How do you guys go about preparing for cert exams?

SrSysAdmin

I have a method that has worked for me but I'm not sure how long it will work for.

Basically I will just pay to write a test, say February 28, and I won't let myself reschedule the test. Then I will do very light studying for the next two weeks, and then the weekend of the exam (I usually schedule them for Sundays), I will cram all night Friday, all day Saturday, and on Sunday until it's time to take the test.

At this point I write the test and have passed it every time so far. However, I'm sure it won't keep up.

For the CompTIA and Microsoft test this has been fine and I don't suspect that it will change. A big reason I'm able to do it for these tests is because I already know the subject matter very well and it's more or less just a review for me.

However, in the near future I'm going to go after my PMP and RHCE and I know I won't be able to pass these tests using this method.

How do you guys go about structuring your studying so as to stay on task? Short of taking classes at a local university I'm not sure how to setup such structure for myself over such a long period of time without slipping up.


So with that said...how do you guys go about doing it? What works for you?


Can't wait to see the responses. Thanks guys (and gals)!

ColbyG

I never schedule more than a couple days in advance, the anticipation kills me. Usually I study on and off for awhile, not really putting much into it, then I get a stick up my ass and decide I want to get the cert. That's when I get super motivated and go balls out, then I schedule the exam when I feel ready (or sometimes when I don't feel super ready, but work is paying haha).

Everlife

I normally read a chapter once, then go through again taking notes on the pieces of information I feel are important. The notes are then transferred to my own chapter review sheets. I spend about an hour each night studying the review sheets. Once I have finished the book, I begin to go back through my chapter review sheets and make a second version of them highlighting any points I'm still having trouble with.

Once the revised chapter review sheets have been completed, I schedule the exam. I spend another two weeks reviewing the information, then take the exam.

This method has worked for me every single time with great results.

Best of luck!

veritas_libertas

I basically read two book on whatever certification it is for and on the second book I start taking notes. Then I do practice tests to find where I am weak at.

Super99

I first read the ExamCram book and take notes. Then I do the labs on TestOut and pass the tests there and study my notes.
Then I use Transcender and study it well......very well.

hexem

reading, alot of reading, then more indepth reading via google and specific books dedicated to a paticular subject if i want to go deeper, cbtnugget's video's, lot's of hands on practising and playing around.


i also have lots of notes celetaped to the wall behind my desk

impelse

I read the book and make the labs, during the first reading I create my flashcards suing Flashcards: The world's largest library of printable flash cards after that I read the book the second time and do more labs, after that I begin to use practice exams and drill my weakest points and sit for the exam until I am sure that I understand the details.

Normally take me 2.5 to 3 month by exam.

Zartanasaurus

Pick up a CBT for the cert. Watch them all.
Pick up a book for the cert. Read it all.
Take whatever practice tests come with the material.
Double check what I learned vs what's on the objectives. Google/technet around.
Schedule the test.
Take it.
?
Profit.

unsupported

impelse wrote: »

...I create my flashcards suing Flashcards: The world's largest library of printable flash cards ...

Dude, this site is sweet. You just have to be careful using someone elses Flashcards if you go that route. I will use this in the future!

Oh, for my certs, I usually read two books. The official book from the certification vendor, and then another highly recommend book from people who have taken and passed the certification. I do additional research and setup scenarios in my home lab. I usually schedule the test after the first book, but before I am half way finished through the second book. Parkinson's law states "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." I stay away from **** sites, but I will use quiz banks to test my own knowledge. Sometimes I will try to find audio books/lectures or videos to fill in some areas I am not familiar with.

networker050184

Read a chapter then lab. Rinse repeat until I can't stand to even look at the material anymore, then go pass it. That method has worked for me so far. Not big on practice tests personally. I'll go through the ones that come with the book once or twice, but that's about it.

snadam

for the most part I use "Royal's study method" . Its worked wonders. The only time I really didnt follow these guidelines, I failed

Piers

Read the book straight through, no skimming (last two were W2K8 MS for me, so we'll go with MSPress. The MCDST and Server+ I used ExamCram, and no practice tests). Do the practice tests that come with it (for the 70-642, I did all 200 questions twice). Review the answers of the questions that were incorrect, learning not the answers are the answers, but why. Take the scoring summary and take note of the weaker areas, and start going through the book again, taking notes of everything with special concentration on the weak areas. Take the test again. Review notes before going into the exam (to keep the synapses firing without having to filter the whole book once again)

jamesleecoleman

I'll read the whole book a few times. Then I'll find the material that I'm not good on and read about it. I'll keep going through the material until I'm good with it and then I'll go back and re read the whole book again. I'll then do lab , if there is a lab. I'll go down the list of objectives that is supposed to be known and explain what is needed to know to myself. Sometimes I'll go through the whole book and explain to myself what is what and why. If I can't, I'll go back to the book and read about it again. When I'm sick of the material and I know what the whole chapter is explaining, then I know I'm ready for the test. Even if I don't feel ready.

