Best way to study?

Hi guys,

From your experience what is the best way of studying for these exams?

A long time ago I paid a lot of money to do the A+ exam, which I passed but think I got fleeced for it. Now I am looking to get the N+ sorted and hopefully with my BSc and MSc forge a career in Infosec.

Cheers,

bigbadsad

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Deathgomper

Everyone learns different. Some people only use books, some use books with videos as well as other material.

I personally buy the book that everyone here is recommending, I read it and highlight concepts I feel are important and I make flash cards out of all the number stuff like port numbers, speeds, cable types and segment distance.

If you ever start down a more vendor specific track like Cisco then a lab becomes a huge part of studying.

Good luck on obtaining the cert!

bigbadsad

I suppose after 4 years of uni Im accustomed to having my face in a book. Is there a thread on here with book recommendations or anything? Ive had a little look but found nothing so far

Cisco Inferno

grab a new notebook and watch cbt nuggets or professor messer and start taking notes. write in a way you understand.

professor messer is wonderful and free. you can copy from his powerpoint style presentations.
go over those notes too.

for a book i would reccomend either Todd Lammle's(hes a cisco god) book or mike meyers. watch a vid and then read the corresponding chapter with some more notetaking/highlighting. dont do it the other way around or else youll be stuck reading over and over to understand a point whereas if you watched the video first, it would make the read a breeze.

Bokeh

Im becoming a fan of the 50-10-50 method. Grab a timer, set it for 50 minutes. During that 50 minutes read a few chapters, take notes, watch a CBT, do a lab, etc. You are only concentrating on the task of studying, nothing else.

At the end of 50 minutes, take a 10 minute break. Go for a walk, get a bite to eat, change loads of laundry, etc. anything away from studying. At the end of 10, go back for another round of 50.

When that 2nd round is done, take ten minutes to just decompress. Close your eyes, catch your breath, and just relax. Once that 2nd 10 minutes are up, go about doing anything else.

The key is to focus on one thing, not bouncing around from things to things during studying. Try to shut off the tv, stereo, no email, no surfing, etc.

bigbadsad

Thanks for the responses so far. I like the 50-10-50 idea.

IS CBT nuggets expensive?

earweed

I've been using that 50-10-50 method myself and it greatly improves my productivity.
As for books for the Net+ Mike Meyers All in One is good. CBT Nuggets aren't cheap and since the Net+ already costs $$$ just to take I'd probably stick with Professor Messer and his free videos.
The biggest thing for me when studying for the Net+ was remembering the ports, cable lengts and speeds. I found that by making a table and rewriting it a few times every day until I knew them well enough to write the table by memory was a big part.

lunchbox67

earweed wrote: »

The biggest thing for me when studying for the Net+ was remembering the ports, cable lengts and speeds. I found that by making a table and rewriting it a few times every day until I knew them well enough to write the table by memory was a big part.

Great idea

instant000

bigbadsad wrote: »

Hi guys,

From your experience what is the best way of studying for these exams?

A long time ago I paid a lot of money to do the A+ exam, which I passed but think I got fleeced for it. Now I am looking to get the N+ sorted and hopefully with my BSc and MSc forge a career in Infosec.

Cheers,

bigbadsad

Someone mentioned 50-10-50. I actually prefer 45/15, and sometimes even 30/30. (As you can tell, I think that breaks are key to not becoming bored with the studying!)

I would say to regularly review the material, and shore up on anything you're getting wrong with the practice questions in the book you're studying. Also, I think that spreading out the studying over too long a period of time is a recipe for disaster. That is, if the book is 15 chapters long, and you take 3 weeks to get through the entire thing, you may find yourself needing to review concepts from the beginning chapters. A good technique is every few chapters, go back and review all of the notes that you have made, to keep everything "fresh".

Another thing I like to do is make a chart:

==========================
Test Name ------Att 1  -  Att 2 -  Att 3
Chapter 1 Test - 05/15 - 12/15 - 15/15
Chapter 2 Test - 08/20 - 14/20 - 19/20
Chapter 3 Test - 12/15 - 15/15 - 15/15
==========================

^^ Just to give you an idea. It seems kinda rote, but it works for me.

The first pass through the book, is when I do attempt 1. Prior to attempt 2, I make sure to review the questions I get wrong. On attempt 2, I go through and do all of the chapter tests again. Prior to attempt 3, I make sure to review the questions I get wrong. On attempt 3, I go through and do all of the chapter tests again. If I'm still not getting perfect or near perfect on attempt 3, then something is wrong, LOL.

