time taken to pass ccnp

I am sure alot of topics have been posted on this,
but I have been working on one cert or another for the last 2 years

I have read on here about people passing CCNP level exams with only 3 months of study
how is this possible?

I take an average of 5 - 6 months per exam.
keep in mind I am married with a kid, and I work usually more than 40 hours a week. I can study at most 2 - 3 hours a night.

people on this board make me feel slow!

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Comments

Mrock4

You and me both.

I think my proper amount of time is 2 months per exam, but I am also a workaholic, with no kids/wife, so I have more time.

In the end it doesn't matter, you gotta do things your own way. It's better late than never. Besides, who's schedule are you on besides your own? What works for one may not work for another.

Once I can surpass the BSCI (someday), I'd like to finish the CCNP by May 09 then, which puts my total time spent on it at 8 months. We'll see how that pans out.

FWIW, I admire all you guys here who are married/have kids that still are on top of your studies. I have a hard enough time without the distractions, let alone with them.

dynamik

Mrock4 wrote:

FWIW, I admire all you guys here who are married/have kids that still are on top of your studies. I have a hard enough time without the distractions, let alone with them.

Absolutely. I don't know how you guys do it. Don't waste your time comparing yourself to the few of us that have no lives and no other responsibilities. While you may think we work a little faster, the reality of the situation is that we actually look up to you. Work at your own pace; you will achieve your goals before you know it!

MACattack

Well, for me I started 2006 in my Cisco thing.

It is possible to past the CCNP exam in just 1 year if you are fully dedicated and it also depends if you are just for the Certificates and not learning the true knowledge of Cisco stuff. I mean some people is more on certification and after that finish.

I am still reading my notes, practice and more practice in routing, swtiching and reading more about BSCI, BCMSN and ONT though I already pass this exams some of this is very useful in the next exam. Understanding and skills are the two importance of Cisco Certification.

For me I failed many times in BCMSN I think 3 times, but in BSCI just took 1 time exam and ONT also. So it depends if you are fully focus. In BCMSN I learn more as I failed many times. I read 3 to 4 references and watch the videos many time.

I am married and my wife is preggy and I still give time for myself.

redwarrior

For me, my time per exam varies with what's going on in my life. I have two little ones, a husband, and a crazy job. Sometimes study takes priority and other times, other things have to slide to the forefront. On the bright side, my 2-year-old daughter knows that "jitter bad!!" and my 4-year-old son can tell the difference between a router and a switch faster than many IT people.

gorebrush

Hoping to do the CCNP in 8 months

MCSE took me 16 months from start to finish (7 exams) - including a 70-291 failure ...

MCTS Exchange 2007 I'm doing in under a month.

I have a very understanding girlfriend who appreciates the effort I put in. Though saying that, she works very hard, and goes to college for two courses per week.

Guess we're both workaholics...

Hoping to keep to a 7-8 week schedule on Cisco exams....

remyforbes777

I am embarking on my CCNP as well. I am starting with the BSCI and then the others. Hopefully I can knock BSCI out in 3 months because i heard the others were easier.

Daniel333

I felt that way once or twice. Just focus on your comprehension. It's great to get the cert, but it's the learning path that you are really after.

Cheaters aside, people who pass their certs too quick normally skip the labs ad tell themselves something like, "I don't need to run that lab, seems easy enough" and it's that person who makes your team miss their SLAs while they are googling the answers.

Just find a healthy balanace that leaves you hitting the gym, taking your wife to the movies and tossing a ball around with your kid. I know it sounds lame, but you'll be more successful in life with that.

mikearama

dynamik wrote:

Mrock4 wrote:

FWIW, I admire all you guys here who are married/have kids that still are on top of your studies. I have a hard enough time without the distractions, let alone with them.

Absolutely. I don't know how you guys do it. Don't waste your time comparing yourself to the few of us that have no lives and no other responsibilities. While you may think we work a little faster, the reality of the situation is that we actually look up to you. Work at your own pace; you will achieve your goals before you know it!

