What certifications are you guys working on right now ?

Fu Loser

N+ is a reccomended as a pre-req for ccna, I know its not terribly needed but i figured the more i know the better.

And yes my class schedual is already set and its 11 months of class.

No, it doesn't take 40 hours a week, my classes are actually 16hrs a week lecture and 16hrs a week lab and as much free study/lab time i want

Why work at cisco to get it in a year? My teacher is duel CCIE in R-S and Security.

The 11 months also accounts for 2 months total for being in between classes. Which I count those 2 months just in case i dont pass a test the first time.

My school has a 85% pass rate for all test at the CCNP level, CCIE level is at 40% the first time.

Im not saying I will definately have my certs in a year. But my school has a very good history of doing it and a very high success rate at meeting people's personal goals.

They also give you some good equiptment to keep, and let you take home a heck of a lot of equiptment when you are taking classes, but you have to give it back

mikedeek

what school is this?

Ricka182

I quietly have to questin this schools material....it just doesn't make sense dude. Ccie is the like guru-level in networking, and I don't believe it can be done in a year. Good luck.

TheCiscoKid

If you have CCNA you should be able to pass Net+ I don't even have my CCNA, just took Cisco 1&2 as part of my degree and I passed Net+ by just reading Mike Myers AIO and using the technotes from here. I fianly got my voucher for the first part of the CCNA and as soon as I take A+ OS I will take the CCNA part one test.

Fu Loser

School is called Microtrain. Its not so much a school as it is a private training center. Average class size is 3 people. Lots of 1 on 1 with the instructor.

The schools materials are the standard cisco training manuals ( I dont remember the name or have them in front of me hehe )

They have LOTs of cisco equiptment also. They only have about 7 classrooms, and the way their schedualing works is they will always have an open classroom and every classroom is CCNP qualified, but only one room is CCIE qualified.

I was told flat out that i will be living and breathing cisco for the next year. I can also change my class schedual at anytime, so if i dont feel im prepaired enough to move on lets say deeper into CCNP, then I can always rechange my schedual and retake the classes i already took.

Very nice setup.

2lazybutsmart

Fu, CCIE in a year is pure imagination. Don't even think it man.

If you're a genius, you can do CCNA in a month; CCNP will probably take you 6 months. That's 7 months. If you're really really a genius then, you'll have the written exam by the end of that year. Next comes the lab. I think Cisco requires that you sit for a while before you take the lab. That one you'll have to schedule when the time comes, and then you might have to wait a good while to get to sit it. It's expensive and challenging. If u flunk it; God help you.

Put aside 2 years my friend. And with that time frame, you'd have to be a genius; sleep Cisco, eat Cisco, and breathe Cisco.

2lbs.

keenon

i looked it up and for
Duration: 296 hours which is about 8 weeks (really a little over 7 weeks) at 40 hours and 17 weeks at 20 hours a week for Price: $10995
(i better have something)
honestly lab, instruction and test training is fine but real world will truely test any certified persons metal.. so if you do CCIE and land that first gig its a pretty good chance that nothing taught is school will have you ready for the unique issues only real experience can give it will be the test

that my 2 cents

Fu Loser

I agree, no better experience than doing the real thing. Over here in chicago I can get a job with CCNA. Microtrain has had a past of having some people get CCIE in a year, obviously those people probly spent more time than i can imagine inside that school.

I definately think that 8 weeks at 40 hours is much better than these bootcamps where its 5 days at 14 hours a day.

The year accounts for the written exam only thats true. The lab is another thing, because you have to schedual around Cisco time, but thats a entire other mess to deal with.

I know real experience is the key, as it always is. Believe me, I'm giving myself 4 years to get CCIE, just like any 4 year college. For me, this is my college, this is all I have, so the only thing I can do is hope for the best and make the best out of it.

My local college uses Cisco equiptment for traing, so with a CCNP I can actually "test out" and get and asociate's degree under my belt, which can never hurt.

The teacher at the school is duel CCIE in RS and Sec, he will also do private training to help you prepair for test, labs, ect... Which is very nice when you're teacher said he would do lessons on the side with you, sense he already knows how well you do in school, their would be no guessing on what to teach.

Im curently thinking about dropping my N+ class, i read the entire book in 3 weeks and score consistantly around 65-75% on all the practice test I can find, I figure I might as well save the cash and put it torwards the CCIE route.

Money is an issue for me, student loan only gave me 50%

Fu Loser

My classes start next week, i will keep you guys posted on how the enviourment is their and get some feedback on how well the school measures up. From all the research and school visiting I did, this is the best place I can find in the area, due to their open lab/door policy, which will allow me to get as much study time as possible.

So I'm planning on going in every Mon-Tues night from 6-10, because my girlfriend has a 6-10 class right down the street at another school on the same days, so we just drive together.

