time taken to pass ccnp

I am sure alot of topics have been posted on this,
but I have been working on one cert or another for the last 2 years

I have read on here about people passing CCNP level exams with only 3 months of study
how is this possible?

I take an average of 5 - 6 months per exam.
keep in mind I am married with a kid, and I work usually more than 40 hours a week. I can study at most 2 - 3 hours a night.

people on this board make me feel slow!

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ilcram19-2

lol are you serious, i been working with computers and networking over 10 years, my goal right now is to finish university and get my MCITP on windows 2008 before next summer, next summer i will start my ccsp and hopelly will be finish by fall, i mean you dont have to get mad at me is not my fault u r a retard lol, that stuff is not hard and i dont think people should make it seem that it is really hard for other to get discourage, i mean i bet you feel like you conquer the world when you pass a new cert, you should take a look of my award wall, then we'll see if you keep thinking that way, but any how im just trying to get poeple motivated telling them thats they can do it and is all up to them and not to what people like you may say, i mean you going to open your mouth just to open it just because is hard for you doesnt mean is hard for others, see you write better inglish than i do but then again english is not the only lenguage that i speak, so im not going to argue any more im just giving my point of view which is that stuff is not hard and if you someone else can do it you can do it better,

fyi, i also know a few people that became ccna,ccnp and ccie in a year so how about that lol and they are younger than me and im 24

dynamik

ilcram19-2 wrote:

lol are you serious, i been working with computers and networking over 10 years, my goal right now is to finish university and get my MCITP on windows 2008 before next summer, next summer i will start my ccsp and hopelly will be finish by fall, i mean you dont have to get mad at me is not my fault u r a retard lol, that stuff is not hard and i dont think people should make it seem that it is really hard for other to get discourage, i mean i bet you feel like you conquer the world when you pass a new cert, you should take a look of my award wall, then we'll see if you keep thinking that way, but any how im just trying to get poeple motivated telling them thats they can do it and is all up to them and not to what people like you may say, i mean you going to open your mouth just to open it just because is hard for you doesnt mean is hard for others, see you write better inglish than i do but then again english is not the only lenguage that i speak, so im not going to argue any more im just giving my point of view which is that stuff is not hard and if you someone else can do it you can do it better,

fyi, i also know a few people that became ccna,ccnp and ccie in a year so how about that lol and they are younger than me and im 24

I'm serious when I say I think that you're one of the most arrogant and disrespectful people on these forums. And to be completely honest, I really don't think you know all you say you do. You fail some basic exams, but suddenly the NP exams are no problem?

And even as recently as today, you demonstrate that you do not grasp basic concepts:
http://techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=270852#270852
http://techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=197218#197218

There are people here who demonstrate their knowledge by making good posts and there are those who simply talk and brag about theirs. I think you have a long way to go before you earn the respect you think you're entitled to.

ilcram19-2

sorry just wanted to help i didnt start anything they started to atack me, what would you do, if they dont belive that it took me that long is not my problem. they dont belive me but they dont have to atack me i mean i was jut trying to motivate guy u know, and i dont mean to sound arrogant im not like that but dude what do u xpect thats why they post those comments right,
they need to stop being so hateful

dynamik

Maybe it's just a language barrier, but the comments you make really seem to be what's provoking everyone.

ilcram19-2

You fail some basic exams, but suddenly the NP exams are no problem?

you live you learn, im human and i make mistakes what hapend with the incd and intro i wanted to pass those test in two weeks each well i took intro after 2 weeks of study fail then i went back after 3 weeks and i pass then i said ok may be 3 weeks will be enoght then i went and too icnd after 3 weeks and fail then back in two week and i pass so i wasnt studing correctly, on the 290 what hapend was the samething i have pass 270 with only 2 weeks os studying and u know i though i could pass 290 after2 weeks too but a fail u know jusr reading the book, so after that i stared to take every test with 4 to 5 weeks with more resources, notes, study guides, labs, and all of the soon the test werent that hard anymore is not the quantity but the quality of study that you can get,plus the little xperiance that i have, or how else can i do it, i mean how can i skip the tests and get a certification i have to go and take a test i dont know anyother way beside studying

ilcram19-2

Maybe it's just a language barrier, but the comments you make really seem to be what's provoking everyone.