Selfmade

snadam wrote: »

for the most part I use "Royal's study method" . Its worked wonders. The only time I really didnt follow these guidelines, I failed

Thank you for mentioning this. I'm going to go to Office Depot or Wal Mart and load up on Post Its and notebooks and might include a mini-notebook which I can use as a pocket reference for remembering key terms or key points that I can take anywhere and flip open and read in dull moments.

Imagine sitting on the can in a place other than at home and being able to flip open your little pocket notebook!!

talk about being productive, LOL

JockVSJock

Hmmm...This is an interesting thread, and its interesting because each of us learn differently, however there may not be much difference when it comes to it.

I've been taking notes on how I study for the 70-270, and I'm finding that in order to pass certs, you got to do the following:

-Read
-Take notes from reading
-Drill Questions and Review Reading
-Labs

Basically I'm trying to reverse engineer on how I learn. The reason for this is that I feel that I'm basically brute forcing on how I learn. I've been doing this for years, its not much fun and come to find out, I'm not alone when it comes to feeling like this.

I recently found this blog called Study Hacks

Study Hacks

Basically this guy is reverse engineering on how to learn. I've been applying some of his stuff to my studying and starting to make better progress. For example, he has something called Quiz and Review. Instead of doing the typical Rote Review for your reading, you basically prepare your reading with Questions/Evidence/Conclusion and then you read it aloud, like you are teaching a class. If you can teach it back to your imaginary class, without looking at your notes, you can move on.

Here is an example of it:

The Single Most Important Study Strategy You Will Ever Hear | Student Help Forum

This really has helped me, of course he says that you won't have to put much time into, I disagree. Your gonna have to put the time in order to get the results.

I would be curious to see other Tech Exams folks look thru his stuff and see if they can get it to work for them and pick it apart.

dynamik

I have an attention span that can only be measured in nano-seconds (/baseketball), so practice exams and lab work are the best resources for me. I'd rather go through a thousand practice questions five at a time here or there than sit down and read a book. My mind wanders, and I don't soak anything up. I always use a book or two, but in terms of usefulness, they fall to the bottom. There have been a lot of good study threads; I'd encourage people to do some searching through the forums for similar topics. Astounding information is contained within (/fortune cookie).

Forsaken_GA

my study method involves a healthy dose of alcohol, voodoo, and blood sacrifice. I just ask da loa for da answers to da questions and dey give me an answer!

Unfortunately, the answer they give me is to stick my head in a damn book, spend enough time doing lab experiments that my fingers don't need my brain to complete the configuration anymore, and a healthy abuse of legit practice tests is the way to pass the exam.

Selfmade

JockVSJock wrote: »

Hmmm...This is an interesting thread, and its interesting because each of us learn differently, however there may not be much difference when it comes to it.

I've been taking notes on how I study for the 70-270, and I'm finding that in order to pass certs, you got to do the following:

-Read
-Take notes from reading
-Drill Questions and Review Reading
-Labs

Basically I'm trying to reverse engineer on how I learn. The reason for this is that I feel that I'm basically brute forcing on how I learn. I've been doing this for years, its not much fun and come to find out, I'm not alone when it comes to feeling like this.

I recently found this blog called Study Hacks

Study Hacks

Basically this guy is reverse engineering on how to learn. I've been applying some of his stuff to my studying and starting to make better progress. For example, he has something called Quiz and Review. Instead of doing the typical Rote Review for your reading, you basically prepare your reading with Questions/Evidence/Conclusion and then you read it aloud, like you are teaching a class. If you can teach it back to your imaginary class, without looking at your notes, you can move on.

Here is an example of it:

The Single Most Important Study Strategy You Will Ever Hear | Student Help Forum

This really has helped me, of course he says that you won't have to put much time into, I disagree. Your gonna have to put the time in order to get the results.

I would be curious to see other Tech Exams folks look thru his stuff and see if they can get it to work for them and pick it apart.

Thank you for posting that as well.

I DO find it helpful to know the material well enough to teach it. In my CCNA classes at the college I attend, I am often helping out others when we do the labs in class on the actual equipment. I'm positive that technique does, can, and will work because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you know the material well enough to teach it at a high level, then you SHOULD be able to pass the exams on the material.

