For Real?

So I'm just curious here. It took me 8 months to study for the A+ having little computer experience and I felt pretty good about passing the first test. Here's what's confusing me and to be honest, has me a little jealous. I see people all over this board talking about how they just passed the A+ after studying such abc books and/or xyz videos and right after the pass they talk about taking the Network +, Security + and then some advanced Microsoft or Cisco exam only a couple weeks apart from each other. Is this really happening? How is this possible? I can't imagine being able to cram all that knowledge in such a short amount of time and have it stick for the exams, let alone for the real world application. Perhaps I'm just a slow learner or some of the wiser on this forum can enlighten me.

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Essendon

As is the case with any exam, if you have worked with the technology the exam should be easier. So if you have ripped the guts out of a computer in the past and put it back together, the A+ should be easier.

Also if this is your first ever cert exam, you are going to be nervous thinking you aint ready, when you really are.

What resources are you using for preparation?

Excellent1

Everyone is different. Some people have a background that allows them to study the exam objectives, brush up on specific details they may be fuzzy on, and pass the exam. They may do that in a couple of short weeks, but what is really allowing that is years of formal or informal experience in IT. When I studied for the A+ exams last year, I was intimidated at first because I was unsure what to expect. Once I reviewed the exam objectives, I realized I had been performing 75% of them for over a decade, so it was no big deal.

Also, any time you see people taking and passing multiple exams back to back, there is always the chance they are dumping. These people exist because human nature is what it is: people are like electrons, they take the path of least resistance, sometimes. So some of those people will make use of the easily obtainable cheats and try to cheese their way into the IT field. These people are the reasons certifications are so devalued compared to how they used to be viewed, and most of them are shown to be the hacks they are and ultimately don't prosper from their shortcut mentality.

As a final comment, some people learn very quickly, and some people take longer to really get what they are studying. Attitude and aptitude are wildcards in any self-study endeavor. Don't worry about comparing yourself to others, just do what you can do with what God gave you and take pride in that. We all have strengths and weaknesses, so don't let other people passing tests quickly get you down on yourself.

djfunz

Essendon wrote: »

As is the case with any exam, if you have worked with the technology the exam should be easier. So if you have ripped the guts out of a computer in the past and put it back together, the A+ should be easier.

Also if this is your first ever cert exam, you are going to be nervous thinking you aint ready, when you really are.

What resources are you using for preparation?

I suppose I can understand that. But if someone had been working with computers for 10 years, wouldn't they have already attained the appropriate certs to be working in their respective fields? I was pretty nervous my first test but I can't imagine that changing. I'm always a little nervous for tests in general.

I used the A+ Exam Cram book and that was over 600 pages! I also watched Professor Messer's videos for a couple topics.

Excellent1 wrote: »

Everyone is different. Some people have a background that allows them to study the exam objectives, brush up on specific details they may be fuzzy on, and pass the exam. They may do that in a couple of short weeks, but what is really allowing that is years of formal or informal experience in IT. When I studied for the A+ exams last year, I was intimidated at first because I was unsure what to expect. Once I reviewed the exam objectives, I realized I had been performing 75% of them for over a decade, so it was no big deal.

Also, any time you see people taking and passing multiple exams back to back, there is always the chance they are dumping. These people exist because human nature is what it is: people are like electrons, they take the path of least resistance, sometimes. So some of those people will make use of the easily obtainable cheats and try to cheese their way into the IT field. These people are the reasons certifications are so devalued compared to how they used to be viewed, and most of them are shown to be the hacks they are and ultimately don't prosper from their shortcut mentality.

As a final comment, some people learn very quickly, and some people take longer to really get what they are studying. Attitude and aptitude are wildcards in any self-study endeavor. Don't worry about comparing yourself to others, just do what you can do with what God gave you and take pride in that. We all have strengths and weaknesses, so don't let other people passing tests quickly get you down on yourself.

