Am I the only person who learns this way?

JoshGarmon47

I've noticed many here have at least 4 certifications.

I just would like to know if any of you had to forget what you learned from a previous certification path to learn your most current one you have or are working on?

For me, the only cert I've ever had is the CCNA R&S.

Over the past few years, I've come to realize that the way my brain works is if I'm going to study a specific I.T. subject, I have to go all in on THAT one specific subject and not worry about the others.

The nature of I.T. material makes it that way for me at least.

For instance, if I were to go after an A+ certification, I fear I would forget what I know about Cisco R&S in the process of getting my A+.

Does anybody else here have this concern?

As well, I work during the days and only have so much time to study something anyways.

Your thoughts?

dave330i

Did you learn only 1 subject while attending school?

CyberCop123

I know what you mean, that's why I always think it's a good idea to pay money at the beginning of your studies for the exam. Get it booked in and then you HAVE to work towards that date and put the effort in.

I'm like you, if I don't focus then I'll end up reading lots of stuff on pen testing, then I'll get lost in a world of programming, then start playing with Windows Server 2012 and two weeks later become interested in Networks.

Before I know it, it's been a year and I've learned lots of things about lots of things, but not achieved anything on paper.

TechGromit

A lot of material is built on the layer below it, for example a lot of what you learn in a Network+ certification applies directly to a CCNA certification. It certainly true that I forget some of the details of the previous certification I took when I’m studying for my next, one, but it’s not a complete “Men in Black” mind wipe.. I retain enough to have a clue what I’m talking about. I doubt anyone who holds certifications can retake the exam and pass without a refresher of the course material before.

thomas_

If I don’t use something often, then I tend to forget it. Usually it’s the smaller details I forget while the core concepts remain.

yoba222

It's human nature to forget the details of the learning experience. It's so important to focus on the 'whys' when studying a cert so you'll benefit later when the details fade.

This is the reason exam **** are so unhealthy -- it's 100% details and no 'why' stuff is. So you forget nearly all of the **** a few weeks later and have no remaining knowledge.

For instance, you'll have a big advantage on the subnetting and OSI model portions of the A+ from the C.C.N.A. if you were solid on learning the 'whys' and be able to learn the cert faster.

imaginewith

when studying a cert so you'll benefit later when the details fade

NetworkNewb

Ideally you should be only going after certs where the knowledge you're studying is being put to use.

DevilWAH

What do you mean about a IT subject?

I have spent time in many areas of IT, A decent windows engineer, Vmware, Voice and NEtworking. and to be honest when I have been getting in to VMware my voice skills did take a hit as I was not able to keep current.

For me I have to understand a topic and then it stays with me forever. I know a lot of engineers who just memories what they have read, they can do no more than regurgitate facts. They will argue till they are blue in the face that the only way to do some thing is "how it says in the book". The trick to remembering many things is to insure you actually understand the why and not just the how. And for this I don't mean the "why use OSPF", I mean why was OSPF developed how it was. what where they guys who came up with it thinking?

If you actually understand it as more than words on paper than you will never forget it and not only that but you will know how to really use a technology to its strengths. It is like ridding a bike, you can read all about how to do it, how to steer, how to peddle, and learn all the physics but that will not make you able to ride a bike. you then have to take that and practice until you can actually ride. but once you have that core skill you will never forget it, and you can then build on it to be a expert stunt rider.

Learning and remember is all about getting the core understanding of a technology early one, once you have this its much easier to remember down the road. And you will be much better engineer than people who just parrot fashion can recall books work by word.

EANx

As you move around and study new things, you'll find that you recall stuff from years prior that you thought you forgot but that apply now.

Or to put it in IT terms, stuff you use often gets put into a high IOPS Amazon SSD EBS instance while stuff you don't use gets put in an Amazon S3 glacier instance and it takes a little bit of effort to get it back.

UnixGuy

This is not a way of learning, this is the ideal situation. Sure if all I do is around a certain one topic that would ideal and I get to practice one topic and build up my knowledge - unfortunately this is not always possible or ideal.

JoshGarmon47

Thank you all.

Are you able to study multiple different Certifications' material at once and be proficient at them?

Like Cloud+ and Security+ for example.

Each are so technical and deep on top of being completely different subjects.

Or should this even be attempted?

UncleB

JoshGarmon47 wrote: »

Are you able to study multiple different Certifications' material at once and be proficient at them?

There is little benefit to doing this and since you are focussed on the certification rather than learning the technology then you are probably better off focussing on one at a time until you get to use the technology in anger.

Where you may be better off is to keep study notes and take a break between each cert to review the previous study material for a day and recap to keep it fresh in your mind - after 3 or 4 recaps you will find the majority of the material has well and truly stuck.

With practice you need less and less time to do certification unless the tech is completely new to you.

You certainly don't lose all the previous learning any more than you lost the ability to speak when you learned calculus at school. Use it or it gets rusty but the essentials will remain in all probability.

upmhh20

I mean ... I don't think its a matter of how many certifications you learn but more what career path you choose. When I started 10 years ago with CCNA I knew a lot , but then after I quit my job as a networking admin I slowly forgot everything. You have to be focused on one domain IMO.

DevilWAH

upmhh20 wrote: »

I mean ... I don't think its a matter of how many certifications you learn but more what career path you choose. When I started 10 years ago with CCNA I knew a lot , but then after I quit my job as a networking admin I slowly forgot everything. You have to be focused on one domain IMO.

This depends on where you want your job to go.

To start with i focused on networking, but later in my career i branched out and now as a Infrastructure manager it is critical to have a wide skill set where I can work with all my staff who have the depth of expertise.

And when your starting out it is worth thinking about where you want to end up, do you want to specialise in one technical area or do you want to end up over seeing projects at a higher level.

Both are fun but you need to be careful in focus. At the moment I can see that old school networking while still current the big move in IT is cloud and network / software as a service. If you are focused on one area keep an eye out on what is going on outside your field our you might end up finding your left behind.

triplea

Sometimes its forgotten by the time I walk out of the test centre after passing to be .

Just cause I hold multiple certs doesnt mean I can recall everything BUT it does often mean you know what to google for a certain problem. Let google hold the facts not your brain. If google gives back a wrong answer your training kicks in and can say I'm not sure that right but lets judge from here.

Some things will stick some things wont. My 2 CCA's are over 10 years old but to any employer it should still say -

He was willing to learn at the time ( I did exams from building and CBTing ) as we had a system that we didnt really support.
He knows what citrix is used for and what its trying to achieve ( even if no longer knows the the specifics )
He's got the ability to judge where to look or what issue may be occuring, even if its an educated guess
Hes trainable.

Just my take on it.

sillymcnasty

I tried learning AWS in the day and Server 2012 at night. It did not work out as I had hoped lol. I had to do one at a time.

Giv2

I always start with one certification at a time. Mostly the ones I could put to immediate use.

dontstop

Certification for me is in part about learning how to do something, but another important factor is being exposed to things I didn't know, I didn't know. Once I've seen something I'll always have a vague memory of the concept so that in the future any solutions I come up with can use that information. If I cannot remember exact details I know enough to atleast know it's possible and where to find the answer. It also means that if I have to relearn something I'm starting from a position of having learn it before and not from zero.

NuclearBeavis

You'll remember best what you use repetitively. I think most anyone who studies a cert and then doesn't use that knowledge will forget it, regardless of whether they're studying for another cert.

NetworkingStudent

The Cone of Learning:

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/images/rjconeoflearning.jpg

We only remember 10% of what we read.

We remember 90% of what we say and do