I'm a CCNP at last

Had my TSHOOT exam today and passed!! Got a 986/1000, but got all the trouble tickets right.

Started my CCNP journey right after I got my CCNA in August 2011, so well over a year, and now I finally made it. Feels great! I was looking back for a thread from August 2011 where I claimed I would complete ROUTE in a month or something like that, which was right when I started studying for it. And then said that I'd get the CCNP in 3-4 months total time (with no real experience). I said that because I had the most motivation/determination in the world at that point. And the summer was all mine (no job/school), so I believed I could do it. It's pretty laughable that over a year has passed since then, but I'm happy I reached my goal. I couldn't go back far enough to find that post, but I did find a thread where I was eating my words after going at it hard for a month's time.

So anyone trying to blaze through these exams might want to take notice, that it's not gonna be that easy! I was studying 8 hrs a day for all of August 2011 (but if you have experience or are a flat out genius anything's possible. I just wanna give you my experience):

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccnp/69661-my-route-progress.html#post560398

Now I'm trying to figure out what's next. I'll probably take a break for a few weeks, but after that some thoughts are CCNA-V, CCNA-S, JNCIA-Junos, read BGP then MPLS books, or possibly the OSCP. Was thinking about that last one because I figure having those skills will help me better understand the importance of locking down the network/end stations. And it would help me branch out a bit.

And thank you to everyone on the forum because I've learned a ton of stuff from the people here and received valuable advice.

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Comments

jdballinger

Congratulations! I love coming here and reading all of the "I passed" threads because it helps to keep me motivated in my own studies!

RouteMyPacket

It's not a race but a marathon! Congrats!

wave

Congrats!!! Awesome news!!

Roguetadhg

Awesome man! change your signature :P

mattau

congrats, big achievement to reach your goal. Impressive score too!

Ivanjam

@MrBrian - congrats on passing the CCNP!

@mattau -good luck on the TSHOOT!

MrBrian

Thanks everyone!

mattau you getting close to sitting Tshoot?

mattau

exam booked on Dec 11 :P cant wait to get this thing over with. Been a long long journey to say the least.

oh yeah and also, did you get the email from cisco to say congrats shortly after ?

levensailor

I'm taking the TSHOOT today to get my CCNP. Doesn't sound too much like something I can study for, and i'm about studied out after the ROUTE and SWITCH in one month! Hopefully I can knock it out

f0rgiv3n

Fan-Freaking-Tastic!!! Nicely done dude! I'm still in the after-cert honeymoon period as well, taking a break is quite nice

Chitownjedi

This is Awesomesauce!

levensailor

I got 780 when 790 was required! I will be taking the TSHOOT again next thursday. its really hard on a 15 inch monitor the testing center had to navigate the schemes and im used to having dual monitors. Anyways, so close, will get it next time

MrBrian

levensailor wrote: »

I got 780 when 790 was required! I will be taking the TSHOOT again next thursday. its really hard on a 15 inch monitor the testing center had to navigate the schemes and im used to having dual monitors. Anyways, so close, will get it next time

Yea man. Those monitors are so annoying haha. Every window overlaps with every other window it seems. I'm sitting there clicking and typing away for the whole 2 hours probably frustrating everyone else in the testing center since the key board was fairly loud.

mguy

Congrats.

You mentioned the no experience part. You passed CCNP without real world experience?

MrBrian

mguy wrote: »

Congrats.

You mentioned the no experience part. You passed CCNP without real world experience?

I don't remember all the things I've said, but what I probably meant is NP level experience. I have 4 yrs network admin experience. There was some router/switch config and management duties as part of the job, but nothing to the extent of what the NP teaches.. so yes, I passed CCNP with some experience.

Grinding through the NP, as well as my degree, over the course of this past year has taught me so much. I feel I've advanced faster than if I was simply working the same admin job. Fortunately, I had the resources and was in a situation that allowed me to go back to school full-time and study. I'm always thinking long term and now I finally feel on pace to be where I want to be in 5+ years from now.. I have a very strong base to build off of now, which I couldn't say in the past.

I know for sure that I would not have completed my degree or NP if I was working the same job. I spent so long grinding in the NP material, and putting in lab hours, that I'm very welcome to technical discussions now! Couldn't have said that a year and a half ago.. they mostly made my head spin. Everyone must choose what's best for them..

prtech

Congrats! Didn't you have issues with the exam before? Did they let you retake it for free?