Well said. Comparing never accomplishes anything... situations are always different.

In my case, I'm married and have four children under 12. Fortunately, my manager has no issues with me studying when nothing's happening, and is okay with me using the UAT lab for playing around with scenerios from study material. So when I get home, I'm home. Almost all of my studying is at work. Now that's sweet.

lildeezul

I started my CCNP studies in Early August, and i plan to finish my final exam March 09.
good thing it that im a student, so when i get home at 3:40 i go home (wrestling practice) and then i studying from then on. I dont stop studying until around 11-12 a night. I study alot practicing labs, and making flash cards and ect. I think i could achieve my CCNP early as January maybe, but i like to study hard, and keep studying so it sticks to my mind. Good thing my brain treats me well..

It all depends though on how your life schedule is. ITs not very hard to me i maintain over a 4.25 gpa and still make time for studying.

aragoen_celtdra

I too have a wife, a two year old and another on the way. I took 6 months to complete CCNA, with minimal Cisco experience. When I'm done with BSCI <crossing fingers>, I would've spent another 6 months from the time I started studying for it in July 08 until December 08(when I plan to take it.)

I do have a pretty structured study plan (follow the link on my blog below to give you an idea) and I try to stick to the plan as much as I can. It always helps to have an understanding family and to make sure they understand that we are all in this together. From the outset, I made sure that my goal towards my certification is espoused by my spouse

and that she embraces the goals as if it were her own. It makes it easier to plan study times. Our nights are pretty structured as well - thrown in some occasional spontaneity to inject some excitement. That structure helps keep the flow of my studies going and helps maximize efficiency.

It also helps that I get a fair amount of downtime at work to study and occasionally read/post to forums, like I'm doing right now

Going back to your original point, at first I had issues with people getting theirs so quickly while I was going on snail's pace. I just couldn't understand how one would do it. But I quickly realized that there really is no general time frame that people can take. Some are just ready due to previous experience or better ability to retain information. Others can just pick up a book, read them once and take the test the next month and ace the test. Some just don't care and blatantly and openly ****. For some, like myself, time and strategy is what works best. But in the end, we all arrive at the same destination, and hold the same badge. And the badge is just as shiny as the next. Some people just get there faster. So what

Good luck to everyone's quest and someday we'll all see each other at the summit.

ilcram19-2

to be honest you shouldnt spent more than 60 hrs studying for a certification test, the material tha i;ve used is the cisco academy program, cbt and cisso press books but you really need to sit there a read as much as you can and practice as much as you can pretty much need to lock your self down, i also have a wife and a baby girl and a 40-50 hr per week job but my wife undestands and tries not to buther me when im on the books or wutching a video, i heard of some wife that the be bugging you and telling you that you dont spend time with them but is all for a good cause, now i get to spend time with them without worring about any test comming up

bscmsn-Fri, 13 Jun 2008
bsci-Fri, 18 Jul 2008
iscw-Fri, 15 Aug 2008
ont-Thu, 18 Sep 2008

and i also belive that anybody can pull that off in less time just focus on the goal

networker050184

ilcram19-2 wrote:

to be honest you shouldnt spent more than 60 hrs studying for a certification test, the material tha i;ve used is the cisco academy program, cbt and cisso press books but you really need to sit there a read as much as you can and practice as much as you can pretty much need to lock your self down, i also have a wife and a baby girl and a 40-50 hr per week job but my wife undestands and tries not to buther me when im on the books or wutching a video, i heard of some wife that the be bugging you and telling you that you dont spend time with them but is all for a good cause, now i get to spend time with them without worring about any test comming up

bscmsn-Fri, 13 Jun 2008
bsci-Fri, 18 Jul 2008
iscw-Fri, 15 Aug 2008
ont-Thu, 18 Sep 2008

and i also belive that anybody can pull that off in less time just focus on the goal

To be honest you can not know how much time it should take anyone to study for any exam.

