Time needed to get a CCNP

I was curious as to how long it took some of you to get your CCNP? I have a CCNA, and I admit that I need some review. I'm going through the Trainsignal videos at the moment and trying to get the Boson Netsim for some practice.

I'm thinking of tackling the NP in earnest, but I want to make sure I count the cost in effort first. I do have a family with children, so I can't make studying my life like some of you single folks can. I can, however, focus on it pretty good. Does nine months sound like a do-able time frame? More? Less? I heard that with the new NP track (Route, Switch, Troubleshooting), there's less material to be responsible for compared to the old track? Just a rumor I heard.

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DevilWAH

i would say 9 month is a resonable time frame. to both learn and practice. may be a few months more or less but with a few hours study a day + there 9 months sounds about right to get there.

billscott92787

Dr_Atomic wrote: »

I was curious as to how long it took some of you to get your CCNP? I have a CCNA, and I admit that I need some review. I'm going through the Trainsignal videos at the moment and trying to get the Boson Netsim for some practice.

I'm thinking of tackling the NP in earnest, but I want to make sure I count the cost in effort first. I do have a family with children, so I can't make studying my life like some of you single folks can. I can, however, focus on it pretty good. Does nine months sound like a do-able time frame? More? Less? I heard that with the new NP track (Route, Switch, Troubleshooting), there's less material to be responsible for compared to the old track? Just a rumor I heard.

Your statement is true. I would say that 9 months is do-able. I spent 8 months on my CCNP. 2 months for my BCMSN, 3 - 3 1/2 months on my BSCI and 3 months waiting for the Beta results and then finally taking the TSHOOT exam, failed the beta, failed my next attempt, and then passed the 3rd try. Definitely pay attention to fine detail when you get to that point. If you give yourself about I'd say 1-3 hours per day during the week and possibly 4-5 on the weekend, you should be able to hammer it down in 9 months with no issues. You no longer have to worry about the extra materials in ISCW and ONT. ONT (QoS, VoIP, basics), ISCW is more security related information such as AAA, basic security, IPS, firewalls, VPN stuff (site-to-site VPN configs, etc...), MPLS basics, I highly recommend once you get done your track still going over the two, especially if you plan to go beyond to the CCIE. Good luck with your CCNP studies!!!

notgoing2fail

9 months very very much doable.

I've always assumed getting the CCNP would take about 6-8 months on average so I can't see why you couldn't do it in 9 months...

Daniel333

I did a 2 semster course at a community college and it wasn't enough. I turned around and started studying over with the new versions of the exams. Anyhow, I guess you could say I am on my second year! But hey life hits, and it's less about the cert, more what you gain from the process.

I highly recommend you read Network Warrior to serve as a mid point between the CCNA and CCNP.

miller811

It took me a full year to take the 4 test route.

networker050184

Took me a little over a year to do the four tests. I could have completed it faster, but like the OP I do have a wife and kids so studying was not my life. I also got a new job and went through a move in that time frame that slowed process. Nine months seems doable to me, but IMO there is no reason to put a time frame on it. Just study until you are ready whether it be a month or six months per exam.

DevilWAH

networker050184 wrote: »

Took me a little over a year to do the four tests. I could have completed it faster, but like the OP I do have a wife and kids so studying was not my life. I also got a new job and went through a move in that time frame that slowed process. Nine months seems doable to me, but IMO there is no reason to put a time frame on it. Just study until you are ready whether it be a month or six months per exam.

I agree its so personal to you situation, I know with out a child I would have completed exams at the rate of one every 2 months or so. Now with a child I thinking by the end of the year hopefully.

Also its not just about the cert, you need the experience to. Its better to take 4 months over one topic and really explore it beyond the books, than rush through it in a month just to pass. When it comes to an interview a potential employer is likely to ask question about applying this stuff in the real world.

As I said before a constance 2 to 3 hours study on average each day, and working in the networking field, 3 months per exam should be easily achievable.

chrisone

networker050184 wrote: »

Took me a little over a year to do the four tests. I could have completed it faster, but like the OP I do have a wife and kids so studying was not my life. I also got a new job and went through a move in that time frame that slowed process. Nine months seems doable to me, but IMO there is no reason to put a time frame on it. Just study until you are ready whether it be a month or six months per exam.

same here took me about a year and 2 months.

Im waiting on the users to show up and say i did it in 8 weeks cause i have 1 billion years of experience and every question was cake to me lol They will come later today hahaha

ColbyG

Took me about a year from CCNA to CCNP. I didn't really start moving on the NP stuff for probably six months after the NA.