mmmm may be it is, im just telling they guy how i did it and that he shouldnt waste any time bacause as we get older less time we have to do what we like

JohnDouglas

regarding motivations there are those like me who fell into telecoms during the boom years. i got in with doss degree in indian history, religions and tibetan language! so, after 9 years in comms and 4 years ip planning i'm looking to really understand this stuff. no idea where it'll take me. naturally my hope after spending lots of money and time will be that the job i get will be more interesting and pay better!

mikej412

ilcram19-2 wrote:

i also know a few people that became ccna,ccnp and ccie in a year so how about that lol and they are younger than me and im 24

And I've seen that too -- and most of the the time it's the result of cheating. I replaced a double CCIE who couldn't network his way out of a paper bag.

wat08

mikej412 wrote:

I replaced a double CCIE who couldn't network his way out of a paper bag.

Given the grueling lab component of the CCIE surely he could be of some use?

shednik

mikej412 wrote:

ilcram19-2 wrote:

i also know a few people that became ccna,ccnp and ccie in a year so how about that lol and they are younger than me and im 24

And I've seen that too -- and most of the the time it's the result of cheating. I replaced a double CCIE who couldn't network his way out of a paper bag.

Thats kinda disturbing to say the least...

ilcram19-2

And I've seen that too -- and most of the the time it's the result of cheating. I replaced a double CCIE who couldn't network his way out of a paper bag.

wow double CCIE mmmm make me wonder if is worth it to keep studing for certs i mean in school besides giving you a diploma most of the stuff yoou learn it on your own, thought certs would give you the edge on your carrer, i've seen it with comptia and microsoft certs but thought cisco had it more legit, so whats the point now? if you **** how do you feel about yourself? it give a bad name to all the IT guys that really study and preper, im getting discorage now, mmm one of the ccie that i know graduated from University as telecmunication engineer, then finish ccna,ccnp and ccie becasue he coulnt get a job the now he is working for ATT making very good money but im not sure if he cheated his way to the job

mikej412

ilcram19-2 wrote:

make me wonder if is worth it to keep studing for certs

If you can't demonstrate the knowledge and skills a certification implies you should have -- then it probably isn't worth it.

I've seen people working on help desks that have longer lists of certifications than anyone here -- but since they don't actually have the knowledge or skills or any experience, they'll probably never get past 1st level help desk positions. Then there are the young superstars who get pulled off the phones in their first few months -- even before EARNING their first certification.

But back on topic..... For most of my professional level exams, I usually initially allowed for about 3 hours per book chapter of reading/study time (for all the recommended books) plus about an additional hour review time per chapter later on. I'd usually get through a chapter at one sitting in the evening.

I'll usually lab while studying, but toss in quite a few extra hours lab time on the weekends (especially if there was a Practical Studies book available). If I was familiar with some of the topics it might take less time, and if it was something new or something I hadn't already worked with, it may take more time.

I'd also allow for a few hours on the weekend reading and reviewing the Cisco Docs for the topics I had studied the previous week. If I was motivated I'd also do a chapter on each weekend day in addition to the time I allowed for review and any other additional study I'd do (like read Doyle, other books from the CCIE Reading Lists, or additional suggested reading).

Then I allowed at least a week before the exam for review, doing the practice exams that came with the Cisco Press books or Flash Card/Exam Packs, and 2nd guessing if I was ready for an exam.... Then I'd usually move my exam back another week and reread some of the important stuff, do more review of my notes and labs, and drive myself crazy with self doubt. Then I'd pass with a great score and repeat that cycle for the next exam.

I think the only exam I ever spent 60 hour or less preparing for was the SND exam -- which I took AFTER I already had the CCSP. I don't have the CCENT book yet, but I guess I'll probably spend less than 60 hours preparing for that one -- if I don't count any of my previous CCNA + CCNP + CCIP + CCIE Lab Prep time.

And back off topic...

wat08 wrote:

Given the grueling lab component of the CCIE surely he could be of some use?

