Pre Exam nerves....

andyrich

Hi All, I have my exam this friday and have been studying for around 4months, i work as a 2nd line engineer and look after 3-4 sites so get to play around with alot of the stuff covered by the exam.

I have the sybex book and have read it a few times and get 17/18 out of 20 on the chapter exams.

I have the measure up software and get over 81% and over everytime i do this exam....

i should be fairly confident (I think ) but i'm not.....

any advice of how i can get that confidence back as i did have it last week but the exam getting closer its starting to widdle as i doubt myself

Mrock4

Are there any sections of the material you're not so hot on? If there is, hit those in the last week. I find that covering sections that are my worst ones, usually helps my confidence level a lot, whether it be finals, a cert, etc.

Also, is it part of your nature to doubt yourself in situations like me? I am notorious for being a good test taker among my friends, but I always say (and truly believe, to be honest) that I will fail. Now if you have legit doubts about your skills, then hit the books. If you can honestly tell yourself you know this stuff, then relax, and have faith in your abilities. It sounds like you are not quite a newbie to the field, so you should have nothing to worry about.

andyrich

I do doubt everything i do to be honest....my friends and peers at work believe i will ace this as i'm the one they come to to ask this sort of stuff.

but i still doubt myself as things like cable lengths (mainly the fiber stuff) and the netware stuff just wont stick as i dont really have anything to "anchor" this knowledge to like I can everything else.

suppose i'm its just nerves as i havent taken any exams since my GCSE's which was over 8 years ago!

Daniel333

Anything with tequila normally makes my day.

Seriously though, take a look at your Measure up score and figure out why you are getting in the 80%s. I would not take the exam until that is near 100% (considering you'll be seeing the same questions over and over again) and you know the reasons why behind the questions.

And of course the trivia! Remember all your TCP and UDP ports? RDP, SSH, telnet and FTP? IRQs for NICs I believe were something my book was harping on.

Mrock4

I'm sure you'll be alright. My peers also thought I'd kill the CCNA, even though I was sure I'd fail. 10 questions into the exam I knew it was a lock..granted, that was my second attempt, but you get the picture. I'm sure once it starts, all of those nerves will go out the window. I'm feeling the same pressure as I just schedule my first CCNP exam. I know how it goes!

Kikode

Hehe I was so nervous when I went to take the test 250 bucks on a cert can do that
I posted about this earlier but make sure you can Diff between the speeds and devices not just the definition of them. Also learn how to read the questions there's usually a reason why only one question is right. At first it may seem like they could all be right. I swear comptia does this on purpose Also I personally don't recommend sybex or exam cram period. The Fast Pass book was excellent but the Study Guide sucked well I shouldn't go that far but when I find myself correcting the author at least twice a chapter when I'm the student it can be very annoying. I used Mike Myers for the A+ exams I just took and I can tell you his Practice tests that I got with my vouchers were dead on for about 1/3 of the test.

I've heard really good things about his N+ book although I personally didn't use it.
Good luck like you said I'm sure it will be a breeze just make sure your ready before you take it.

Anward

Im feeling the same butterfly in my tummy also i dont know why. This is not the first time ive taking a CBT exam. I've done countless CLEP and DANTES exams and they are pretty Hard. But as Mrock says by time you reach the 10th question all that butterly will disappear. I wish u all the best, i will be sitting mines next Saturday. u will done fine just go and kick that exam in the u know what for all of us

ULWiz

I also feel very nervous about taking the exam. I have to take my exam on friday as well at 3:30 and i am feeling more nervous than ever.

I feel like i have studied the information very well and do feel extremely prepared.
But the thing thats gets me is when other people say that its wordy and hard to read. To me test like this need to be on point.

Kikode

Good Luck ULWiz! I'm sure you do well if you studied. Let us know what you thought of it after you pass and just remember before you go in there it's just a test.

andyrich

PASSED!!

Was over much quicker then i expected 20odd minutes!...got a score of 700 so not that bad!

felt sorry for a guy how failed as i got there he got 350 out of 900 and he seemed confident before he got the piece of paper, would have thought he knew what he had as it tells you at the end of the exam? strange!

Anyway! need to treat myself to something!

ULWiz

Congrats on the pass i was suppose to take mine at 3:30 but now i am taking it at 1:30.

Wish me luck

andyrich

how you get on ulwiz?

Mrock4

Congrats on the pass..see..you had it all along . Now you can relax for a bit.

andyrich

got A+ and security+ to do by the end of this year as part of my objectives....3 exams in a year = FUN!

but atleast i cannot say my employer doesnt invest in me! hopefully will get a decent raise when i get them all.

Mrock4

A+ and sec+ should be no problem to get by the end of the year for you. You have about 9 months to complete both. You might even be able to squeeze in another one before 2009

Magnum2544

Hey I passed 4 Microsoft certs in 5 weeks so 3 CompTIA in 1 year can be done!

It's all in how much you already know and what you study...for me, I'm currently a college student majoring in IT Network Administration so I get exposure almost every day plus I am being taught the stuff.

I am taking my Network+ on Tuesday...all my instructors think that I will ace it because they have all taken it so I feel pretty confident but I still plan on over-studying as this is my first CompTIA.

Good luck to you on your upcoming exams as well as all of you on your upcoming exams!