Webmaster

2lazybutsmart wrote:

If you're a genius, you can do CCNA in a month; CCNP will probably take you 6 months. That's 7 months. If you're really really a genius then, you'll have the written exam by the end of that year. Next comes the lab. I think Cisco requires that you sit for a while before you take the lab.

You don't need to become CCNA nor CCNP before you can try the CCIE exams. CCNA/CCNP and the other cisco career certs are relatively new. CCIE has been around much longer and does not require any 'formal' prerequisites. However:

Cisco wrote:

You are strongly encouraged to have 3-5 years of job experience before attempting certification.

I think if Cisco is all you do 8 hours a day, for 40 to 50 weeks, it should be doable to pass the CCIE lab (the second try cause over 80% fails the first try ), given that you have all the equipment that used in the lab exam. The CCIE written exam is not as difficult as most people may think. Apart from the number of questions and the amount of topics, it is not a lot more difficult than other Cisco exams. It contains mostly the same information, and type of questions (at least for the CCIE R&S track) as in the CCNA, CCNP-BSCI (routing) and CCNP-BCMSN (switching) exams.

The lab exam is an entirely different story of course, and that's what makes the CCIE so valuable and difficult to obtain. Depending on your location (and hence if a exam lab is near) it may take up to a year before you can even make your first attempt.

If Cisco routers and switches were as common as personal PCs, CCIE would be like A+++

Good luck Fu, and more importantly: have fun!

D-boy

I'm studying for my A+ OS exam. Then I will go for Network +, then finish off my MCSA 2000. After that I will try and go for CCNA. My brother passed his written CCIE exam and is taking the Lab in October 04.

keenon

i'm going to leave it alone

Fu Loser

Cisco written exams are not as hard as everyone thinks. CCNA is just as difficult as N+, I dont know this for a fact, but many people have told me they are on the same difficulty level.

Webmaster

CCNA is just as difficult as N+,

there is some overlap between the two, but CCNA is much harder to pass than the Network+.

garv221

Fu Loser wrote:

Cisco written exams are not as hard as everyone thinks. CCNA is just as difficult as N+, I dont know this for a fact, but many people have told me they are on the same difficulty level.

I don't know what Net+ you have taken, but the one I had was a joke.

keenon

now you have got me back into this ... the net+ is a very basic network entry level cert to think that the ccna is on the same level is crazy if so there would be ccna's at Mcdonalds working drive thru. ccna, ccnp have been around for more than 5 years so its not new. for someone that is new to technical certs cisco has few rivals certs on the same level when it comes to networking

viper75

Fu Loser wrote:

Cisco written exams are not as hard as everyone thinks. CCNA is just as difficult as N+, I dont know this for a fact, but many people have told me they are on the same difficulty level.

Sorry to say but I think you're way wrong about this.


How long have you been in the IT field?

mwgood

Fu Loser wrote:

Cisco written exams are not as hard as everyone thinks. CCNA is just as difficult as N+, I dont know this for a fact, but many people have told me they are on the same difficulty level.

It is obvious to anyone who has actually studied for both these exams that the CCNA is a higher level cert, therefore more difficult exam to prepare for and pass.

I studied a couple months for the Network+ and passed easily the first time. It took me 2 or 3 times longer to prepare for the CCNA and didn't pass until the 2nd attempt.

I rest my case.

TheCiscoKid

The CiscoI&II test that they give you from CiscoNetacad.net are harder then the Net+ exam that I took just this past summer. I have not taken the CCNA yet but I am anticipating it to be harder then Net+.

Fu Loser

Like I said, I don't know this for a fact, I've only been told this. N+ reccomends 6-18 months IT experience? Somewhere around their. CCNA just reccomends a N+. That means the CCNA is only asking for 6-18 months of of IT experience.

I believe this is what the people that have told me this are reffering to.

How much IT experience to I have? about 2 years when I was contracted to run a dial-up gaming server when I was 13 years old.

Sence then I have had basically no IT experience. I'm signed up for my N+ class that starts this Saturday. I already read the entire book (took 3 weeks) and I scored a 82% on my pre-logic test simulation.

Can't wait for school to start

skaeight

Fu Loser wrote:

Like I said, I don't know this for a fact, I've only been told this. N+ reccomends 6-18 months IT experience? Somewhere around their. CCNA just reccomends a N+. That means the CCNA is only asking for 6-18 months of of IT experience.

I believe this is what the people that have told me this are reffering to.

How much IT experience to I have? about 2 years when I was contracted to run a dial-up gaming server when I was 13 years old.

Sence then I have had basically no IT experience. I'm signed up for my N+ class that starts this Saturday. I already read the entire book (took 3 weeks) and I scored a 82% on my pre-logic test simulation.

Can't wait for school to start

Geeze....don't waste the $1000 if you've already read a book and have an 82% on a practice test. Just take a look at the technotes on this site, and take the practice test. Maybe go buy another book, but you really don't need a $1000 class to pass Net+.