The time it will take will vary from person to person. 60 hrs is a pretty short period of time to study for any exam especially if you do not have a strong background in the material.

miller811

ilcram19-2 wrote:

to be honest you shouldnt spent more than 60 hrs studying for a certification test,

I could not disagree more with your statement.

Perhaps you are some sort of genius who already knows the material you are studying or has instant recall.

Everyone's experience is unqiue.

It took me 1 month to pass CCNA (but I spent approx 200 hours in preparation for the exam)
It took me 3 attempts and over 5 months to complete the BSCI again spending hundreds of hours in preparation.

I am now three weeks into the ONT exam that will complete my CCNP (and I have spent well over 100 hours in preparation, and I am not comfortable enough to attempt the exam).
When all is said, the CCNP will have taken me approx 10 months of almost non stop learning, reading labs, research etc...

cisco_trooper

What's that smell? Anyone else smell that? Smells pretty rancid.....

ilcram19-2

ccna took me 4 months and i fail icnd and intro on time each i also fail ccda, but before i jump in to ccnp i was working in a few cisco projects that include routing, VoIP and VPNs, which i got to learn a lot in a couple of months but yea i know is not that easy sometime but that you have to study hard one thing we dont have is time

mikearama

miller811 wrote:

Perhaps you are some sort of genius who already knows the material you are studying or has instant recall.

You are far too kind. Anyone wanna guess what I'm gonna say???

A while back NetStudent posted a list of exams that he was pursuing... I stole it.

1) CCNA				July 16/07

2) BCMSN - Switching (NP)			Oct 1/07

3) BSCI - Routing (NP)			June 18/08

4) ISCW - Secure Converged Wans (NP)		

5) ONT - Optimizing Converged [Now CCNP]


6) CCDA - Design (DA)

7) ARCH - Design Architecture [Now CCDP] 


[IMG]https://us.v-cdn.net/6030959/uploads/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif[/IMG] CCNA Security (SP)			Sept 29/08

9) SNRS - Secure Routers / Switches (SP)

10) SNAF - ASA Foundation (SP)

11) IPS - (SP)

12) SNAA - ASA Advanced [Now CCSP]

I plan on sitting the ISCW end of November, and hopefully the ONT in January. That'll be a year and a half for the NP, with the CCNA Security tossed in there for fun... not to mention prep for the ISCW.

I know some of you are under pressure to get certs... I have almost 8 years experience in Cisco shops, so this is for fun for me. So if I take a few extra months, so what.

AlexMR

60hours for a test? I must be borderline stupid then...and borderline im being condescendent ...

It took me more 300hours to pass both ICNDs. At some point I had to do a lot of review because i studied like there was no tomorrow for 3months, and then was away from the books for about 4months. Still, i think the 300hours are required for somebody who doesnt have previous experience with the technologies.

I started 13days ago my CCNP quest, the same day I passed the ICND2, and my tentative goal is to pass one exam every two months. So far, Ive studied more than 20hours (about 21) and Im not even 1/3rd. of the self study guide. Just setting up and refamiliaring with GSN3 and dynamips took me over 4hours...or more.

The way I see it is that if I dedicate 15hours/week, two months should be about 130hours. The material is less and so far Im more familiar with it than I was with the CCNA. I consider the material easier because so many things make more sense now. I see 15hours/week might not be enough, but i think it should take less time to prepare for the CCNP exams than it did for the CCNA. I add the fact that I wa sfeeling insecure about Sybex CCNA book and statrted studying from many sources (ICND and official cert library) and that delayed me quite a bit. 130hours should do it. If it doesnt, well, back to

.

15Hours/week having a regular job with crazy overtime is harder than it sounds. My respect to you married guys because im rpactically doing nothing else to keep the pace and it´s being hard to accomplish.

lildeezul

mikearama wrote:

miller811 wrote:

Perhaps you are some sort of genius who already knows the material you are studying or has instant recall

You are far too kind. Anyone wanna guess what I'm gonna say???

