Study techniques... Net+ 2009 help

crazydrve

Hi all, i have my A+ and now trying to study the net+ but having problems on how to start... i have the sybex book and the transcender tests... i have been reading the book and taking the tests but since i have never been good at studying (at least in high school)

i was wondering if anyone had a certain system then had used that help...i have been working on this off and on for about a year now but cant seem to pass the transcender tests so obviously i am doing something wrong....

any ideas?


thank you
crazydrve

Plantwiz

crazydrve wrote: »

Hi all, i have my A+ and now trying to study the net+ but having problems on how to start... i have the sybex book and the transcender tests... i have been reading the book and taking the tests but since i have never been good at studying (at least in high school)

i was wondering if anyone had a certain system then had used that help...i have been working on this off and on for about a year now but cant seem to pass the transcender tests so obviously i am doing something wrong....

any ideas?


thank you
crazydrve

First, I'd stop using Transcender practice tests and begin to learn the material.

Get the objectives and work through them point-by-point until you 'know' the material well enough to explain it to someone who doesn't.

Get ALL the experience you can get your hands on. A+ is geared toward a candidate WITH at least 500hours experience. NET+ IIRC is similar or more, so you need a good 6 months of working with network problems and solutions to help solidify this information for yourself (IMO).

These exams are very easy, but they are geared toward folks with experience. Once you work with materials for a while, listen to the senior techs, feel the stress of solving your customers problems with your own knowledge and not seeking help....you'll have no trouble passing the exam.

Take your time, but you will need real practice not just reading books.

Sybex and Meyers are the recommended books for A+ and NET+. Set up a lab with old hardware and begin working on it...labs are helpful, but still do not replicate the "I have to get this to work" feeling a real network will provoke...because you create your own network failure...you know where to look for the fix. Better then nothing, but not exactly the same.

-Voluteer to help at organizations (churches, schools, etc...)
-Check local businesses if they need/could use an intern
-Look into job shadowing

Most importantly don't give up! If this material is new for you...it won't seem 'easy' as many will state. Several of us here have 'grown-up' with electronics and such long before all the PNP days of today. So running into IRQ conflicts was much more common and because many of us had to deal with them more frequently troubleshooting them was second nature. Today, new techs think it is wasteful to study them, it is not. Sure you won't see them near as frequently as 20 years ago...but understanding them will make you a better tech. Networking is similar. Do you need to know about Vampire Taps and CAT 3, you'll never know what you may run into on an old network and at the very least, you'll want to know if you can remove equipment that is obscelete and was long ago decommissioned.

Set small goals and reach them, eventually you'll make it all the way through the objectives but it may just take more time then you have given yourself thus far.