I believe that being able to lecture or explain to others the material is the true test of how well you 1) learned the material 2) how much of your learning is of quality and 3) your ability to grasp the material and explain to others in your own words the concepts behind the material in an articulate and intelligent fashion, and thus being able to demostrate the material if the occasion demands it.

I've had opportunities to teach others the things I've learned and I really do enjoy teaching, I would be willing to consider a part time teaching job at a college or university if I were able.

I think more importantly than simply "learning" is that you have to actually like and enjoy the material, because it's a thousand times easier to learn if you feel like you are not only gaining knowledge, but you ENJOY the material you learn. That takes something that tests can't measure, which is passion.

My teacher at the college doesn't teach with any passion at all, all he does is read the material off the online cirriculum word for word, which is something we can all do ourselves at home. He doesn't "teach" at all.

That upsets me and I often spend my time during his "lectures" reading the material myself and taking notes. That is the best way to learn if you find yourself in a situation like that.

That and hands on experience, you learn a lot better with hands on experience. Packet Tracer, Dynamips, real equipment, you'll need all that hands on experience to learn.

It's great if you remember that command x goes with command y to do Z, but when you're out there in the real world, stuff DOES go wrong, hence the best complement to your learning is the ability to learn on the actual equipment and apply it in a real world environment. Sometimes you can challenge yourself by having someone else who knows as much or more than you do come in and screw everything to hell, and since he knows the answer, you can try to figure out how to make it whole again. That way you're tested in a real environment on how much you know and how well you can apply what you THINK you know. You might be humbled, or maybe you'll pass with flying colors, whatever happens at least you'd have a real test of your knowledge in a real world experience, and that will help you immeasurably later on.

This is a great thread, I hope some moderator decides to sticky it, because with enough contributions, this thread could literally live untill the end of this forum's life and be useful for hundreds, if not thousands of members here.

SrSysAdmin

Selfmade wrote: »

Thank you for posting that as well.

I DO find it helpful to know the material well enough to teach it. In my CCNA classes at the college I attend, I am often helping out others when we do the labs in class on the actual equipment. I'm positive that technique does, can, and will work because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you know the material well enough to teach it at a high level, then you SHOULD be able to pass the exams on the material.

I believe that being able to lecture or explain to others the material is the true test of how well you 1) learned the material 2) how much of your learning is of quality and 3) your ability to grasp the material and explain to others in your own words the concepts behind the material in an articulate and intelligent fashion, and thus being able to demostrate the material if the occasion demands it.

I've had opportunities to teach others the things I've learned and I really do enjoy teaching, I would be willing to consider a part time teaching job at a college or university if I were able.

I think more importantly than simply "learning" is that you have to actually like and enjoy the material, because it's a thousand times easier to learn if you feel like you are not only gaining knowledge, but you ENJOY the material you learn. That takes something that tests can't measure, which is passion.

My teacher at the college doesn't teach with any passion at all, all he does is read the material off the online cirriculum word for word, which is something we can all do ourselves at home. He doesn't "teach" at all.

That upsets me and I often spend my time during his "lectures" reading the material myself and taking notes. That is the best way to learn if you find yourself in a situation like that.

That and hands on experience, you learn a lot better with hands on experience. Packet Tracer, Dynamips, real equipment, you'll need all that hands on experience to learn.

It's great if you remember that command x goes with command y to do Z, but when you're out there in the real world, stuff DOES go wrong, hence the best complement to your learning is the ability to learn on the actual equipment and apply it in a real world environment. Sometimes you can challenge yourself by having someone else who knows as much or more than you do come in and screw everything to hell, and since he knows the answer, you can try to figure out how to make it whole again. That way you're tested in a real environment on how much you know and how well you can apply what you THINK you know. You might be humbled, or maybe you'll pass with flying colors, whatever happens at least you'd have a real test of your knowledge in a real world experience, and that will help you immeasurably later on.

This is a great thread, I hope some moderator decides to sticky it, because with enough contributions, this thread could literally live untill the end of this forum's life and be useful for hundreds, if not thousands of members here.

I really like this method. Being able to teach things seems like a great way to prove to yourself that you are ready for the exam and that you fully possess the knowledge required to pass it.

My supervisor at my current job often doesn't want to teach me and would rather I figure out answers to problems by Googling around and figuring it out for myself. However, if I catch him in the right mood and ask him the right question he will give me an extremely helpful white board discussion. Being able to teach is a clear sign that you have an understanding of the subject matter.


Thanks for the wise word. There have been a lot of great study recommendations so far but I think this is the best I have come across.

