Passed my CCNA This Morning!

halflife78

I passed my CCNA test this morning with a 924. The resources I used were:

4 semesters of the Cisco Academy at a local college.
This website.
This page here: http://www.lilligren.com/cisco/
And over a year of dealing with Cisco equipment at work remotely to help our infrastructure engineer (we use Nortel in house).

2lazybutsmart

Congratulations! Well I guess that "over-one year" experience really helped you get that high score. Congratulations again.

lseals

Congrats, great score

halflife78

Yea, the first time I took it I failed with an 847. I was really nervous and I ran out of time because I messed up a router sim and didn't manage my time very well. This time I wasn't nervous I was actually pretty excited to take it, I got both sims right and I had time left over when done due to better time management.

The funny thing was I was so upset when I finished the test because I felt that I had done alot worse around this time. I was really shocked that I did pass so I guess I did alot better than I thought. Just glad I passed after 4 semesters of classes and 2 month of non stop cramming

Webmaster

Congratulations!

What's next?

halflife78

Network+, I know it's kind of redundant but I figured with my recent cram of Cisco a little cross training and I am done. Then my A+ to get 6 hours credit at college and skip 2 classes. Then I start school again this summer for 2 Associates in Networking degree, one focus on LAN/WAN and one focused on MCSE. In the process of getting that degree I will pick up my Security+ and my MCSE as the classes for the degree are the classes specifically for these certifications.

After all that I haven't decided, I can either do an Associates in Computer Programming or an Associates in Computer Specialist. Either that or depending how much time I have left I will do my CCNP.

My wife is currently going to school for her BSN in RN and she has to drive awhile to get to school. I thought about going back to school for my BS in CS but with both of us driving over an hour 1 way it takes a bad toll on 2 vehicles. My current job is a salaried job with a callcenter doing both the networking side (routers, switches, hubs, wireless) and the telco (fiber, Avaya G3R, CTI, T1's) and they will let me goto school and all the above I am taking is offered in my town where I live and work. By the time she gets done with her degree I will have 7 years experience in the field plus all the certifications and degrees. I messed up though because I got lazy when I got this job and set around all the time doing nothing, finally decided to get off my butt and get some more education

marine00

I can't wait to get my cert. i got lazy myself and then my wife pushed me to try to get my ccna, but after failing again its hard to get motivated, but I'll take your advice and study my weak areas for two weeks and pass that test. I don't get to work with routers at my job now, but I have an associates degree in computer networking and once I pass my ccna plan on buying some routers and switches to work towards my ccnp and then hopefully become ccie within 5 to 6 years.

What is outlook on ccie?
My name is sunshine man my parents were hippies.
I even went to the marine core for four years with that name so if I can do that surely I'll pass my ccna next time. '

any advice will help if you think of any thing else that will help me pass.
I would give you my email address, but I'm afraid of being spammed to death by other people.

2lazybutsmart

halflife78: Net+ plus is only a slice of CCNA; but yes, you can still take it however: just a another cert in the box. I think you can do it without even studying for it (as most people say). But why not keep those few dollars for another exam which is either the same level as CCNA or higher. You definetly wouldn't want to be MCP after MCSE . Regards the A+, looks great if you'll skip some classes ( ). Sec+ and MCSE are definetly great goals as well.

I think the Asc degree is really great 2. I see that most people who are currently in the IT field tend to get their associates degree and put a lot of time in getting as much technical certifications as possible.

To wrap it up: wish you the best of luck.

halflife78

The money for the test isn't an issue as we have a saving account setup with money being automatically dumped into it to cover both our schooling including certs with some left over. The main reason I want to do both is I see some jobs online that require both like for instance:

Salary/Wage: USD 45.00 /hour
THIS POSITION IS FOR A HANDS-ON NETWORK ENGINEER. THE CERTIFICATIONS BELOW ARE REQUIRED.
CCNA and N+ certification required
MCSE certification a plus but not required
Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology or other technical discipline.

The above is a job in illinois that I would not be able to acquire when I am done with school because I didn't have Network+ which pays 94,000 a year.