MrBrian

prtech wrote: »

Congrats! Didn't you have issues with the exam before? Did they let you retake it for free?

Yes, they eventually gave me a voucher to retake the exam. It was a big hassle!

Dakinggamer87

Congrats!!

union122

Congrads, Are you shooting for a pure Network job ? now ..

Cingular

Congrats mate! Great work getting through all 3.

I went back and read your post about the CCNP-ROUTE progress, inspirational stuff. I've been procrastinating about starting CCNP for far too long now (finished CCNA-Security in late August this year)...so now it's as good a time as any to jump back on the horse.

Again, well done man. I hope to join the ranks of the CCNP certified soon enough!

levensailor

Finished TSHOOT, official CCNP now. I didn't realize (and this will help anyone studying for it) but cisco has the topology maps (ipv4 layer 3, ipv6 layer 3 and layer 2) all on their website in pdf format. I'm 90% sure all the ips were identical. Anyways, it helps to know what you're getting into. The exam today was fairly easy and I got a high 900 in around 20 minutes as opposed to struggling the whole time and barely missing it.

MrBrian

Cingular wrote: »

Congrats mate! Great work getting through all 3.

I went back and read your post about the CCNP-ROUTE progress, inspirational stuff. I've been procrastinating about starting CCNP for far too long now (finished CCNA-Security in late August this year)...so now it's as good a time as any to jump back on the horse.

Again, well done man. I hope to join the ranks of the CCNP certified soon enough!

That's the spirit! Go for it! There is a ton of material and my suggestion is no matter what to just keep with it. There were plenty of times during the past year where I just needed to take a break from all the reading/labbing for a couple weeks. It not only tests one's technical knowledge, but one's persistence!

levensailor wrote: »

Finished TSHOOT, official CCNP now. I didn't realize (and this will help anyone studying for it) but cisco has the topology maps (ipv4 layer 3, ipv6 layer 3 and layer 2) all on their website in pdf format. I'm 90% sure all the ips were identical. Anyways, it helps to know what you're getting into. The exam today was fairly easy and I got a high 900 in around 20 minutes as opposed to struggling the whole time and barely missing it.

Congrats man! You're right, Cisco provides up the topologies for the exam. I printed them out and made sure I was very familiar with it ahead of time. There's been a lot of NP passes lately, we need a big NP party.. *jokes*

thedrama

MrBrian wrote: »

Had my TSHOOT exam today and passed!! Got a 986/1000, but got all the trouble tickets right.

Started my CCNP journey right after I got my CCNA in August 2011, so well over a year, and now I finally made it. Feels great! I was looking back for a thread from August 2011 where I claimed I would complete ROUTE in a month or something like that, which was right when I started studying for it. And then said that I'd get the CCNP in 3-4 months total time (with no real experience). I said that because I had the most motivation/determination in the world at that point. And the summer was all mine (no job/school), so I believed I could do it. It's pretty laughable that over a year has passed since then, but I'm happy I reached my goal. I couldn't go back far enough to find that post, but I did find a thread where I was eating my words after going at it hard for a month's time.

So anyone trying to blaze through these exams might want to take notice, that it's not gonna be that easy! I was studying 8 hrs a day for all of August 2011 (but if you have experience or are a flat out genius anything's possible. I just wanna give you my experience):

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccnp/69661-my-route-progress.html#post560398

Now I'm trying to figure out what's next. I'll probably take a break for a few weeks, but after that some thoughts are CCNA-V, CCNA-S, JNCIA-Junos, read BGP then MPLS books, or possibly the OSCP. Was thinking about that last one because I figure having those skills will help me better understand the importance of locking down the network/end stations. And it would help me branch out a bit.

And thank you to everyone on the forum because I've learned a ton of stuff from the people here and received valuable advice.

Well done, mate. You have performed almost perfectly.

Ivanjam

@MrBrian - Congrats on getting your CCNP!

jdballinger wrote: »

Congratulations! I love coming here and reading all of the "I passed" threads because it helps to keep me motivated in my own studies!

@jdballinger - I feel the same way too - TE always motivates me whenever I start slacking off.

waragi

Route switch and Tshoot in a month?.
Just joking.
Its nice going for a interview with the CCNP on the CV its does get respect from employers even if one is not going to be directly working on cisco equipment.