I've read some topics on this "dumping" as well, and from what I've read, the tests are changed all the time. I wouldn't want to take a chance with so much money invested in testing fees to memorize questions that aren't even on the actual test. Seems pretty risky. Plus I'm pretty sure this crammed knowledge would already have been forgotten come interview time. If this "dumping' really devalues the cert, then I don't see how all of these companies offering certs are still in business.

mikedisd2

First one is always the hardest. My first MCP took most of the year. After about 3x or so I was knocking them out every month to 6x weeks. You pick up better methods as you go along plus get more motivation with confidence amd experience. I would never go back to MSPress books like was using to start with.

Forsaken_GA

djfunz wrote: »

I suppose I can understand that. But if someone had been working with computers for 10 years, wouldn't they have already attained the appropriate certs to be working in their respective fields? I was pretty nervous my first test but I can't imagine that changing. I'm always a little nervous for tests in general.

One of my coworkers has over a decade of experience as a network engineer.

He just got his CCNA last month.

Certs are not as much of a prerequisite as you might think.

Psoasman

I took about 3 months to take my A+, but I had moved out of the medical field and didn't know much about computers. After I got comfortable and gained more knowledge and experience, it got easier for me to study for tests and learn the material.
Everybody is different in how they learn and study, just take your time and have fun.

networker050184

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

One of my coworkers has over a decade of experience as a network engineer.

He just got his CCNA last month.

Prior knowledge is a big part of it as the example by Forsaken pointed out.

I have always thought that if you need to learn all the subjects form the ground up what is the point in getting certified on the subject? You certainty haven't mastered it after reading a book and watching a video. IMO we would all get a lot more value out of our certifications if more of them had experience requirements.

Devilsbane

It depends on your prior experience. For me, A+ was pretty easy but I also didn't really learn anything preparing for the test, I had heard it all before from on the job experience and school.

If you lack the experience and it is all new, then it might take 8 months. Don't take that as you aren't as smart as others or anything like that. We all learn at different speeds and we all have different experience. The only important thing is that when you do take and pass the exam that you know what you need to.

it_consultant

djfunz wrote: »

So I'm just curious here. It took me 8 months to study for the A+ having little computer experience and I felt pretty good about passing the first test. Here's what's confusing me and to be honest, has me a little jealous. I see people all over this board talking about how they just passed the A+ after studying such abc books and/or xyz videos and right after the pass they talk about taking the Network +, Security + and then some advanced Microsoft or Cisco exam only a couple weeks apart from each other. Is this really happening? How is this possible? I can't imagine being able to cram all that knowledge in such a short amount of time and have it stick for the exams, let alone for the real world application. Perhaps I'm just a slow learner or some of the wiser on this forum can enlighten me.

Learning the basics is ALWAYS harder than learning advanced stuff. When you learn the basics, you literally know nothing, everything is new and you have no frame of reference. Biology 101 was harder than microbiology. Once you got to micro, you already knew a lot about cells, when you walked in to bio 101 you didn't know the difference between strep and staph if it landed you in the hospital.

When I go take a test now I am reasonably sure I will pass because I have a lot more experience and technology follows predictable patterns. Keep your head up and you will learn quickly. When I started this gig I started at "this is a computer" when I was 19. Before that I was straight liberal arts with no need for a computer in my life.

instant000

djfunz wrote: »

So I'm just curious here. It took me 8 months to study for the A+ having little computer experience and I felt pretty good about passing the first test. Here's what's confusing me and to be honest, has me a little jealous. I see people all over this board talking about how they just passed the A+ after studying such abc books and/or xyz videos and right after the pass they talk about taking the Network +, Security + and then some advanced Microsoft or Cisco exam only a couple weeks apart from each other. Is this really happening? How is this possible? I can't imagine being able to cram all that knowledge in such a short amount of time and have it stick for the exams, let alone for the real world application. Perhaps I'm just a slow learner or some of the wiser on this forum can enlighten me.

I had been doing IT for six years before I ever took a single certification exam. Frankly, I would have been upset if A+, Network+, MCSE were difficult for me after all that experience. I then went another five years before I started taking exams again. Again, I would have been totally upset if Security+ or ITIL Foundations was difficult for me, after all that experience. I'm not going to lie like CISSP was easy for me, because it wasn't, and this was after I'd been doing this for eleven years.

Overall, it's the experience that helps, as you can tie in things you're studying to things you've done before.

