Are you ready?

jschreck

Morning Guys.
Sitting here finishing up professor messer's free comptia presentation, I still not sure if I am ready to take the A+. I have read the A+ certficiation for dumies, the book by mike myers, listened to Messer, finishing up the class from WGU on the subject and I do not feel ready! I ask my self stuff like a socket 360.. what goes in there? Small trivial stuff like that that is easy to look up. It makes me doubt my self.


So how did you know you where ready?

Schreck

P.s. I am not talking about just the A+.. its just what I am working on.

earweed

I just got to where I thought I was ready for the test. You're not going to remember everything you've studied six months from now but you'll remember some of it. I still have to go back to books that I've previously read to look up stuff or googling things that I should know.
You're just having a little self doubt right now. You need to learn how to just relax and find your own way of dealing with it. Everyone is different. You just have to find your own way.

Psoasman

I generally know when I'm ready as I can look over the objectives and are comfortable with them, the hands-on practice is comes together.

Mojo_666

jschreck wrote: »

It makes me doubt my self.

After sitting 13 exams in can honestly say that I have never felt ready and was never sure if I had actually passed any of them untill I saw the score.

So just roll with it.

tpatt100

I never feel ready and my number of failed exams reflect that pretty well lol

earweed

For WFV1 and the A+ exams I just followed the WGU Course of Study and took the exam after I had completed it. I never reall felt ready either and was nervous as hell waiting for the results to come up after I'd completed the exam. The only exam I actually thought I was ready for was the 70-642 and I achieved an exact passing score of 700 on it.

N2IT

Mojo_666 wrote: »

After sitting 13 exams in can honestly say that I have never felt ready and was never sure if I had actually passed any of them untill I saw the score.

So just roll with it.

+1

Not exactly 13, but getting close and I agree only 1-2 times did I know I was going to knock it out. The others I was pure nerves.

earweed

I've been pure nerves for every test. I just basically complete all the work necessary and then do some practice tests. I've never really been in a position where I could say I was "ready" to take a test. I've taken only 9 cert tests and have had 1 fail and that one I KNEW going in that I should have rescheduled so as to be more ready.
I'm sure you'll do OK John. If you're doing the tests through WGU the best advice I can give is to follow the COS and you'll be more than ready as the COS usually has you do more work than the average test taker does.

varelg

jschreck wrote: »

So how did you know you where ready?

I know that I am ready if I score high on exam simulations/review questions. Your score on the simulated exam(s) can be a pretty good indicator of how well you are prepared.
Your attitude towards the exam itself or the matter it covers also influences your chances of passing that exam.
The exam that I failed, I took the matter very lightly and didn't think that it's much of an exam but did put some effort in it while studying. I failed with a tight score.
The exams that I passed, I regarded the matter highly and felt that during studying for those exams, my skills in the subject of my study greatly improved. As a result, I went to the test center pretty sure that I will be celebrating afterwards.
Applying different review and q&a tactics is always good, but constant self- doubt and paranoya isn't and may ruin your chances of pass.
Good luck with the A+...

Daniyel

You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog. Thanks

Devilsbane

Mojo_666 wrote: »

After sitting 13 exams in can honestly say that I have never felt ready and was never sure if I had actually passed any of them untill I saw the score.

So just roll with it.

Usually 2 weeks before hand I'm feeling ready. The last week is filled with doubt. Never failed an exam yet so something must be working.

Nothing to lose but a few bucks. If you keep putting it off it will never get taken. Not to mention that you will start forgetting stuff. It would be a major pain to go reread an entire book that you previously read a few months ago.

earweed

The only exam I ever failed (70-620 Configuring Vista) was the only exam I ever felt really confident about. I had heard it was an easy exam and treated it as such. It was my first MS exam,
For all the CompTIA exams I felt unready but had put in all the studying I could see to do. I've scored in the 800's on all the CompTIA tests (except Project+ which I scraped by on) so I must have done something right.
For your IT classes at WGU if you follow the COS (Course of Study) you'll be ready as the COS is designed to get you to learn more than just what it takes to pass the exam. I'd have to add that you should use another practice test besides that POS Examfarce that WGU uses.

jschreck

Devilsbane wrote: »

Nothing to lose but a few bucks. If you keep putting it off it will never get taken. Not to mention that you will start forgetting stuff. It would be a major pain to go reread an entire book that you previously read a few months ago.

Now that should be someones signature. Nothing to lose except for a few bucks. I have felt ready for a while.. Professor messer, mike meyers, A+ for dummies. Been studying for 2 to 3 months, plus what ever I have done when creating my own. All for A+. I am just a bundle of nerves.

vCole

jschreck wrote: »

Now that should be someones signature. Nothing to lose except for a few bucks. I have felt ready for a while.. Professor messer, mike meyers, A+ for dummies. Been studying for 2 to 3 months, plus what ever I have done when creating my own. All for A+. I am just a bundle of nerves.

Just make the leap. WGU pays for a second try if you fail

gorebrush

Right now, there is no way I am ready for my next exam - CCIE: R&S

However, here is a little insight into how I study and how I *try* and achieve success: -

1. Get the books
2. Skim read - I mean I read the whole book in about 1 hour, literally flicking through every page, picking up the titles of each section in bold - and seeing if there is anything I dont recognise
3. Make a note of anything that looks *really* scary
4. Get through pass #1 of the book

5. Pass #2 - Read it - Properly. I mean, chapter by chapter, writing down notes **This is critical for me. It doesn't matter if I never even read my own notes again, but the whole process of writing them down is what helps me get the facts down**

6. How I write my notes

I aim to write a summary of EVERYTHING. If I read a paragraph on say... how EIGRP works. I would first have a set of bullet points at a very high level, like: -

EIGRP

---

Advanced Distance Vector Protocol
Cisco Proprietary
K Metric

As you can see - a very high level summary about EIGRP itself.

Then I go further in - usually using the books' titles as my own, and then creating a summary

So I'd have

1. EIGRP High Level Summary
2. How EIGRP works
3. How neighbors are formed
4. etc

I hope that's how it comes across!

And then - where possible I will supplement my study with practical work - I loved all the Cisco Practical Lab workbooks when I did my CCNP.

And then supplement it with a third source of material - CBT Nuggets is my weapon of choice, or Trainsignal for example.

I've then got three massively different media types to work from, and from enough differing sources to ensure that I have the best coverage on my subject matter.

Hope this helps, and I haven't droned on too much