Now in this case, i can relate with you.. lol...

to be honest you shouldnt spent more than 60 hrs studying for a certification test,

anyways it took me over 1 year to study and prep myself for the CCNA, now 60hrs, i could do 60 hrs in two weeks or less, mind you for a CCNP exam 60 hrs wont be enough,

now if you would have said 60 hrs per topic then that would have been a different story.

but seriously .... are you a genius ???

redwarrior

I was in a co-ed fraternity in college and we used to say of initiation, "It takes as long as it takes." I look at certs the exact same way. However long it takes me to get the material down, that's how long it takes. I try to set general goals, but if I reach my imaginary deadline and I don't feel comfortable with the material, then I wait until I do.

I hate to be mean, but you would think someone who is able to set their absolute maximum amount of study time for a cert exam to 60 hours or less would be able to write a sentence that is not a run-on.

dynamik

ilcram19-2 wrote:

before i jump in to ccnp i was working in a few cisco projects that include routing, VoIP and VPNs, which i got to learn a lot in a couple of months

So how much time did you spend working with all of that? If you're putting 40 hours/week into something, I don't think it's accurate to only talk about how much studying you did above and beyond that.

Met44

In reply to the original post:

As long as you are still learning, you are on the right track, fonque (all). Remember that knowledge is the real value you are obtaining through studying for a certification.

I took around a year for the CCNA. I am earmarking two years for the CCNP, starting with the ONT in December/January. I may check out some or all of the CCNA concentrations during that time as well, because they look fun.

I am pleased because I know that I have thoroughly learned a very large amount of very practical material in that time, and I am confident in my knowledge of it. I can't imagine another way that I would think about it. Consider pursuing certifications as a hobby, and keep with it at your own pace. Good luck!

scheistermeister

CCNP took me about 6 months. But I will admit that I am an odd ball. I have a very addictive personality and when I work on something I like that is all I do, period. When I sat down to review and do the exams I basically holed up in my room with my Cisco gear, computer and learning materials and only came out to eat and go to the bathroom until I was done, even lost a girlfriend in the process (which I got bitched at by my Cisco instructor for since I had met that girlfriend in my CCNP class and while in class was the only time I would see her). I take things to the extreme when I do them.

That being said, once I finished I was pretty burnt out on certs, sorta still am. I have tried to get into studying for MS certs, but honestly can't get myself into them. It wasn't until yesterday when I popped in the CCVP and CCIE CBT Nuggets that I have felt like studying for a cert again.

ilcram19-2

study the material for the test is one thing total different than real work, the real work helped me getting familiar with the command line of cisco and be able to move my way around, but im sure i wasnt gonna pass any of those test with that experiance, i did work rebulding the wan of the company crating vpn's and also dmvpn, deploying qos for VoIP and configuring eigrp for routing, but i dont think i cover all the subjects for the test i just went at it like everyone here i felt really confident before taking the tests also GNS3 helped out alot, i used cisco press books, cbts, the cisco academy program u know just reading and reading all the stuff has a logic and once we get that logic all comes together ospf,bgp,isis have the same logic is just to much terminology to remember and thats what kills me most of the time (u know like L1, L2 and L1/L2 or LSA's, Stubby and NSSA)but just grave the book and read over and over till u get the concept

ilcram19-2 wrote:
before i jump in to ccnp i was working in a few cisco projects that include routing, VoIP and VPNs, which i got to learn a lot in a couple of months

So how much time did you spend working with all of that? If you're putting 40 hours/week into something, I don't think it's accurate to only talk about how much studying you did above and beyond that.

about 2 months, and mostly beacuse the IOS had bugs

but seriously .... are you a genius ???

i dont belive in such of thing, i think every body is capable of amazing things and whatch once you do it u'll be like it wasnt that hard, im just glad i'm done with that. i didnt even got a raise

cisco_trooper

People need to grasp the bigger picture here. Are you reading that book so that you can pass a test, or are you reading that book to become competent with certain technologies.

