New to the forum, New to CCNA, New to Networking

Hello there, just wanted to introduce myself and briefly share my story as it may make some aspiring CCNA's feel better about themselves and hopefully inspire some confidence.

I'll make it short. Basically, I am a recent college grad (class of '11) with a Business major. Currently an insurance agent. Got tired of selling stuff. Client of mine offered a potential hook-up into an IT department if I was remotely qualified (i.e. certified to do anything useful). After a brief chat we figured that if I was serious, CCNA was the thing to get asap. Well, ignoring my lack of CS major and figuring my wits and love of computers would carry me through, I decided to undertake this certification. After some brief due diligence and communication with people inside the industry, I acquired:

Lammle's CCNA Book (5th Ed.)
Packet Tracer (from someone who already passed the CCNA)
A bunch of practice exams
CBTNuggets' Series on the CCENT/CCNA
A Username on this Forum

My studying strategy:

1. Read chapter in Lammle's book
2. Watch CBTNuggets video on chapters read (basically watch video until it gets to material you didn't read about)
3. Answer practice questions in Lammle's book
4. Repeat 1-3 until finished with CCENT material
5. Use simulator for practice as necessary/accordingly
6. Take/pass CCENT
7. Repeat 1-5 for ICND2

If I can do this, so can you. There is no reason for me to be able to pass this test in any brief amount of time. I do not have any CompTIA certs, any networking background, or even an academic background in CS. I am from the insurance industry (life and financial services to be specific). I would like to update and maintain this thread as sort of a journal on my progress but also to subject my methods/thought process to the community think tank for any criticism and/or feedback. Also, I hope that this thread can be of use to others who feel lost and unsure of their ability to proceed swiftly to the material.

I started the videos/book on 8/23/12 (5 days ago) and am 3 chapters in Lammle's book, and video 8 of the CBTNuggets. At this pace, I hope to pass the CCENT within 2 weeks and the CCNA in at most, 1.5 months from now. Thanks for reading. Please let me know if there's anything you think I could be doing better/differently. I appreciate this forum as a resource for both knowledge and encouragement.

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

mapletune

Welcome and Good Luck on your journey!

Though, I'd advice caution with the word "****."

erpadmin

Wow...so essentially, you read a book, watch a couple of videos, play with a simulator, get a CCNA, and that's that huh? Wow.....

Tell me, your love of computers and wit notwithstanding, are you doing anything that even remotely explains what and how your limited networking experience would tie into the rest of an IT infrastructure? Getting a CCNA is great, but if you couldn't otherwise spell "IT", then it is useless...

Don't get me wrong, I have met a variety of people with all sorts of backgrounds that broke into IT and are quite good. However, since you are brand new, you need to go a little bit deeper than superfluous CCNA study. I promise you...assuming you do pass the CCNA...if you don't do any of the stuff you're studying for, you will forget everything you learned.

Just friendly advice...

Roguetadhg

Honestly, I'd point you towards the CompTIA exams first. Get your feet wet.

With CompTIA certs under your belt you'll have a firmer understanding of how things tie together. As much as I dislike the CISSP guys, they have a purpose. Much like how cisco, citrix,microsoft, all have a purpose. We're here to support the company. Period. We can polish and sugar coat our job as much as we like to think so, but that's what it is.

We ask for money and are a pain in the side for the end-users with our over paranoid policies and security practices. However, we can offer a decent ROI for what we do by making sure the money the company invest is spent wisely on cost-efficient strategies that will hopefully propel the company for years to come. Changing security policies that enhance security, while dumping the old system. Changing topologies, adding virtualization, supporting at home working, wireless.

There's much more to "IT" than cisco. I haven't even mentioned programming. Until Now.

Good luck with it, it'll be an adventure. that's for sure!

Cerebro

Thats a solid plan, good luck with your journey.

Once you start studying, you realise that there is sooo much to learn. It is easy to go off on a tangent and go deeper than necessary. So you may have to reel yourself back in, to keep on track with the exam objectives. In your downtime, read around the topics to gain a wider depth of knowledge.

Personally, I watch the cbt nuggets before I read a chapter, then rewatch the video again. Keeping a study log, also helps to track progress.

mapletune

wow, so much negativity XD haha... I'm only against "****" if they are what i think they are.

But anyway, about CompTIA, I can provide a bit of a different perspective.