Someone mentioned the cascading effect of studying, and realizing what works best for you. This is true, too. You begin to realize what studying methods make you most likely to retain the information.

Another mentioned that you begin to see information relate to each other. This is ohh, so true. The basics are the most difficult part to get. If you have the experience, when you see something, you realize that you have already done it before, so it is like a review to study for the tests.

It's only the certs where you may be tested on things that you rarely (if ever) utilize, that you might get some issues. If you pay attention to some of the failure posts on these boards, people usually have issues on topics they have a low level of exposure to.

Ahriakin

it_consultant wrote: »

Learning the basics is ALWAYS harder than learning advanced stuff. When you learn the basics, you literally know nothing, everything is new and you have no frame of reference.

Agreed. My first Cisco exam took 3 months. My First Juniper (same level essentially) took 2 weeks. Besides your knowledge level you train your mind over time for optimal study, get better practices in place etc.

djfunz

Lots of great info here guys. Thanks for taking the time to describe you're experiences. In my very limited experience in the enterprise level, I can also see how the experience will allow one to learn more then just reading and memorizing material. What I'll do many times is obtain exposure in a particular subject and the same day really read in detail about it. For example I'm reading about Proxy pacs and domain controllers. Nothing like that had really been covered in my A+ studies. I'm looking forward to getting past the steep learning curve however where it becomes easier to study and retain the material.

Turgon

djfunz wrote: »

So I'm just curious here. It took me 8 months to study for the A+ having little computer experience and I felt pretty good about passing the first test. Here's what's confusing me and to be honest, has me a little jealous. I see people all over this board talking about how they just passed the A+ after studying such abc books and/or xyz videos and right after the pass they talk about taking the Network +, Security + and then some advanced Microsoft or Cisco exam only a couple weeks apart from each other. Is this really happening? How is this possible? I can't imagine being able to cram all that knowledge in such a short amount of time and have it stick for the exams, let alone for the real world application. Perhaps I'm just a slow learner or some of the wiser on this forum can enlighten me.

There is a tendancy for a lot of people to eat to the beat with certifications. Once one is obtained some momentum takes you through the next one. Also a lot of people adapt learning strategies that focus on passing a test as opposed to deep learning for the sake of it. To be honest with you, depending on what responsibilities you encounter in the field either approach may suit. For the foundation exams it's possible to pass them with targetted cramming. You get to a point where you can make a fair assessment of the exam worthyness of the chapters or paragraphs you are reading for any of these exams. A lot of people focus on those things and skim the rest. There is also crossover where you study for a new test but actually leverage learning from a different exam you prepared for and passed. That happens a lot with Microsoft/Novell and Cisco exams.

Back when I started, people chugged through the MCSE, then CNE and sometimes Master CNE and probably tossed in the CCNA inside two years. The exams back then rolled along one after another and they are *harder* these days (with the exception of CNE which has remained as-is), but at the same time there are more resources available today to help students.

N2IT

Essendon wrote: »

As is the case with any exam, if you have worked with the technology the exam should be easier. So if you have ripped the guts out of a computer in the past and put it back together, the A+ should be easier.

Also if this is your first ever cert exam, you are going to be nervous thinking you aint ready, when you really are.

What resources are you using for preparation?

I couldn't agree more.

I'll use myself for an example. I had 3 years PC/Laptop experience and 1 with networking before I took A+ and N+. Believe me it helps out a lot. I passed both A+ exams in the 800's and the network + exam around low 800's. Nothing to impressive, but when I was forced to make an educated guess it really pulled me through.

On the flipside of things I had 0 in project management and 0 in SQL when I took my Project + exam and MS 2008 database developer exam and failed both. Infact I haven't passed the SQL one yet. Infact i've been failing it miserably.

So in short I agree 100% with Ess, if you have a good block of experience it can carry you through an exam.

ITIL was the same way, I worked in a true ITIL/ITSM shop for 2+ years and learned the terminology, change management, configuration management etc and when I took the exam the pieces just snapped together for me. Where as if you don't have that real world work knowledge it's hard to get the proverbially box around the material.

And then there are Dell certs