Passed!!! ICND1 down, ICND2 here I come.

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd let everyone know. I took my ICND1 exam earlier today and passed. I think I lost half my hair in the study process, but I got it done.

I'm gonna start cracking on the ICND2 curriculum pretty soon here.

Question for everyone though, the CCENT is supposed to be an entry level position cert. I understand most businesses want CCNA's with a fair deal of experience, but are places actually using CCENT's and whats a decent route to get my foot in the door and break the ice into the IT world.

I'm a paramedic with a wife and two kids that has fairly limited options on means to get experience. I can't take a pay cut and leave my job for a very low level IT position, but I need to find a means to get experience somehow.

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Comments

Megadeth4168

Congrats!

mikej412

Congratulations!

Meast

Starting looking into Internships and contract jobs to get your foot into the door! You gotta crawl before you can walk, but you never know, I'm a IT Manager myself, and I look for experience rather than certs, but I get really impressed when I see both. I would never put anyone in my server room who has just certs and no experience.

phantasm

Congrats!! Don't be like me and slack on ICND2. lol.

emtffkev

Thanks for the support everyone. I'm looking forward to ICND2 and I may have to come rack your brains a bit if I get stuck with my studying.

Meast, Thanks for the advice. I don't mind crawling before I walk...I actually look forward to it. I want to learn as much as I can in a controlled manner. My only caveat is that I have to be able to support the family while I'm crawling.

tech-airman

emtffkev,

emtffkev wrote: »

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd let everyone know. I took my ICND1 exam earlier today and passed. I think I lost half my hair in the study process, but I got it done.

Congratulations for passing the 640-822 ICND1 exam and may you look forward to the CCENT certificate coming in your snail mailbox near you.

emtffkev wrote: »

I'm gonna start cracking on the ICND2 curriculum pretty soon here.

Question for everyone though, the CCENT is supposed to be an entry level position cert. I understand most businesses want CCNA's with a fair deal of experience, but are places actually using CCENT's and whats a decent route to get my foot in the door and break the ice into the IT world.

Here's an interesting document titled "Certifications and Your Career in Networking IT" by Rachel D. that has a "You are here" map feel to it.

Link:

"Certifications and Your Career in Networking IT" by Rachel D. - https://cisco.hosted.jivesoftware.com/docs/DOC-1867

emtffkev wrote: »

I'm a paramedic with a wife and two kids that has fairly limited options on means to get experience. I can't take a pay cut and leave my job for a very low level IT position, but I need to find a means to get experience somehow.

msethk

Meast wrote: »

I would never put anyone in my server room who has just certs and no experience.

Only problem I have with that is you gotta get the experience somewhere or another. I agree, you can't throw a newbie in a Network Administrator position with no experience, but you gotta learn somewhere. Internships are great, but you still don't get the hands on you need and in today's economy I think the only people who can "afford" to do that are students. Thank goodness there are IT managers out there that give people a chance even without a great deal of experience.

Some of these certs mean alot, especially Cisco.

emtffkev

msethk wrote: »

Thank goodness there are IT managers out there that give people a chance even without a great deal of experience.

First order of business...Find one of these mythical managers

phantasm

emtffkev wrote: »

First order of business...Find one of these mythical managers

Let me know when you find one. It took me 5 years in order to find a manager who was willing to give me a shot.

captobvious

Congrats.

I'm taking mine later today!

jscimeca715

Do you have any advice for someone who is looking to take the test in a few weeks? Did you feel rushed? What study methods did you use? Did you practice with real equipment or simulators? Any input would definitely be appreciated!

captobvious

jscimeca715 wrote: »

Do you have any advice for someone who is looking to take the test in a few weeks? Did you feel rushed? What study methods did you use? Did you practice with real equipment or simulators? Any input would definitely be appreciated!

Passed mine today!

Best advice is to go over your notes, know subnetting cold and take your time when reading the questions.

I used Cicso Press (Odom) and a home lab. I think practicing with real equipment was definitely a help. You may get by the ICND 1 with only a simulator but if you plan on going on then a home lab can't hurt.

Good luck!

emtffkev

@ jscimeca715,

I don't know that I'm the one to be giving advice

but I'll try.

The CBT Nugget videos were fantastic. Watch the videos all the way through the series, then...watch them again. You'd be surprised the stuff you miss the first time through just because you didn't catch something. Also, get yourself a book. Personally I like the books by Lammle.

Over the weekend I took practice tests (NOT braindumps) till my hair fell out. The ones here and over at MCMCSE.com are very good.

Now about the test...It's been said before but I will reinforce it, know your subnetting. This is huge. When I took the test I didn't feel rushed, but I did take advantage of almost the entire 90 minutes. I have a tendancy to skim the question and pick an answer and this has burned me in the past so I made very sure to read the question, read ALL the answers, then read the question again to verify it's asking what I think it is. Two most important things on test day IMHO are subnetting and time management.

Good luck with your test and be sure to let us know how you do.

contentpros

emtffkev wrote: »

I'm a paramedic with a wife and two kids that has fairly limited options on means to get experience. I can't take a pay cut and leave my job for a very low level IT position, but I need to find a means to get experience somehow.

Check around with local charities, churches, or non-profit groups! So many times these groups are overlooked! I have found with many friends that these groups can be a fantastic resource. We have often volunteered a few hours with different groups and found it to be a really rewarding experience. Many of these groups have shoestring budgets and are really appreciative of the help (geez IT people actually being thanked there is a new concept). It can open the doors to new opportunities. It is a great way to network and market your skills. Some non-profits have big name members on their boards which can lead to creating a chance to go to work for a larger company. One of the things most people overlook is asking the organization to write a letter of recommendation for you. It makes great resume fodder and you would be amazed how many employers will eat that up like candy because it show a different side of you that is hard to put on paper.

jscimeca715

emtffkev wrote: »

@ jscimeca715,

I don't know that I'm the one to be giving advice but I'll try.

The CBT Nugget videos were fantastic. Watch the videos all the way through the series, then...watch them again. You'd be surprised the stuff you miss the first time through just because you didn't catch something. Also, get yourself a book. Personally I like the books by Lammle.

Over the weekend I took practice tests (NOT braindumps) till my hair fell out. The ones here and over at MCMCSE.com are very good.

Now about the test...It's been said before but I will reinforce it, no your subnetting. This is huge. When I took the test I didn't feel rushed, but I did take advantage of almost the entire 90 minutes. I have a tendancy to skim the question and pick an answer and this has burned me in the past so I made very sure to read the question, read ALL the answers, then read the question again to verify it's asking what I think it is. Two most important things on test day IMHO are subnetting and time management.

Good luck with your test and be sure to let us know how you do.

Thank you for the information. I have Odom's book and Lammle's book. I'm using Odom's book almost exclusively unless I need more clarifying. I can do about 85% of subnetting questions in my head, so I'm close on that. My one big concern, and it appears to be a lot of people's, is reading the question and understanding it. A lot of the practice tests I took would result in failed attempts because I didn't take the time to read. I'm focusing a lot on that in the two weeks I have left and hopefully I will have my mind trained come test day.

drew2000

Nice work...Drew

mamono

Congrats!