In Taiwan, no one cares about CompTIA. Yes, IT is broad. But still, that's just the hiring environment in Taiwan. You might even call us "ignorant", which (in part) would be true. But anyway, we don't know/care about CompTIA during hiring process. Knowing the basics is just expected.

Thus, I'm starting at CCNA as my first certification as well. I don't see anything negative about it tbh.

[edit]
i reread my post and it does seem to be quite negative as well due to excessive use of the words don't care. i apologize.

what i actually meant was that in some parts of the world, starting with the ccna is pretty acceptable, that's all.

Roguetadhg

At entry-level, you've got to weed out candidates. I've heard too many stories of people, and seen what happens first hand, when people should know just don't. Or don't care.

So why are you studying for Linux+ in your sig if you don't care about CompTIA?

spd3432

mapletune wrote: »

wow, so much negativity XD haha... I'm only against "****" if they are what i think they are.

But anyway, about CompTIA, I can provide a bit of a different perspective.

In Taiwan, no one cares about CompTIA. Yes, IT is broad. But still, that's just the hiring environment in Taiwan. You might even call us "ignorant", which (in part) would be true. But anyway, we don't know/care about CompTIA during hiring process. Knowing the basics is just expected.

Thus, I'm starting at CCNA as my first certification as well. I don't see anything negative about it tbh.

Taiwan may not care about CompTIA, but its required (Security+) in the US if you plan on working for DoD.

mapletune

Roguetadhg wrote: »

so why are you studying for Linux+ in your sig if you don't case about CompTIA?

haha, you got me there =]

i just always wanted to be proficient in linux that's all. for the love of learning =p also... for lpic-1 novell cla and novell dcts you get for free, shhh don't tell anyone.

but yea, don't get me wrong, i have nothing but respect for comptia and triforce plus. i'm just saying that in some parts of the world it's not as recognized as cisco certs.

just trying to bring some global variety =p

Chitownjedi

Welcome.. see you around!

NetworkVeteran

dysong wrote: »

After a brief chat we figured that if I was serious, CCNA was the thing to get asap. Well, ignoring my lack of CS major and figuring my wits and love of computers would carry me through

It's an entry-level certification. No prior knowledge is necessary. You should be fine.

1. Read chapter in Lammle's book
2. Watch CBTNuggets video on chapters read (basically watch video until it gets to material you didn't read about)
3. Answer practice questions in Lammle's book
4. Repeat 1-3 until finished with CCENT material
5. Use simulator for practice as necessary/accordingly
6. Take/pass CCENT
7. Repeat 1-5 for ICND2

Sounds reasonable. I'd expect you to pass even without the videos, but they will help.

At this pace, I hope to pass the CCENT within 2 weeks and the CCNA in at most, 1.5 months from now. Thanks for reading. Please let me know if there's anything you think I could be doing better/differently.

A fair timeframe. Good luck with your certifications!

NetworkVeteran

are you doing anything that even remotely explains what and how your limited networking experience would tie into the rest of an IT infrastructure?

The degree to which he needs to understand "the rest of an IT infrastructure" depends on the company size and his specific role. I don't know a lick about Active Directory, and that's true of many top networking specialists. I agree this is worth some consideration.

zrockstar

Sorry, all I heard was blah, blah, blah, test ****. Pass it on your own merit, then your story might be inspiring.

dysong

Sorry about my use of the word '****' - I only meant that I was passed along a bunch of practice tests from a colleague. I didn't realize it meant anything negative or rather that it refers to a way to sidestep actually learning the material with too-realistic fake tests. I guess I misinterpreted that word the first time I heard it.

No folks, I intend to learn this stuff the right way. Not here for a free paycheck, just realized that my path in life didn't fit my goals and wanted to aggressively move on to something better while I'm still young and mentally agile (24).

Tell me, your love of computers and wit notwithstanding, are you doing anything that even remotely explains what and how your limited networking experience would tie into the rest of an IT infrastructure? Getting a CCNA is great, but if you couldn't otherwise spell "IT", then it is useless...

No, not really. Sorry to burst your bubble. I intend to fill out a more rounded set of certification goals later perhaps (N+, Linux+, and then working on MCITP or MCSE). As for now, I'm working on the CCNA specifically because it is the one cert that will lead me to employment quickest. I am very fortunate to have someone working in a department that actively hires with seniority, a good relationship with the hiring manager, and is willing to mentor my career (future brother-in-law). Didn't mean to offend anyone, but I did sort of want to make the point that yeah, it is that simple - watch videos, read books, study the material hard, and anyone can be a CCNA. Having a CCNA won't make me a successful IT Pro, but that's not what this thread is about. Thanks for the feedback guys. Apologies again for misusing the word ****, will edit post.

erpadmin

dysong wrote: »

No, not really. Sorry to burst your bubble.

