CCNA more difficult than MCSE??

I keep hearing how tough the CCNA exam is and that the MCSE isn't quite as tough...does that mean that it's harder to prepare for and pass ONE CCNA exam compared to SEVEN MCSE exams? or if not necessarily harder, in the same ballpark??

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fadeone

They are diffrent tests and cover diffrent topics. I wouldn't say one is harder then another.

Olajuwon

sleemie wrote:

I keep hearing how tough the CCNA exam is and that the MCSE isn't quite as tough...does that mean that it's harder to prepare for and pass ONE CCNA exam compared to SEVEN MCSE exams? or if not necessarily harder, in the same ballpark??

Anybody who says that is retarded.

MCSE is 100 times harder than the CCNA.

MCSE= 7+ not so easy exams
CCNA= 1 or 2 not so easy exam

int80h

The CCNA has simulations you have to pass. The MCSE is only multiple choice.

Webmaster

int80h wrote:

The MCSE is only multiple choice.

No, several of the core MCSE 2003 exams also include simulation questions. Have been about a year ago.

www.microsoft.com/learning/mcpexams/simulations/default.asp

MCSE= 7+ not so easy exams
CCNA= 1 or 2 not so easy exam

Exactly, MCSE is definitely harder to attain than the CCNA, simply because the MCSE covers lot more material.

Gogousa

It depends on your experience.
I think the MCSE is just longer but not harder than the CCNA.

Webmaster

If you compare two certs you should leave experience out of it, or else the experience will of course be a large determining factor.

Well, the longer part makes it harder. If the question was is CCNA more difficult than an individual Microsoft exam, than the answer would be easy.

gravyjoe

MCSE is definitely harder to attain than the CCNA, simply because the MCSE covers lot more material.

I agree with that. Sooooooo much stuff to remember with the MCSE.

petedude

Well. . .

My MCSE 2000 had more material, but. . .

I could almost personally put a CCNA on par with the MCSA 2000 (Administrator, not Engineer). Most folks don't realize it, but Cisco covers a LOT of ground on these two exams. That's before you get to the higher passing scores.

pizzafart

I've only taken one Microsoft exam. It was the XP workstation exam. Conceptually, I thought that the CCNA was harder. I found it more fair than the MS test too --- the MS test had some bizarre deployment questions that I didn't read about anywhere. Also, doesn't everyone use Ghost for deployment? That's my personal experience anyway.

I suppose some of the other MCSE tests get harder -- especially when configuring for DNS/DHCP/DS. The permissions stuff seems like it would be challenging too.

Anyway, overall, it's hard to say what's harder or more worthwhile. There are some admins that cover a bunch of bases in small networks (server/network). And there are some that specialize within large networks (exclusive router/switching --- exclusive servers --- etc...). It's neat to see the spread by just looking at job boards (a pastime of late).

Most of what I read suggests that top notch IT guys tend to be advanced network dudes. Though, who's to say that an equivalently talented individual couldn't just support more of some other technology. E.g. more servers, more/better web hosting. Etc...

sprkymrk

Webmaster wrote:

If the question was is CCNA more difficult than an individual Microsoft exam, than the answer would be easy.

This is my opinion as well (leaving experience out of the equation). I think that individually, the CCNA is harder to pass than any single core exam of MS. If you include experience in the equation, then the scales could tip one way or the other - depending on your speciality.

opers13

How about the amount of time that is given during Cisco(60 min)/Microsoft(3 hours) exams?

How about the fact that you can't review, mark or go back to previous questions?

Whenever I'm at the test center taking a Cisco exam, I see guys taking Microsoft exams....they seem relaxed....driking coffee.....they have time to use the bathroom during the exam...some guys even put the keyboard on the top of the monitor 'cause there's nothing to type.

I think, Cisco exams are harder for the simple facts that you can't review, mark or go back to previous questions.

opers13

TeKniques

They are both challenging. Neither certification is easy to obtain. I have never taken the CCNA, so I can't really compare the two, but anyone saying that one test is harder than 7 isn't true IMO.

HHHTheGame

I think one way to answer it is if you change the question around....

Is the CCNA exam harder than ONE of MCSE exams?

Then the answer would be yes. The CCNA exam covers so much material and you HAVE to know all of the commands. I haven't taken the CCNA in three years, but back when I did, the braindumps didn't help because Cisco kept on top of **** and kept dropping questions and changing the wording. Don't know how it is now.

Another point to take out of this is if you're just trying to get certs or if you are actually going to need everything you learn. If you are going to work on Cisco equipment, you will need EVERYTHING you have learned. If you are going to be a network admin, you will need probably 20% of what you've learned in the MCSE track. That's why they day you learn it the Microsoft way... then forget all that do it the real world way. If you are a network admin, you can forget everything you've learned and you'll still be fine. If you forget everything from your CCNA and you need to configure a router... you're in trouble.

TeKniques

HHHTheGame wrote:

Another point to take out of this is if you're just trying to get certs or if you are actually going to need everything you learn. If you are going to work on Cisco equipment, you will need EVERYTHING you have learned. If you are going to be a network admin, you will need probably 20% of what you've learned in the MCSE track. That's why they day you learn it the Microsoft way... then forget all that do it the real world way. If you are a network admin, you can forget everything you've learned and you'll still be fine. If you forget everything from your CCNA and you need to configure a router... you're in trouble.

