Passed the ICND 2 today..need tips

iamgregt

865/811 first try

Definitely felt like I was prepared going into it.

Study material was reading the book by Odom and CBT’s videos.

Passed the ICND1 exactly 3 weeks ago. 856/835 first try

0 networking experience.

Now im debating on either CCNA Security or CCNP R&S?

and no I don’t care about not having any experience so don’t try to talk me out of pursuing the next cert. of course I’m looking for jobs but I just haven’t gotten one yet. I’m averaging about 2.5 weeks of study time per exam. Same for my 901 & 902 A+ exams. I guess I’d rather spend my time pursing the next goal rather than taking a break. So yeah..any suggestions? Any vendor is fine but I prefer Cisco.

irishragamuffin

Last spring I was on a similar pace, A+, Net+, Sec+ then ccent in about 100 days. Got a networking job after that (had to get a MCP as a hiring requirement). Now just working on ICND2. After that I'm going for CCNA Sec. In my job it will help as we work with ASA's a lot. Plus I'm interested in learning more security stuff as that is a fast growing field.

Fulcrum45

When I passed my ICND2 I asked around the forum about doing the CCNP R/S over the CCNA Sec. The typical response was to make sure I had or was going to get some work experience at the CCNP level otherwise I would risk forgetting a large chunk of what I learned and would otherwise be a paper cert with no experience. To that end I decided to go ahead and take my CCNA Sec instead. In your case it would be ideal to do it sooner rather than later as a lot of the subject matter pulls heavily from the CCNA R/S.

BrandonT2610

iamgregt wrote: »

865/811 first try

Definitely felt like I was prepared going into it.

Study material was reading the book by Odom and CBT’s videos.

Passed the ICND1 exactly 3 weeks ago. 856/835 first try

0 networking experience.

Now im debating on either CCNA Security or CCNP R&S?

and no I don’t care about not having any experience so don’t try to talk me out of pursuing the next cert. of course I’m looking for jobs but I just haven’t gotten one yet. I’m averaging about 2.5 weeks of study time per exam. Same for my 901 & 902 A+ exams. I guess I’d rather spend my time pursing the next goal rather than taking a break. So yeah..any suggestions? Any vendor is fine but I prefer Cisco.

No labs or anything? Ive gotta ask what your habits are? " How long do you study each day etc" mainly because im' impressed and want to get this stuff knocked out. I've been chipping away at it for a long time.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats and best of luck in your next certs

huntert

i think that you could get the ccna security faster than ccnp and you could probably get a job.

awitt11

It might depend on what you have for lab hardware. I think it would be hard to do CCNA Sec without an ASA. Newer models would include Firepower capabilities. CCNP R&S you could focus on Route or Switch depending on what you have. 3 Tests total to complete. You could do virtual as there are plenty of threads discussing Packet Tracer and GNS3, and their capabilities and limitations.

huntert

Premium CCNA 200-125 & CCNA Security 210-260 Combo Lab Kit - CertificationKits

link for lab equipment for ccna security including asa

HappyBearIT

iamgregt wrote: »

Now im debating on either CCNA Security or CCNP R&S?

Do Both. CCNA Security has significant overlap with the security sections of ROUTE and SWITCH. If you have CCNA Sec going into either of those, they are easier. I initially failed SWITCH in 2015 because of security. Instead of just learning the SWITCH topics, I pivoted for 6 months to pass the CCNA Security cert. When I came back for SWITCH it was much easier. Same for the Security Topics in ROUTE over the last few months. Having that background gave me the time to focus on other ROUTE topics which allowed me to pass the exam on my first attempt.

Outside of getting certified, work on your interview questions. You're going to have to illustrate your passion for the subjects to beat out a guy with the same certs and experience.

Good luck and well done on the pass!

Cisco Inferno

security is only like 10% of the route and switch. I would say its helpful to know these things but not required before going to CCNP. that whole paper cert thing does matter though. exp will be needed to match it. tbh, cisco does not own the network security world.

TechGuru80

iamgregt wrote: »

I’m averaging about 2.5 weeks of study time per exam.

With 0 experience, somehow I doubt that.

Anyways, I would go for CCNP:R&S next. It will be easier to get a job with a CCNP than with two CCNAs, and then you can start to work on the other paths to expand your knowledge. Also your path will determine if you need or want the other tracks...if somebody is pure R&S for example, there is already basic security covered.

iamgregt

BrandonT2610 wrote: »

No labs or anything? Ive gotta ask what your habits are? " How long do you study each day etc" mainly because im' impressed and want to get this stuff knocked out. I've been chipping away at it for a long time.

I guess I should’ve mentioned that I’d study about 8 hours a day, 5 days a week lol

iamgregt

TechGuru80 wrote: »

With 0 experience, somehow I doubt that.

Anyways, I would go for CCNP:R&S next. It will be easier to get a job with a CCNP than with two CCNAs, and then you can start to work on the other paths to expand your knowledge. Also your path will determine if you need or want the other tracks...if somebody is pure R&S for example, there is already basic security covered.

dont doubt it. I’m an, ex d-boy trying to turn my life around. Check out my other post from my ICND1.
But thanks for your input

Mike R

Information retention is the most important thing. Certs are great but as I've been learning nothing beats real world experience. I'd focus on finding a job to use the knowledge you've learned because if you don't use it you lose it.

lead4pass

cisco ccna