You obtaining your CCNA (or not) or otherwise expanding your knowledge of IT doesn't exactly burst my bubble. I assure you that I will be sleeping well at night. There are things that keep me up at night, but this won't be one of them, I, again, can assure you.

dysong wrote: »

As for now, I'm working on the CCNA specifically because it is the one cert that will lead me to employment quickest. I am very fortunate to have someone working in a department that actively hires with seniority, a good relationship with the hiring manager, and is willing to mentor my career (future brother-in-law). Didn't mean to offend anyone, but I did sort of want to make the point that yeah, it is that simple - watch videos, read books, study the material hard, and anyone can be a CCNA.

So you have a hook...that's what really simple. Many of us had them (including me) early on in my career. The attitude you have about the CCNA is why many hiring managers (those who you do not have a hook with) do not look favorably on any certifications. I have heard on more than one occasions from many managers in many IT shops "anyone can pass a test..." What's going to boil down to it is what you will do once you obtain your CCNA. I'm just the kind of guy that won't keep his mouth shut when I see a "Hey guys, I can get a cert, and have a job tomorrow..." when there are those in your boat that may not have the same kind of hook you have, and I am glad that you at least gave that disclaimer. With respect to your wise-old age of 24

, it truly is not that simple without a hook.

All in all, I wish you the best of luck in your CCNA studies. The materials you mentioned in your first post pretty much have helped many obtain their CCNA.

dysong

I can tell you had a chip on your shoulder about it. I'm sorry you feel that way and yes I'm specifically choosing to go about a networking career path as such because of the hook. Never claimed I was wise (you really have a chip on your shoulder for some reason) and I just wanted to make this thread so there would be some proof that anyone can do it with enough effort and time. If anything my message was that I'm not wise, or really have much background with CS/networking, but even I can [competently] understand and learn the curriculum of the CCNA. I guess you make that out to be a bad thing, but I think it would be helpful for a lot of the types that seem to make threads here struggling or feeling lost/defeated by the studying load.

To be clear, obtaining a CCNA does not make me an experienced IT professional, or competent at my craft. I was under the impression that helping each other advance our careers in whatever way possible was a goal of this forum, but I see your point that problems exist because of many getting a quick-cert and applying for jobs, devaluing the cert. I for one don't think the CCNA is easy enough to just have anyone get the thing, and I assure you that if I did not intend to be serious about a networking career that studying on this time frame would not be easy, as studying anything for 6+ hours a day is mind numbing even when you like the stuff.

Sorry if people like me have made your job searches unnecessarily difficult in the past, as you seem to imply. Not really the feedback I expected, perhaps you are suggesting I need to intern somewhere or go spend a couple thousand on college courses to pay some of my dues. Apologies for rubbing you the wrong way.

erpadmin

"The chip on my shoulder" came from your little smart-aleky remark about bursting bubbles and your response to what (I felt) was a valid inquiry. My intent really was to help guide you on a good path, but I guess I might have rubbed you the wrong way.

Maybe I should give you a little background into why I wrote what I wrote initially.

I never doubted that you could pass the CCNA...but reading your post reminded me of a lot of new folks that believe that getting a cert will get them straight into an admin role (only to be disappointed.) Of course, there are exceptions, such as having a hook (and there is nothing wrong with that...I've always stated that anyone get in the door....but it will always be up to an individual to make sure he/she stays in the door.)

"People like you" don't affect "people like me" [ever!]

I'm serious when I tell you that I wish you the best of luck in your studies and hopefully the beginning of a successful career. I've had a long career in IT and from when I started, I pretty much trippled what I initially came in with. There are people who have done it in a shorter time than I have, but I can't (and am not) mad at that. My advice to you is since you've focused so much on the first two paragraphs of my first post to you, read the rest of it. You will pass the CCNA, but you do need to keep working on what you've done so that you don't lose the knowledge. It's a very old adage: If you don't use it, you will lose it.

Hopefully I made myself a little clearer, and hope I hope there is no longer any animosity. That really wasn't my intent.

Roguetadhg

erp is a good person. It doesn't really matter if you get the certification. It does, but not in the context i'm trying to convey. It's mostly important with what you do with it. If you go ahead and collect certifications and don't want to really do anything with it, that's a problem. However, there's been a lot of situations where people of different positions come in and turn out to be professionals without a problem. They know their stuff.