That's complete BS. I'm a network admin and all the exams I have taken for my MCSE track I have had to apply what I learned to my job or if I did not know how to do it I would have to research it on technet and guess what, what I researched is covered in the exam material (for exams I have not taken).

You can't just 'FORGET' what you learned and then be 'ok' to do the job. I guess if you brandumped your way to either cert you wouldn't know it anyways and would be hard pressed to learn it or be exposed as a fraud like so many people have been.

HHHTheGame

TeKniques wrote:

HHHTheGame wrote:

Another point to take out of this is if you're just trying to get certs or if you are actually going to need everything you learn. If you are going to work on Cisco equipment, you will need EVERYTHING you have learned. If you are going to be a network admin, you will need probably 20% of what you've learned in the MCSE track. That's why they day you learn it the Microsoft way... then forget all that do it the real world way. If you are a network admin, you can forget everything you've learned and you'll still be fine. If you forget everything from your CCNA and you need to configure a router... you're in trouble.

That's complete BS. I'm a network admin and all the exams I have taken for my MCSE track I have had to apply what I learned to my job or if I did not know how to do it I would have to research it on technet and guess what, what I researched is covered in the exam material (for exams I have not taken).

You can't just 'FORGET' what you learned and then be 'ok' to do the job. I guess if you brandumped your way to either cert you wouldn't know it anyways and would be hard pressed to learn it or be exposed as a fraud like so many people have been.

I'm not here to argue with anyone, but it sounds like you are. If you're not, then I apologize in advance. What were you doing BEFORE you got your MCSE? I was already a network admin for six years. I wanted to move on, but all HR people are under the assumption that you MUST have your MCSE. So I got mine. Yeah, setting up DFS is really useful in a production environment! When you're dealing with SQL Servers, Exchange Servers, firewalls, routers, BlackBerry Servers, and all the other crap, no one has time to do it the M$way. On the flip side, if you are just starting out in IT, and you get your MCSE, sure you'll take a lot with you and always use it, but that's not the stuff M$ tests you on. They test you on the useless junk no one ever uses. I'm glad they're moving to sims so people can't just memorize the answers.

Nuff said. Like I said before, this post asked a question and I don't want to argue with anyone about their opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

strauchr

Seems like some really dumb statements here. I have never had time to sit back and drink coffee and certainly no one should be going to the toilet during an exam.

Also if you are experienced enough (and not just sitting 10 years in the same company/job) then you'll see many different scenarios where MS products are used. Its that what MS exams prepare you for - their full functionality of their products, not just what you have used or what is preferred in the industry.

And all MS questions are not multiple choice. Reference:

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcpexams/policies/innovations.asp

I find MS exam questions to be much more difficult and long winded than Cisco's questions. Although I am only doing practise Cisco questions at the moment.

The overall exam is more difficult for me because of my lack of experience with Cisco gear.

Jiggsaww

yea ^^^ if any one has done a ms design exam then they will know it's a lot of reading to get the the real point of what they require.....

TeKniques

HHHTheGame wrote:

I'm not here to argue with anyone, but it sounds like you are.

Nope, I just call BS when I see it. I've posted here a lot and I am not here to argue ... that much should be clear. Some people on the forum need to get some thicker skin.

HHHTheGame wrote:

If you're not, then I apologize in advance.

Thanks.

HHHTheGame wrote:

What were you doing BEFORE you got your MCSE?

I haven't got it yet.

The point I was trying to make is that I have for the most part applied what I have learned on the job. And I was also pointing out that you can't just forget everything and you will be 'okay'. It just doesn't work, if you have time to research stuff then I guess you can forget all you learned (or didn't learn) and use Google, but what if an emergency happens, what are you going to do? ... 'Hey I can't help you because I don't have a clue, but if I can get to my PC I can do a Google search and find out'.

strauchr wrote:

Seems like some really dumb statements here. I have never had time to sit back and drink coffee and certainly no one should be going to the toilet during an exam.

Yeah, I have never witnessed any of that nonsense going on, and I cannot even get up and take a break during the exam.

wildfire

Ok this post is a little silly, 7 exams are bound to be harder than one. I have done three MCP exams and stopped there.

If we are compairing each MCP exam compaired to my CCNA exam then Im affraid no contest! but 7 exams worth of content is a lot of stuff to learn, and I have no doubt that some of the exams are hard.

To be honest in the Cert world I put CCNA on a par with MCSA.

CCNP on a par with MCSE? I dont know about that, I havent done enough exams to tell you, maybe some of the more senior board memebers could chime in.

I find MS exam questions to be much more difficult and long winded than Cisco's questions. Although I am only doing practise Cisco questions at the moment.

Out of intrest which test questions u doing, if its Boson then they are not even close to the real exam.

However flip the coin if you work with MS all day everyday then yes its bound to be easier to digest, just the same as I work with Cisco all the time and now Im used to the exams find them easier.

Longbow

Here's my 2 cents...

Which is the harder test? CCNA
Which is the harder certification? MCSE

I have the MCSE 2000 and CCNA (finally), and began both arena's with no experience to fall back on. Test for test the CCNA is harder and more cleverly composed, often testing knowledge on several topics within the same question. This is not to say that the MCSE is easy because it isn't, the questions on the Microsoft tests are wordy and include embedded information that may or may not be relevant to the question being asked, and the scenario questions are as difficult as the simulations on the CCNA test. If you consider the amount of intellectual calories expended to obtain either certification then the MCSE is definitely more difficult simply by the sheer number of questions and the scope of the topics you are responsible for.