It's not that grueling if you **** -- but they are good for some funny CCIE Interview stories

ilcram19-2

we have hired a level 1 and level 2 support line for our company so we can focus on the fun stuff and i got to tell you some of those guys either dont dont even try or idk whats goin on in their head, and some of them have MCSE on their signature, so i know where you comming from but i thought that could only **** on MS and comptia stuff i guess i was wrong then i guess i cant judge some one by their certs, good one mikej

cisco_trooper

Jesus Tap Dancing Christ, enough already....

fonque

i appreciate the encourage ment from those that posted earlier. I am personally studying in the pursuit of knowledge, that may or may not help my career. I just enjoy learning and testing my limits.
learning to just pass an exam, to me is the same as cheating; goes against every bone in my body.

This thread has been a big help in putting things into perspective. I do have a deadline set for myself of passing the BCMSN by 1/09. I started studying at the begining of setptemer. I set a relatively short deadline for myself because my job enviroment happens to be a very large switching/layer 2 environment. Most topics in the book I have already dealt with on the job. So that deffinately helps shorten the amount of study time necessary.

cisco_trooper

fonque wrote:

i appreciate the encourage ment from those that posted earlier. I am personally studying in the pursuit of knowledge, that may or may not help my career. I just enjoy learning and testing my limits.
learning to just pass an exam, to me is the same as cheating; goes against every bone in my body.

This thread has been a big help in putting things into perspective. I do have a deadline set for myself of passing the BCMSN by 1/09. I started studying at the begining of setptemer. I set a relatively short deadline for myself because my job enviroment happens to be a very large switching/layer 2 environment. Most topics in the book I have already dealt with on the job. So that deffinately helps shorten the amount of study time necessary.

Best of luck to you man. I'll probably start back in on the layer 2 stuff here shortly. Sorry we got off topic a little bit, hope you don't think any of this "crap" was directed at you.

JohnDouglas

So, the routing and switching exams are generally held to be the most difficult. how about the other two. i know it's a bit silly, but if say bsci takes a certain person six months to study for. how long would it take to learn ONT?

just wondering because i worked out last night it'll probably take me till april to get through the bsci self study guide + the lab portfolio.

techgirl321

I studied for CCNA for 6 weeks. 972/1000
I studied for CVOICE for 2 weeks. 875/1000
I studied for ONT for 3 weeks including a 1 week QoS instructer led. 988/1000 (Passed today)

I study for the minutia details that Cisco expects you to know but otherwise, I have been working with most of this stuff for years. Most days I feel like a dingbat at work because I can't remember stuff, but its because I haven't touched it in a while. Its like my knowledge is 5 miles wide and a foot deep. But a bit of study brings all the concepts back to me and makes new concepts easy because like the chaos theory, a lot of this stuff has a pattern of sameness...then I just have to figure out what Cisco expects me know...like best practices. I have touched routing from 1800 series (and older) up through IOS XR on GSRs, switching from catalyst 2900 series up through 4500 and 6500s, ME3400s, 3750s 3550s etc, CCM (two full deployments and multiple upgrades), IPCC one full deployment with script writing (which I suck at because I dont have that programming brain), Wireless (small deployment of autonomous APs), and other stuff.
I have been blessed to work in an ISP environment where we do a lot of testing and a lot of troubleshooting. Nothing like chasing a problem for a week to get the concept ingrained in your brain!
I plan on doing the Composite by the middle of December and the ISCW by the end of January.

shednik

Youre experience is the reason you were able to pass the exams quickly and there's nothing wrong with that. If you were to say you had no experience in the technology it would be a completely different story.

techgirl321

Agreed.

fonque

also as an addendum to the amount of time taken for studying

CBT Nuggets FTMFW!!

where have I been on this one??

ccnpninja

So my answer to the question is, take as long as you want. Take a year if you want to. Just make sure you KNOW the material. None of this crap where you say you know material because you can recognize the right answer out of 4 choices. Do you know the answer if you aren't given any choices?. When you are out in the field you aren't getting a multiple choice question.

well said.
I'm now on my fifth month of studying for BSCI and I still have to learn BGP, IS-IS, DHCP, IPv6,... That's a lot waiting for me.
I'm reading for learning and preparing for an eventual CCIE lab exam, not for the get-the-cert-quickly.