To become Certifi as the goal, I think, is the bad way to see the opportunities. I think that's what Erpadmin was trying to get at with "Anyone can pass a test." Indeed, anyone can pass a CCNA test. Infact, anyone can pass a CCIE exam. It's not the goal of your professional career, and I think that your first post made it look so. It's the journey before you test, what decisions do you make while you study - morally and professionally, and after the test is finished (Pass or Fail) what do you do afterwards. Do you quit, stomping your feet proclaiming "The test is too hard", "Bugs". Or do you go back in the exam and try again? Even if you fail/pass your exam, do you forget your studies. Do you let that fire burn out and smolder until it's nothing but a faint wisp of smoke? Or do you pour gasoline, giving you more motivation that Birdman gets from the yellow rays of the sun?

Young people, myself including, we think we can take over the world. Infact, I plan to - Once I get my monkey-dolphin servants that can give pigs enough thrust to fly in the air. It can happen. McDonald's told me so.

One thing to learn is to not get a large chip over the forum fights. There's not many of them here. Even if you win an argument, you loose out in the end. How? Sit on that for a while, chew it over.

lantech

I'm happy that you are in such a situation. Networking with others is part of finding a job. I wish you luck on your journey.

But I'm going to be honest so this will probably come out the wrong way. But I don't find your story really all that inspiring. Like you said, anyone can pass a test. Now there are times when passing the test can be inspiring like when someone fails it 2 or 3 times and has the stamina to keep at it until they pass. A lot of people don't find these tests easy. And they shouldn't be. They are designed to test your knowledge after all.

What inspires me are the people who make it despite the odds. People like iristheangel who received her degree from WGU and drove a long way for one job interview at a company who only goes after CCIEs and graduates from places like MIT and Stanford. Endured an 8 hour interview process with 7 different individuals and received a job with the recommendation of 6 out of 7 of them. The lone hold out was a real jerk and he proved it when he offered her the job so he is of no consequence.

What inspires me are the people who claw and scratch and fight their way to make it. That is what inspiring. Not someone who has a future brother in law that can get them hired once they pass a certification test.

Like I said, good luck in your journey and if you need help just come on the forum and ask. We are always willing to help.

MrXpert

I read the OP's post and got bored half way down.

All I can say is make sure you do lots of labbing and don't rush through the material because you simply want to pass the exam. I'm sure you've heard of the term "weekend driver". Well don't be one of those. I mean that as a philosophy not to be critical.

My own story is that I was told I was no good at IT from an early age and was even almost kicked out of class for it. However I stuck with it and despite working in sales for at least 10 years, I decided it was high time I got my foot in the door. So I gave up my sales job and stayed at home, studied using my savings. That was 18 months ago and since then I have gained a few certs to help me get a job which I have now in IT.
I have not had it easy. No breaks, no favours from hiring managers or anything like that. Just blood, sweat, toil and tears and a understanding fiancee!

mella060

dysong wrote: »

At this pace, I hope to pass the CCENT within 2 weeks and the CCNA in at most, 1.5 months from now. Thanks for reading. Please let me know if there's anything you think I could be doing better/differently. I appreciate this forum as a resource for both knowledge and encouragement.

When i read that, the first thing i thought was, how could someone study for and pass the ICND1 exam in 3 weeks, let alone someone who has no IT experience ?

Unless you are a genius, there is no way that you can study for and master everything there is to know in that time frame. If you already had significant networking experience, then maybe, but for someone with absolutely no IT experience to be ready to take their ICND1 exam in 2 and half weeks and have their CCNA in 1 and a half months is a bit rich.

ICND1 is no walk in the park. In fact, it is probably one of the hardest cisco exams you will ever do, due to the fact that you are new to it all and there is a lot of theory. It took me around 3 weeks to master subnetting alone. For me, ICND2 was easier because i had built up my knowledge from ICND1. ICND2 is more about applying the theory that you learn in the ICND1 course to setup and configure networks with routing and what not. It took me around 3 months of study to be ready to take the exam. Same goes for the ICND2 exam so it took me around 6 months of study to get my CCNA.

The key advice is to take your time with it. Don't rush through it and think that 6 hours a day of study is going to turn you into a CCNA in 1.5 months or whatever. There is just too way much information to absorb for that too happen. Subnetting is probably the most important skill to master for the CCNA. It took me around 3 weeks of solid practice before i really got the hang of it. It just takes heaps of practice and writing everything down on paper.

