i go in to the exam just to give me peace of mind and prevent the dreaded "night before" sleep loss issue that plagued me during my last few certifications.

more updates to follow

ladyfire3374

You may want to consider Glen E. Clarke's book. I've found he covered some stuff Myers never even mentioned, and I have read several reviews/forum posts that concluded the Myers book alone isn't enough to pass the test, which is newly revised.

Clarke's comes with a CD that has labs, a review, and a study guide you can print. There's also nearly 60 videos that show you how to do performance questions (and some of the labs in the book). It's the most bang for the buck I have seen.

The mobile app by Darrill Gibson/Learnzapp is great too, just packed with value. Flashcards, practice tests and an acronym list.

If you want to work Clarke's exercises, some require a VM running Windows 8, and Windows 2012 Server. 8 is reasonably cheap but Server threw me. It turns out that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has a free membership that will let you run a VM with a bunch of different servers, including 2012 R2. Its called EC2. I still can't get over "Free".

If I can master subnetting to my satisfaction, I'll take the test Friday the August 12th.

Good luck.

AndersonSmith

The Transcender exams are purposely harder than most of the real exams. Their way of thinking is that if you "over train" for something you should have no problem passing the real thing. I took the Net+ 4 years ago and all I used was the Mike Meyers All-In-One book and the Total Tester that came with it. Like you I scored in the 90% range on those tests and then passed the actual Net+ exam with a score in the high 800s. Like I said, that was a few years ago so the exam has likely changed a bit since then.

Enticles

Thank you all for your advice, I really appreciate it.

I took another practice test this evening, scored 79%. a bit of quick math shows that the pass percentage of this exam is approximately 80% - so i was just shy of a pass this time around.

I haven't finished reading the guide from Meyers or made a complete pass on the Professor Messer videos on YT. so i am feeling pretty optimistic about getting this exam done and dusted in the next 4 weeks. more updates to follow.

on a random note, been spending a lot more time on these forums and the environment of support and advice on here is second to none - you guys rock!

Enticles

just another progress update:

still working through the Mike Meyers book, and am finding that there are fairly large chunks that i am able to flick through due to working on the 70-640 microsoft exam first (such as DNS, Kerberos, ACL's, etc.) which is helping me go through the book fairly quickly.

for me personally it is looking like the following subjets will need flash cards to gaurentee a pass when the time comes to taking the exam:

1) cable vital statistics (name, transmission type, max length, max speed, connector types etc) - this is mainly for fiber optic as UTP is everywhere and their statistics are fairly common knowledge to anyone working in the field.
2) the various protocols, and where they are placed within the OSI / TCP models.
3) TCP and UDP port numbers - this one is proving particularly frustrating for me as i having an extraordinarily difficult time memorizing these.

still on target for a September exam taking date. taken a few randomly generating exams on transcender, as well as gone through the flashcards a few times, starting to consistently get 80-85%, which is starting to give me confidence about booking the exam soon.

I am strongly considering jumping on the Security+ bandwagon immediately after finishing this exam as it keeps coming up in other users posts as having a lot of crossover material in it with the Network+. would feel like a waste to not hit that one out of the park next, considering 30% of the N+ objectives are also A+ objectives

more updates to follow

Enticles

Hi All,

So I have booked my exam for October 31st. They may even let me wear a costume in to my exam! (probably not but would be amusing if they did).

I am consistently passing the Transcender practice exams, and i have been quizzing my colleagues who are also preparing for the N+ exam and vice versa. If i am honest i am feeling fairly confident that i will be able to pass first time, but historically speaking i am one of the worst test-takers in the history of the world! that being said i am still continuing my preperation like a maniac to reduce the likelihood of a failure.

I have finished the Mike Meyers N+ book, and the professor messer video series. I am now moving on to the intense flashcard training to improve on my weaker areas, some of which are:

the different kinds of fiber lengths,speeds,MMFvsSMF,connectors, etc.
Associating specific protocols with their respective OSI layer (most of them are down pat but there are still a few which catch me out)
Acronyms
Port #'s

and lastly, IPv6. IPv6 is proving to be one of the more troublesome subjects for me to grasp properly. I know i am likely studying IPv6 to a standard above the scope of this exam, however thinking further down the road the next Microsoft exam on my roadmap is the MCTS-70-642 which is the 2008 R2 infrastructure exam. So i think i will be tested on a higher level in the not too distant future.

Anyway, just wanted to check in and report back. Wish me luck in a few weeks!

Node Man

Good luck!!!! And welcome to the forum!

A+ Quizzical

Best of luck to you, keep up with your revision/practice, you got this.

Enticles

Hi All,

My N+ Exam is this afternoon at 1:30pm. I like booking the afternoon because it helps me actually get some sleep the night before, i am one of those people who have trouble sleeping the closer i get to my exam day - i think its a manifestation of "test taker anxiety". It was really bad before but now that i have been through the system a few times with previous certifications this is getting easier to deal with.

I find that if i book an exam for first thing in the morning that i am awake all night doing mental checklists in my head of things i may need to do any last minute revision on. This way i can do that after a good night's sleep

I am feeling fairly confident (without trying to sound cocky) that i am going to pass. I have been consistently passing all practice tests i have been taking, which amounts to the following:

Examcompass free practice exams
total sem exam trial (100 questions)
transcender exams (presets: A, B, C, and Random)
Darrill Gibsons N+ Android App mock tests
Darrill Gibsons N+ Android App questions in each section.
Random Quizzing from my colleagues also preparing for the exam.

all in all i think i am ready. But historically i have been a less than great test taker, which doesn't help with the test taker anxiety i get before an exam.

I will report back this afternoon and let you know if i pass or not wish me luck!

Enticles

I just got out of the exam. I passed, with a 788 - not as high as i was holding myself to personally but high enough to get the certification. At the end of the day that is all that matters.

After going through the process i cannot recommend using the Mike Meyers book alone, there was some subject matter on my exam which the book did not cover whatsoever, so i was starting to really get worried about mid-way through my exam. for the bits it did cover though it covered them well.

I would love to share more info but i dont think i am allowed to do so. Lol.

My next conquest is the security+, and probably by the time that gets passed the CSA+.

My employer is looking at putting a few of us through courses for Microsoft certifications for server 2012, so it will likely take me a long time to get to CSA+ / CASP. I am pumped right now, really happy to have passed first time!

ksijur

Congrats! Well done. Good luck with your next endeavors.