Shaka, When the Walls Fell

As of tomorrow, I'll no longer be CCNA certified. Considering what a journey it was to obtain the cert, it's a pretty hard blow. I had been planning to take the CCDA in order to renew my CCNA, but thanks to some last-minute financial setbacks, I just didn't have the $125 to spend on the exam. So, what's next now that I've had my @$$ handed to me?

Well, as I mentioned in my CCDA thread, I'm going to go the following path:

ROUTE/CCDA* >> SWITCH >> TSHOOT >> CCNA

The way I see it, it's a far better choice to move forward and push for the CCNP exams first, instead of taking a step backward and re-doing the CCNA exam(s) beforehand. Much like it was for my former boss, the CCNA exam will be MUCH easier if I'm coming fresh off the CCNP tests. I'm also putting any and all Microsoft exams on the back-burner until I'm done with the CCNP/CCNA-redo path.

As a side-note, I spent a lot of time reflecting on this stuff today. I had dropped my girlfriend off for an appointment in a little town south of San Francisco, called Pacifica, and I stood out by the ocean for a good, long while mulling it all over in my head. I've got a lot of schooling to do, some pretty heavy-duty certs, along with redoing both a class and a cert I've already done before. I suppose the most important thing I can take away from all this is to resist the urge to feel sorry for myself, try not to let it drag me down, and keep going.

*(I definitely still want on taking the CCDA exam, it's fascinating stuff, but the routing & switching path is a high priority to me right now I'll study for it between ROUTE study-sessions.)

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

docrice

!(Kiazi's children, their faces wet.)

Failures have two avenues - you can either let it drag you down, or you can resolve and come out stronger. It's easy to do the former, and much harder to do the latter ... but the reward is greater once you learn the lesson and pick back up. If you understand your own psychology, navigating through the upset is definitely easier. Everyone needs a slap in the face sometimes, otherwise we get complacent. I'm pretty sure once you get through your CCNP, the CCNA will be trivial.

Mirab, his sails unfurled.

erpadmin

They can take away your cert, but they'll never take away your knowledge. You can definitely go to sleep comfortably with that knowledge.

Also, while I do like Paul Winfield, and may he rest in peace, that episode was one of my least favorites in the TNG realm. That dialouge was terribly annoying. Definitely not in my top ten all time TNG faves.

Zartanasaurus

So taking the CCNP now won't renew your old CCNA? That kinda sucks.

The beast at Tanagra.

TheShadow

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

So taking the CCNP now won't renew your old CCNA? That kinda sucks.

The beast at Tanagra.

Sorry that you did not make it in time.. but remember

Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra

Chivalry1

"Shaka, When the Walls Fell"

Man love that title, you have to be a "Trekke" to understand that.

"Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra"

erpadmin

Chivalry1 wrote: »

Man love that title, you have to be a "Trekke" to understand that.

I prefer "Trekker"...

(I like even more that I do not sound or look like a normal "Trekker" either...I do have a "rep" to protect...lmao)

QHalo

This is my personal fav. /thread derailed

Forsaken_GA

Slowhand wrote: »

ROUTE/CCDA* >> SWITCH >> TSHOOT >> CCNA

The way I see it, it's a far better choice to move forward and push for the CCNP exams first, instead of taking a step backward and re-doing the CCNA exam(s) beforehand. Much like it was for my former boss, the CCNA exam will be MUCH easier if I'm coming fresh off the CCNP tests. I'm also putting any and all Microsoft exams on the back-burner until I'm done with the CCNP/CCNA-redo path.

You're going to want to take the CCNA before you take any CCNP exams.

#1 - The CCNP requires a valid CCNA (or valid CCIE). There's no avoiding retaking the CCNA if you're serious about moving your Cisco certs forward

#2 - Every single individual exam recertifies your CCNA. Since you do seem to move slowly forward, I think this would be beneficial to you, you could take the full three years to do you CCNP and not have to worry about your CCNA expiring in the meantime (be aware that once you pass the first CCNP exam, you have to pass the other two within three years, or else you'll need to retake the first exam)

Not trying to be harsh or bring you down, just being real.

Paul Boz

Yeah you really need to renew the CCNA before you can achieve the CCNP, as it is a prerequisite. The bonus side of this is that I'm sure there is a ton of new material in the current CCNA compared to when you last took it so you'll gain a good bit of knowledge. Most of what you know should be a direct translation as well. Best of luck.

RobertKaucher

Paul Boz wrote: »

Yeah you really need to renew the CCNA before you can achieve the CCNP, as it is a prerequisite.

I believe what he's saying is that he is going to take the more advanced exams before renewing just for the psychological factor. At least with MS exams you can take them in any order, you just don't achieve the certification until you have completed all of the prerequirements.

Kind of like 3 + 2 + 1 = 6 and 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. Doesn't matter the order. Can you do that with Cisco exams?

Chris:/*

You can take the exams but they will not earn you a certification unless you already have the CCNA. Cisco works a progressive scale system while Microsoft works on combination knowledge scale system.

P.S. I never wanted so bad to club an alien after seeing that TNG episode, WTF was the universal translator that everyone else had.

docrice

Off-topic: I believe the universal translator was working in that episode ("Darmok"). The Tamarians were, after all, speaking English. It's just that the meaning was encoded(?) in such a way that it required an additional layer of translation (knowing the stories that went along with the various phrases).

Back in the day, I would've switched channels when this episode came on. These days, I actually reach for it.

Sokath, his eyes uncovered.

Chris:/*

Though the translator should have still translated the meaning of the conversation, anyway back to the topic.

Forsaken_GA

RobertKaucher wrote: »

I believe what he's saying is that he is going to take the more advanced exams before renewing just for the psychological factor. At least with MS exams you can take them in any order, you just don't achieve the certification until you have completed all of the prerequirements.

Kind of like 3 + 2 + 1 = 6 and 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. Doesn't matter the order. Can you do that with Cisco exams?

You can take the exams, but you won't have a valid CCNP until you have a valid CCNA as well. Within the CCNP, you can take the exams in any order as well, but the lower certification is a gateway and is required.

If you don't take exams often, it just doesn't make any sense to give up the higher level exam recertifying the lower. If he does the CCNA again first, once done, he can basically take one CCNP exam a year if desired, and he'll achieve CCNP and not have to worry about his CCNA expiring during that period. On the day he passes the final CCNP exam, he'll be CCNP and CCNA certified for 3 years from that date.

It is very frustrating to drop from Professional level certs back to the Associate level. I absolutely hated having to do the CCDA after I finished my CCNP just to be able to get to CCDP, so the psychological thing can work both ways