I think a big factor in this is how much exposure you get to the technologies in your day job. Working with this stuff daily makes it a whole lot easier.

liven

took me about 18 months total..

but I work about 60 hours a week...

I am married and have a kid....

BUT, I work for a global ISP and use this stuff every day.....

Having a baby, moving twice definately slowed me down...

But hey, it is different for all of us.

If you work hard, and keep at it a year is reasonable.

Go for it!!!!

jovan88

assuming i pass the test next week it took me 1 and a half years.

I have a full time job and a girlfriend. Also being 21 years old I have a pretty active lifestyle, I'm sure I could have passed it much quicker if I didn't have a life.

But anyway its not about how fast you pass it, its about how much you learn.

TesseracT

It took me 3 years from getting my ccna to ccnp! Of course that's not all I was doing in that time but hey... It takes what it takes. If you're studying the new 3 exam route you could pull it off in 6 months if you go all out

gorebrush

CCNA - Oct 08
BSCI - Dec 08
BCMSN - Dec 09 (with a failed attempt in May 09)
ISCW - Apr 10
ONT - Jul 10 (Assuming I pass, of course)

Would have been easily done in under 12 months, I was just a bit lazy last year (and moved in with mrs, had lots of different things going on etc)

davidspirovalentine

miller811 wrote: »

It took me a full year to take the 4 test route.

My view would be that 9 months is fine as a target. The above shows 'roughly' that one exam will take 3 months and you have 3 exams if you are taking the new track...

Its possible.

Regards,
David

Note: I did my ROUTE in about 4 months, 4 months for my SWITCH, and if I study a month for my TSHOOT and pass on my first try (highly unlikely if I don't prepare well, but I always do) then I would do it in 9 months. So if I can do it anyone can do it.

Cyanic

I'm looking right over a year if I pass TSHOOT in August. This was taking my time and includes 4 months of not studying.

DPG

chrisone wrote: »

same here took me about a year and 2 months.

Im waiting on the users to show up and say i did it in 8 weeks cause i have 1 billion years of experience and every question was cake to me lol They will come later today hahaha

I'm sure it could be done in 8 weeks.

~2 weeks* for the SWITCH

~4 weeks* for the ROUTE

~2 weeks* reviewing SWITCH and ROUTE for the TSHOOT

*~60 hours of studying per week

This is all assuming you have no life and have lab equipment ready to use.

davidspirovalentine

DPG wrote: »

I'm sure it could be done in 8 weeks.

~2 weeks* for the SWITCH

~4 weeks* for the ROUTE

~2 weeks* reviewing SWITCH and ROUTE for the TSHOOT

*~60 hours of studying per week

This is all assuming you have no life and have lab equipment ready to use.

and you have at least SOME experience...

burbankmarc

davidspirovalentine wrote: »

and you have at least SOME experience...

Depending on how good of a test taker you are you could do it at that pace without experience. Good luck retaining that information though, in a years time you'll forget it all.

DPG

davidspirovalentine wrote: »

and you have at least SOME experience...

I assume you would have experience since the CCNA is a prerequisite.

davidspirovalentine

DPG wrote: »

I assume you would have experience since the CCNA is a prerequisite.

Yeah, I guess the CCNA does give you a little edge. Although the CCNA and the CCNP are two very different things.

I guess being a good test taker does help as well.

I'm just saying that you need to have some hands-on in order to not only pass but use the knowledge in a real world scenario.

Regards,
David

abhustler

Took eight months of studying for me. Waited about year after my CCNA to start though

davidspirovalentine

abhustler wrote: »

Took eight months of studying for me. Waited about year after my CCNA to start though

See, that's what I mean... You had a year of experience behind you when you started the CCNP and it took eight months... That's what I'm trying to say.

Regards,
David

iproute

9 Months to a year seems pretty reasonable.

I did BSCI in 3 months. I've been working on BCMSN for about 5 (but my motivation has been severely lacking in this department). I feel that what I know today about the BCMSN topics could have been achieved in 3 months or less if I had stayed motivated.

If you have the time/access to gear/motivation, I don't see why you couldn't do it in that time frame.

I finished my CCNA in 07 (and have been working as a network guy since) so I had some experience going into it, but I don't know how much it has really helped in my CCNP studies. It's hard to quantify.

A lesson I wish I had learned earlier is: don't be afraid to rent rack time if you don't have the gear yourself.