D-boy

Study Track 2004-2005


Exam to be taken
A+ OS September 2004
Network+ October-04
MCP 70-215 November-04
MCP 70-218 December-04

Upgrade MCSA 2000 to MCSA 2003
MCP 70-292 January-05

MCDST 70-271 February-05
MCDST 70-272 March-04

PASSED

MCP 70-210
A+ Hardware


Certifications I want acquire before September 18th 2005
MCSA 2003
MCSA 2000
A+
Network+
MCDST
CCNA

skaeight

D-boy wrote:

Study Track 2004-2005


Exam to be taken
A+ OS September 2004
Network+ October-04
MCP 70-215 November-04
MCP 70-218 December-04

Upgrade MCSA 2000 to MCSA 2003
MCP 70-292 January-05

MCDST 70-271 February-05
MCDST 70-272 March-04

PASSED

MCP 70-210
A+ Hardware


Certifications I want acquire before September 18th 2005
MCSA 2003
MCSA 2000
A+
Network+
MCDST
CCNA

Is that a freudean slip in your profile? You've passed the A+ "hardcore" test? Good luck w/ the certs though, that's pretty much my path.

I got my A+ around a month ago, I'm taking Net+ next week, and I already have the 70-270 book on order from amazon.

I'm hoping to be MCSA 2003 by Christmas. Then I'm not sure where I'm going. I love linux /unix and would ultimately love to get a Unix admin job, so I'll probably take LPI I and then possibly Solaris Sys Admin Certs.

keenon

first off FU loser.. you have just given away $1000 for net+, the 6-18 months they speak of is in desktop , basic network troubleshooting and low level admin experience. which a little of it (basic net troubleshooting) and osi model will cross into ccna

the only reason i went ahead and finished mine(NET+) is that i was supposed to take it back in 2000 when i was on the NT MCSE track. I jus felt it being something i left undone which i don't like to do.. the CCNA i have taken back in 2002 which i failed twice.. that was before 801 that when it was 507 version the first version with a sim. since then i have worked with the equipment for various vendors in all kinds of implementations and issues over the past 2 years consistantly. i know far to well not to think or play down this test including all others on the ccie track. this not a 1 year cert its will take serveral years

Fu Loser

Well i signed up for the class only about 4 weeks ago. let my book sit their for about a week, I just finsihed it a few days ago, and took the practice test, problem, my class starts tomarrow morning.

I know, I could have taken the $1,000 and spent it elsewere, I had no clue as to the difficulty of N+.

For now I can just look at it as a good experience, with some good lab time, and get the most out of it.

i'll post on how well the class is and if it is worth the money or no to others that feel they may need calsses.

Besides its all on a student loan

tahjzhuan

i'm going to study for the 2003 upgrade exam, then security+, after that who knows...ccna?

nate_lewis

Like you said FU, your student loan only covered 50% of what you want to spend. I know even if I had $1,000 from a student loan I wouldnt spend it on classes (well, not the N+ classes anyways). Sounds to me like you found techexams.net to late. Bet ya wish you found this hive of information before you booked the course huh?

lazyart

D-boy wrote:

MCSA 2003
MCSA 2000
A+
Network+
MCDST
CCNA

Wow, that is a busy year. I pray you have some experience in the field, or perhaps reconsider and work on getting some before following through with that plan. The general consensus seems to be some experience+some certs > no experience+lots of certs.

On a personal note, it seems that MCSE + MCDST is redundant.

Fu Loser

I do wish I found this website before signing up for N+. I was able to sign up basically for up to my CCNP.

In all reality, the lab time means most to me. Being able to use all of their equiptment anytime I want is a real plus. Having a professional teach is a high value to me.

To me, I can read something in a book and if I do not understand it, sometimes I cannot find a satisfactory answere on the internet, or I just don't even put the effort into finding an answere.

For me this is were the teacher is most valuable to me, for some reason I can just understand things so much better when someone who is trained is telling me.

I had my class on Saturday, I definately think the instructor is way over qualified, you can tell he teaches because he likes to teach. The lector was slightly better than you would picture most lectures being.

He did however have a nice 4 hour dinamic lab that a really enjoyed and I did learn a lot. By the end of the lab I was able to do much more than I pictured I would only after one day.

I'll post how the class is doing in more detail after my next class, by then the calss should be well off the ground and hopefully doing much more.

Fu Loser

ps. I paid for the N+ ($995) out of pocket, not on a student loan (sucks worse than if it was on a student loan, I actually had the cash in my hands)

The loan basically covered me to CCNP, my goal is CCIE. I can always apply for another loan, with a cosigning next time if I need to.

On thing is The school will actually let you take another class for free if you fail an exam, it is not advertised. Basically if the instructor vouches for you based on your performance, attitude and attendence in class, they will considered letting you take the class over again for free or for a partial cost, it's all on unique basis though and very rarely happens.