Unique studying situation, need some advice.

I have a great opportunity right now to knock out some certifications before getting back to the states. ( I'm currently deployed) I spent a week studying for my A+ and passed it and I've had my Sec+ for about 3 years, so now it is time to move into Cisco.

I've now moved to a base that doesn't offer a testing facility for 5ish months, and I don't want to waste this time. I can start studying for CCNA, but I have 8-12 hours a day to study, for the next 4-6 months. From the research I've done, that seems like way too much time.

Now to the questions:
1) Am I getting overly ambitious thinking about studying for multiple certs? Should I just stick with CCNA? I just don't want to get burned out from not having new material to study.

2) (If the answer to 1 was no) After studying for CCNA, what can I study that would keep all the CCNA knowledge fresh in my head while getting a head start on another cert for when I have access to the testing facility? I have thought about CCNP, but I'm not sure if that is directly building upon the CCNA knowledge, or if it just goes into more technical topics.

3) (If you think I should study for a second cert after CCNA) At what point do I switch over? Is it when I'm completely comfortable doing everything on the list of requirements for CCNA?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Comments

BGraves

Is a degree a possibility? You could knock out a lot of WGU classes with that amount of time to study each day.

krjay

I found it difficult to study for multiple exams at once. I'm currently studying for the CCNP Switch exam. In my off time, or when I really just want to study another topic I spend time learning Python. It's a nice change of pace, and it should be quite useful in my future networking endeavors. So, you may want to couple the CCNA studies with something light that you can really take your time with and enjoy.

I wouldn't think about what comes after CCNA yet, it may change for you over the next couple months. CCNP will help keep the information fresh, but you might decide widening your knowledge base by going after CCNA Security or Voice next would be more valuable.

Magic Johnson

"but I have 8-12 hours a day to study, for the next 4-6 months"

The challenge imo will be sticking to this, when things get tough!

Jon_Cisco

It's good to plan ahead but I would recommend not over thinking it.
Your talking 5 months. It is unlikely that you will actively focus on reading and prep for 8+ hours a day unless you are working on a specific project. If you are the type that can effectively study for 8+ hours a day for months at a time then you probably will not have a problem cramming for a week to refresh the knowledge you picked up on during that time.

So I would say if you are interested in Networking then pick up some CCNA study material and a good emulator like GNS3.
After you have finished studying that you could consider your options and study for the next logical cert for your needs.
Spend the last month of your time reviewing and scheduling test times for when you get home.

If you are at all interested in programming I think learning a language and building a project with it would be perfect for that time frame. I personally don't want to program so I might require more time then others to make it work.

Good Luck

MaxSixx

Thanks for all the responses!

It is a lot of time, but I'm sitting at my desk 6-12 hours a day waiting for computers to break or the network to go down, so I figured I could get a decent amount of stuff knocked out.

I'll take a look in to WGU and learning a language. I'm 2 years into a computer science major, so that's not too unrealistic.

fredrikjj

I would study CCNA and the move on to CCNP:Switch when you feel like you've mastered the CCNA material. It should be doable in 4-6 months if you study full time.

xnx

Why not route first, surely it's more difficult?

TechGuru80

Don't kid yourself the CCNA is difficult. Do you have any access to a simulator or equipment? Without that it will be very hard to pass.

fredrikjj

xnx wrote: »

Why not route first, surely it's more difficult?

CCNP:Switch probably has more overlap with CCNA and would help him more than studying stuff like BGP, Redistribution, IPv6 tunneling, that's not even in the CCNA.

xnx

Ah I see, in terms of actual studying it may be more beneficial but if he planned to go for the CCNP I'd advise to get Route out the way first i'll be doing after I pass my CCNA exam (very soon).

AM I right in saying Switch covers a wide range of topics not in THAT much depth whilst Route will go into a alot of depth in terms OSPF / EIGRP along with how to redistribute and use route maps?