GAngel

I start with alcohol and usually end with alcohol...

I mix it with alot of book reading and labs.

rsutton

GAngel wrote: »

I start with alcohol and usually end with alcohol...

I mix it with alot of book reading and labs.

I like how you roll.

captobvious

I stick to the one chapter, one beer method described in most threads.

hex_omega

dynamik wrote: »

I have an attention span that can only be measured in nano-seconds (/baseketball), so practice exams and lab work are the best resources for me. I'd rather go through a thousand practice questions five at a time here or there than sit down and read a book. My mind wanders, and I don't soak anything up. I always use a book or two, but in terms of usefulness, they fall to the bottom. There have been a lot of good study threads; I'd encourage people to do some searching through the forums for similar topics. Astounding information is contained within (/fortune cookie).

Same here. I simply am not one of these people who can sit down and read for hours on end. I'd be lucky to get through 10 straight minutes without losing focus. And even if it's stuff I am genuinely interested in. Not just material I am forcing myself to learn in order to pass a test. I'm a dumbass.

bradtechonline

I do a lot of reading, and labs through VMWare Workstation.. I also use internet references and talk to people "who have been there".

JockVSJock

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

Pick up a CBT for the cert. Watch them all.

I've noticed a number of people are doing this, I'm gonna have to add this into my toolbag of studying.

DevilWAH

JockVSJock wrote: »

I've noticed a number of people are doing this, I'm gonna have to add this into my toolbag of studying.

Second these, CBT nuggest are a great way to get the fundemental ideas of a topic, your not going to pass the exams with out exploring the topics a bit more on your own. But unlike a book where it can be hard to visualise what the words actuly do. Having some one explain a topic, then actuly running through the config and showing the verification methods.

watch the videos, then grab a study guide and read that and all will make sence.

JDMurray

I really like the audio/visual computer-based training aides followed by practice exams and finally books and printed materials. For really boring reading material, I keep myself interested by search for and hi-lighting specific facts and then making my own study notes from them. I motivate myself to do all this by scheduling my cert exam 4-6 weeks out so I can ramp-up my studying fervor as the exam date gets closer. I never had to reschedule a cert exam, and I've never failed one that I seriously studied for.

Supervisor

I like to study with audio/video training guides and exercise questions. Also i use Sun Virtualbox and try to demo things.

NetworkingStudent

JrSysAdmin wrote: »

I have a method that has worked for me but I'm not sure how long it will work for.

Basically I will just pay to write a test, say February 28, and I won't let myself reschedule the test. Then I will do very light studying for the next two weeks, and then the weekend of the exam (I usually schedule them for Sundays), I will cram all night Friday, all day Saturday, and on Sunday until it's time to take the test.

At this point I write the test and have passed it every time so far. However, I'm sure it won't keep up.

For the CompTIA and Microsoft test this has been fine and I don't suspect that it will change. A big reason I'm able to do it for these tests is because I already know the subject matter very well and it's more or less just a review for me.

However, in the near future I'm going to go after my PMP and RHCE and I know I won't be able to pass these tests using this method.

How do you guys go about structuring your studying so as to stay on task? Short of taking classes at a local university I'm not sure how to setup such structure for myself over such a long period of time without slipping up.


So with that said...how do you guys go about doing it? What works for you?


Can't wait to see the responses. Thanks guys (and gals)!

I read the books, but often I feel lost, or my mind starts to wander.. Currently I’m using TESTOUT, I just about finished reading the Sybex A+ 2009 A+ book (I only have 4 chapters left). I will finish the sybex book by April. Right now I’m reading the exam cram for 701 &702.
I’m trying a new method.
I purchase the Testout video for whatever test I’m studying for.
Then I watch a little bit each day, and I make sure that I get a 100% on the lab and test, before I move on to the next section or part of the Testout CBT. .
I take notes during the testout videos and answer the questions that they post before each video.
I read a little each day in the exam cram, and I take notes.
I practice by using Transcender Optimize Test experience, only after I have passed the measure up exam with 90% at least 3 times.
I find that taking notes really helps me remember a lot of the key details that I need to know for the exams.

Dryst999

I always watch a complete video tutorial suite first at the beginning of any certification I start on... CBT nuggets are my favorite by far. After I watch the 10-20hr video tutorial then i'll start reading the book, i'll tackle one chapter at a time and quiz myself over and over again for a few hours on that chapter until I have it mastered... once I finish every chapter in the book this way i'll do some full practice tests then I take the exam. I find that watching the complete CBT nuggets first before I open up the book help me retain the little details alot better once I get down to reading.