I find that how well I do on my attempt 3 (or 4, or 5, as required) is a great indicator of how well I do on the actual exam.

Note: Reviewing what you got wrong is not just about finding the "correct answer" LOL. Anyone with a decent memory can remember the correct answer if they take the test 3 or 4 times. The key is to go back and figure out "why" the correct answer is the correct answer, and also why the other choices are NOT the correct answer, as you obviously had some level of confusion to get the question wrong. The review is important, and takes much longer than taking the tests over and over again.

I had a friend recently take Network+ and Security+, and she just used the Sybex books for both of those. She also had a degree in IT, just like yourself, so that undoubtedly helped a lot.

How long are you giving yourself to prepare for it?

EDIT: Another thing: I've seen the mnemosyne (sp?) and also the other product that are very good for memory, and the concepts behind them are sound: (basically, review the stuff before it gets stale). the mnemosyne (sp?) is an open source product. I've also heard of the five-box flash card method too, which works also, when cramming (not that I ever recommend cramming) LOL.

Anyway, I hope this helps, and gives you some ideas.

I know what works for me is to read the material, practice the material, and review it often enough to keep it fresh ... but that goes back to the individual, to know what works best for them, over time.

As you've studied in college, imagine how long it normally takes you to learn something. Use your A+ experience as a good template for the studying that you'd have to do for Network +.

Howling Monkey

Huge fan of CBTnugget, but its how I learn. Reading doesn't seem to stick, I'm a visual learner. Need to know yourself and whats the best way to retain the info. And knowing is half the battle!

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win." - The Art of War

bigbadsad

instant000 wrote: »

Great advice. Thanks!

jblaven

I've had to struggle through many different ways of studying. Since I am studying from a book, I have to slow myself down....

I create a two column page. One column for vocabulary words or a brief questions. The second column for the definitions or answers to the questions.

This will slow you down to make sure you are reading the material. It will tend to make you scan over the relevant material in that section to make sure you get the most concise definition.

The trick is when you get to the next "vocabulary" word, make sure you are not leading yourself with the previous question in your table. Usually the material in the book flows together and is related to the next topic. Make sure you word that next question in a way that makes you think.

Once you have gone through the chapter, you will have a table of typed terms divided down the middle of the page. You can print it and fold it down the middle column line (Once folded, my pages are 4.25"x11" in size). That way you only see the vocabulary and questions on one side. You can then flip it over to check your answer.

I found that by the time I went through a chapter this way and had created my table, I was getting +90% of the review questions correct without having to even look at the table or the book. The act of slowing down, reading the material, typing the definitions, was enough to etch it in the brain. Much more than just reading it.

In the end, you end up with your own cliff notes of what you feel you need to study, without having to lug around a heavy book, or flip through hundreds of pages.

It helps me anyway.

instant000

REMOVED UNNECESSARY QUOTED REPLY FROM PREVIOUS POST
Hahahaha, sounds like a flash card method to me. In fact, it sounds like the "manual mnemosyne" method, LOL.

I just go through the chapter, making a series of questions and answers.

A chapter may take 40 cards, or it may take 90+ cards. (who cares?) It's a ton easier to flip through the cards and study, than it is to flip through the book.

Also, there's apps like ...
mnemosyne
cuecard
etc.
That you can use, if you prefer to do things electronically.

I'm shocked we aren't heaping more praise on flash cards right now.

I was making some even last night, to help me memorize some commands.

I know that I could probably make the cards TONS faster if I would type them out (I'm not a fast writer: writing in manuscript, and I've been in the typing 100 wpm range since the high school days).

But ... I look at a screen all day at work, and my eyes don't really get strained from looking at paper.

Ed1975

instant000 wrote: »

I'm shocked we aren't heaping more praise on flash cards right now.

I made literally 1000s of flash cards and they helped immensely for the A+ and Network+ exams. Along with practice exams I'd go so far to say that they are virtually indispensible. If you need to memorize bunches of stuff, use flashcards. Both exams require a significant amount of rote learning.

However I'm finding them not so useful for the Microsoft exams, which focus less on memorization and more on understanding and logical thinking. Mind maps may be equally useful for these.

Turgon

bigbadsad wrote: »

Hi guys,

From your experience what is the best way of studying for these exams?

A long time ago I paid a lot of money to do the A+ exam, which I passed but think I got fleeced for it. Now I am looking to get the N+ sorted and hopefully with my BSc and MSc forge a career in Infosec.

Cheers,

bigbadsad

Your first task is to buy one decent self study book for the N+. Then read it everyday until your are through. Dont rush the reading, take a month over it.