Passed ICND1!

Ls1raider

Finally took and passed the ICND1 today with a 925 I'd like to thank everyone in the Techexams community for the wealth of useful information on this website!

This site really brought me back to life. After getting laid off from my last job and having no direction, I thankfully stumbled upon this website. I was one semester away from finishing my AAS in Computer Networking and Service Technology but due circumstances in my life I hadn't gone to school in a year. Besides, I really had no idea what I was going to do with it after I graduated. I honestly never got any advice while I was in school to pursue any certifications besides the CCNA and hadn't heard any mention of the CCENT. After reading thread after thread of people starting out in IT and/or making career changes, I was immediately inspired and was on this website every night on my phone until my eyes shut themselves. I set out a path for myself and since i already had a lot of cisco knowledge and material, I decided to start out with the ICND1 and finally took it today. I realized,while in my studies for this test, after reading more threads and looking at job searches that the A+ is a great asset to those starting out in IT. Even though I have the ICND2 in my sights, I'm going to go back for the A+ since I'm constantly seeing it come up on help desk position requirements. I've applied for a few jobs but haven't had any luck with just my AAS. What do you guys think? Thanks

RouteMyPacket

Congrats!

Honestly, IMO I think you should forge ahead and don't waste time with A+

Remember the best plan is to secure a position that will allow you to not only maintain your Cisco knowledge but also improve upon it while you seek higher certifications.

BobNakamura

Congratulations on your pass! I'm glad that you found something that you really enjoyed!

Unfortunately I can't comment on the last bit that you wrote...I mean, I'm still in high school so I don't have any real world experiences at the moment.

xza

I got my ccent in jan 15th or around there, got my S+ last week. go for S+ if u need a cisco break like i did. i started icnd 2 last weekend.

Ls1raider

Thanks guys!! That's a good point you make RouteMyPacket. I do want to keep the info fresh and build on it. I wouldn't mind studying for both but I know a lot of people advise against two exams at once, and I would hate to take any attention away from the ICND2 aswell. Xza I know what you mean, I'm still lightheaded from it all. Lol

Master Of Puppets

Congrats!

webgeek

Congrats! CCNA > A+ IMO

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on pass!!

d6bmg

Congrats on the pass.
And talking about your plan of A+, IMO don't go for it.
If you reallt want to, then N+ & S+ would be good along with your ICND1 & ICND2.

101010

Congrats on the pass.

bub9001

I agree that you should get your A+, if you where in a IT position I would say continue on to your CCNA. The facts are most IT positions will require A+ or 2 to 3 years of Experience, and sometimes both. After taking a Cisco exam, then going and taking a CompTIA will be a breeze. Just pickup a highly rated A+ book, like Exam Cram or Mike Myer's. I would figure you could have it done in a few months tops. Then back onto ICND2 for your CCNA.

Also for those like myself, can you give us an idea what materials worked best the help you pass ICND1 exam?

Ls1raider

Thanks Everyone!!

The study material I used was:

Wendell Odom's Official Cert Guide Third Edition - I actually read most of it twice. It really instilled the theory in my mind the second time through and untangled any confusion I might of had the first read. I took the practice exams that the book came with at least 8 times in the weeks before the exam. It really brought the attention to the areas I needed to further review.

CBT Nuggets - Even though a lot of the information was fairly the same, he explained it in a way that gave everything a lot more clarity. I felt it was also helpful to get a different perspective of the material.

CCENT Exam Cram - I read the whole book in a few days. It introduced one or two different topics, but was overall not worth the purchase. I know it wasn't meant to be an "everything you need to know" book for the CCENT, but further review of the two materials above would of sufficed.

Note Cards - I made about 50 5"x7" note cards from my notes of the first two materials above and would review them as often as possible. I highly recommend this if there's any topics that aren't quite sticking.

I'm still debating whether I'll take the A+ or ICND2 next. I'm going to mull it over this weekend and which ever I decide, is getting hit hard on Monday!! Thanks for the input everyone.

bub9001

Thanks for the reply on the study material. Also I said A+ because you can knock that out quick and you have your CCENT which will help. Having your CCNA isn't going to really effect your job opportunities, mostly due to the fact that if you have your CCNA they will also want 2 to 3 years of experience in order for that to be helpful. And if you have your A+ it will get your foot in the door with PC tech type positions that would allow for getting needed experience to land a Network lackie job. IMHO

Again Thanks for the study Material feed back.

SharkDiver

Wow. Congratulations! Great score.

Just to add my 2 cents, I would skip the A+. Of all my certs, it's the one I wish I wouldn't have spent the time on. JMO

Ls1raider

No problem bub. If I can in any way help some one out I'm more then willing, cause I'd be lost without this forum and its members. I forgot to mention subnettingquestions.com, for when you have some time to burn. I'd do atleast 20 in a row without getting one wrong and if I did I'd start all over. I did get a few subnetting questions on the exam and it made for an easy answer and time saver after practicing as I did. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks again everyone for the advice.

JeanM

Congrats! Normally you would not even bother with A+ cert if you are going for CCNA, but if you are totally new to IT then it will NOT hurt one bit. I got mine back in 1998 iirc

More knowledge is only a plus imho.

pamccabe

You've gotten a lot of great advise from others, but I'll give you my two cents anyway. If I were you, I'd take some time to figure out what you want to do in IT. I assume you enjoy networking. Although, your post said something about not having direction while you were enrolled in networking classes. I am a networking student, studying for CCENT (will take soon) and landed my first IT job as helpdesk support. I have no A+ support and stil have no desire to plans to take it. My love and passion is for networking. I might take the N+ exam, but I want to stay focused on my passion. I think you should do the same. If your passion is networking, and you just passed CCENT, take a small break and go for ICND2. Get your CCNA and build on that. if I was in your situation, I would NOT take time off for the A+ exam. You have the knowledge from your ICND1 studies and the iron is hot. Strike now!

amclone

If I had to do it all over again, I would do it in the following order:

A+
N+
CCENT
CCNA
Microsoft

I feel that no matter what path you take in I.T., you should have general PC knowledge. Second, it is also good to have OS knowledge. After going through the plan above, you will have a good idea where you want to head as far as specialization. Hope this helps.