What now?

GyverV

Hey everyone. I am currently studying for my CCENT, and I have reached a point where I am not sure what to do next.

So far, I have watched and taken notes with the CBT Nuggets series, read the ICND1 book by Odom, practiced subnetting until I had dreams about it, and got some lab time in with GNS3.

I plan to do the review questions in the Odom book again, and get some more labs out of the way, but other than that, I am having a difficult time gauging my knowledge. I am considering purchasing the practice exam from Boson, and have seen good things on the forum about it so far.

Does anyone else have any further insight as to how I can gauge my level of knowledge better and sharpen my skills further?

pamccabe

This might be a good time to schedule the exam. Also, go to Cisco's site, they have self-assessments for all their exams. It might help you decide just how ready you are. Good luck.

shortcut144

There are a few exams you could take that were made by users. Here are Tech Exams Practice Exams.

HectorP

One thing that helps me is to reread the book but only hitting the key point items just to make sure they are second-nature. I can reread any section or chapter that may still be fuzzy. Definitely book your exam soon. Good luck!

DoubleNNs

Schedule the exam.

Then if you have the money, buy the Boson Ex-Sim Max exams.

You're probably at the point where you could pass the exam after buckling down and working on your weak areas for a week or 2.

pamccabe

Like I already said, and Double reinforced, schedule your exam. That will put some urgency into your routine and make you focus on those weak spots. Not only that, but for some, actually taking the exam is a part of determining if you are 'ready', if that makes sense. Learning will be ongoing with certs and Cisco. You will be studying theory and configuration constantly. Taking an exam is sometimes part of learning what kind of questions you are asked and experiencing the format they are delivered in. No one passes every single exam they sit. It is not whether you pass or fail, but rather if you learn something from it.

Roguetadhg

1) Pay for the exam.
2) Put more lab time in the topics you don't like.

If you don't pass:
3) Run through Boson exam sim.
4) study more.
5) lab more.

"Good Enough" is never enough. If you've just studied good enough, that means you can fail. Go for studying too much and blow it out of the water.

GyverV

Thanks so much to each of you for the feedback and suggestions. I am going to book myself in for the exam 2 weeks from tomorrow and use the remaining time to really buckle down on my weak spots. I have been able to use some of my time today to identify the spots that I need to work on the most. I'm really looking forward to getting this exam behind me and moving on to my ICND2.