Watching a few videos and reading a book or two is not enough for you to pass the CCNA. You need to do heaps of labs to properly apply the theory that you learn. The more labs you do, the easier it becomes.

Stay away from ****. You say that your friend gave you some practice tests. Chances are that they may be ****. Maybe that is why you are sounding over confident in your ability to go from zero to hero in 1.5 months. I don't know. Im not trying to have a go at you so don't take it the wrong way. I am just trying to help you. A more reasonable time frame for someone with a basic background in IT to learn and master everything there is to know for the ICND1 & 2 exams is maybe 1 - 1.5 months per exam minimum. For someone like yourself with no IT experience, that may be longer. It will take however long it takes for you to master all the material. That may be 1.5 months like you say, 3 months or 6 months. The key is that it is not a race !!

Good luck with your studies.

her.yang

Hey man, you gotta do what you gotta do. Although I disagree with you pretty much cramming for the CCNA, I understand that you kind of need it in order to get hired so that you can gain some actual IT experience. Just be cognizant that the CCNA test has a good reputation for a reason: it is pretty difficult for an entry-level exam and there ARE questions in there that you won't get without practical experience. Although I'm not proud of it, I'll admit I failed it on my first try and that was with a year of industry experience and having taken the first 3 Cisco classes at the local college. It's definitely tough. I wouldn't attempt it without first making sure that you have these down:

1.) Subnetting: you need to get to the point where you can pretty much subnet in your head. For example, you should be able to look at a decimal mask of 255.255.255.128 and immediately correlate it to a CIDR of /25. And you should be able to recognize immediately that a /27 subnet mask will give you 32 total IP addresses to work with, with 30 of those being usable host addresses.
2.) Be able to describe how a packet travels through a network, including all of the encapsulations it has to go through.
3.) Understand how the OSI model works, be able to recognize and recall all 7 layers from memory, and be able to use it to troubleshoot.
4.) Understand all of the routing protocols, be able to categorize them (i.e. whether they're a distance vector or link-state routing protocol, whether they're classless or classful), be able to implement them, and be able to troubleshoot them, down to the most minute details that might cause them not to work, such as mismatched hello timers.

These are just the basics. As you'll see, there's a LOT that goes into networking. And it's not all Cisco either. Depending on where you eventually get hired, you'll also have to become acquainted with equipment from other vendors, such as--in my case--Brocade. Good luck!

YFZblu

CCNA in 60 days for an IT noob - Possible? Yes. Difficult? Yes. I agree with her.yang. The CCNA is technically and entry-level certification, but it is a difficult exam.

So let's see...If you're banging out one chapter a day, let's say you have ~40 chapters to get through if you're going the ICND1 and ICND2 route. This leaves you another 20 days to lab, as long as you don't encounter any snags with the learning. Subnetting, STP, ACLs, Frame Relay, and NAT could be your worst enemies here. Not to mention the tedious memorization; port numbers, cabling, pinouts, OSI, etc.

Remember, it's not just about knowing how devices talk to each other; you really need to be able to manufacture the communication on your own from the ground up. There is no one-size-fits-all path in the IT journey, and I hope this works out for you.

Good luck!

Iristheangel

Best of luck to you, op. I understand the need to fit into a better job and I hope you get it. If your buddy has a position that needs to be filled by a certain time, I understand the need to rush to get through the exams. I don't know if that's your situation or nother but either before (if you have time) or after the exam, take some time to review and lab until the information is committed to to memory and the cli commands are fluid. I wish you the best of luck and welcome to TE.

P.s. we are all a little sensitive to the word **** but if that's not what you meant then there's no harm or foul. There are plenty of legitimate test engines out there such as Transcender and Bison. If you're using one of those, they are great for assessing your weak areas

MrXpert

I think the OP needs to clarify who manufacturered these practice tests he has acquired before he or she actually looks at them.
When I first started studying towards CCENT and CCNA I was unable to put a timescale on it. I just didn't know how long it would take to learn everything and be 100% ready. How can you? how can a new student of networking even know how long it is going to take them to be proficient in subnetting or setting up ACLs and frame relay if they don't know what they are to start with? Even though I did Net+ it took me about 2 months to do ICND1 and a further 3 months to do ICND2. That's just me of course.

I honestly think your approach is all wrong for this and you should just go with the flow rather than force the flow.