If you are reading to accumulate long term knowledge you will be able to recall that information with very little external stimulation or cues for a pretty long amount of time.

If you are reading a book to pass a test, well, you may pass the test but will you be able to pass it next week? You better pray I'm not the one to interview you. You will quickly be discovered and dismissed. Take that however you want and do with it what you will. Certain topics can't be "learned" after 10 minutes of exposure; the brain simply does NOT work this way...if you doubt me, you are welcome to disprove me after you take the time to STUDY neuroscience.

Setting arbitrary time contraints on the learning process is one of the surest ways to fail an exam, and is also one of the surest ways to taking shortcuts which cost you the most valuable asset derived through studying - the knowledge and competence of the subject being studied.

So my answer to the question is, take as long as you want. Take a year if you want to. Just make sure you KNOW the material. None of this crap where you say you know material because you can recognize the right answer out of 4 choices. Do you know the answer if you aren't given any choices?. When you are out in the field you aren't getting a multiple choice question.

MACattack

Yup to be able to grasp the true spirit it will take you months.

ilcram19-2

the brain simply does NOT work this way...if you doubt me, you are welcome to disprove me after you take the time to STUDY neuroscience.

how you know that is my goal to study the brain or to be a neurologist, there is nothing else that amaze me the most than human brain, evolution has helped out but the brain is not even being used the 20% of its capacity.

If you are reading a book to pass a test, well, you may pass the test but will you be able to pass it next week? You better pray I'm not the one to interview you. You will quickly be discovered and dismissed

dont worry you wont be interviewing me

dynamik

ilcram19-2 wrote:

the brain simply does NOT work this way...if you doubt me, you are welcome to disprove me after you take the time to STUDY neuroscience.

how you know that is my goal to study the brain or to be a neurologist, there is nothing else that amaze me the most than human brain, evolution has helped out but the brain is not even being used the 20% of its capacity.

He's absolutely right. In order to get something ingrained into your long term memory, you need repetition over time (with the exception of a handful of people that have photographic memories, idiot savants, etc.).

And that brain usage thing is a myth: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html

cisco_trooper

ilcram19-2 wrote:

the brain simply does NOT work this way...if you doubt me, you are welcome to disprove me after you take the time to STUDY neuroscience.

how you know that is my goal to study the brain or to be a neurologist, there is nothing else that amaze me the most than human brain, evolution has helped out but the brain is not even being used the 20% of its capacity.

If you are reading a book to pass a test, well, you may pass the test but will you be able to pass it next week? You better pray I'm not the one to interview you. You will quickly be discovered and dismissed

dont worry you wont be interviewing me

Really? I never would have guessed that....

redwarrior

ilcram...it's call PUNCTUATION...get a book and study it. I'm sure with your amazing powers, it will take you 60 hours or less to learn how to express yourself like an adult.

I think there are simple 2 different types of posters here. Those who actually want to learn and have a long term career in networking, perhaps even getting their CCIE's and those who just want to pass the exams and get paid, eventually finding their careers stagnating as their employers discover that they either rushed through their studies, remembering little or braindumped the material. Luckily, it looks like the vast majority here are the former and not the latter.

In the end, I guess it doesn't matter since there is always grunt work for the latter to do for the former!

cisco_trooper

redwarrior wrote:

ilcram...it's call PUNCTUATION...get a book and study it. I'm sure with your amazing powers, it will take you 60 hours or less to learn how to express yourself like an adult.

I think there are simple 2 different types of posters here. Those who actually want to learn and have a long term career in networking, perhaps even getting their CCIE's and those who just want to pass the exams and get paid, eventually finding their careers stagnating as their employers discover that they either rushed through their studies, remembering little or braindumped the material. Luckily, it looks like the vast majority here are the former and not the latter.

In the end, I guess it doesn't matter since there is always grunt work for the latter to do for the former!

Amen to that brother...