Passed CCNA

Hi all,

I don't post on here very often so a lot of you probably won't know me, but last week I passed my ICND2 and became CCNA certified.

I just wanted to pop on and say thanks for all of your help, even though you didn't realise you were giving it... lol I'm more of a browser than a talker, so regularly checked in to see what the recent topics were about and to see if I could learn anything from the discussions that were taking place.

I passed my ICND1 in Sept with a score of 933 and my ICND2 last week with a score of 854. Not very happy with my ICND2 score, so will have to sort that out, but all in all, I'm pretty chuffed.

I work in a customer service environment, with no previous IT experience. I just decided to try and finally do something with my career and networking seems mega interesting.

Now I've got the CCNA sorted, I now need to try and find a job! (I've started an MTA in Server Administration to help me land a help desk role) I feel like this is probably the hard part.

Anyway, I mentioned that to give hope to those who are struggling. I dont work in IT, dont have any exposure to IT and have no previous experience with IT and still passed. It just takes work.

Good luck all and thanks again!

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Comments

hannism

Congrats on the pass.

I got mine last week, too. It feels like I'm dreaming, and haven't woke up.

What are your future certification plans?

CiscoWayne

Congrats on yours too!

Yeah it doesn't seem real at the moment. I guess that's because for me personally, nothing has changed yet. I'm just on the job hunt now.

I'm starting the MTA - Windows Server Fundamentals in the hopes that this will give me a bit of knowledge that would help me land a help desk job and then go from there.

After that, or after I land a job (whichever comes first), I'll be straight onto the CCNP R&S.

You?

hannism

For me, CCNA: Security and CCNA: Wireless.

After that, Linux+.

Again, congrats on the achievement. I've noticed people at work treat me differently now that I've got it.

(Not that I act any different).

Keep us posted on your future progress.

CiscoWayne

Sounds good.

Good luck with your future exams.

E Double U

I passed in the summer of 2010 and still remember the feeling. Congratulations!

CiscoWayne

Thanks mate. It looks like you've added just a few more certs since then

Congrats on pass!!

Thanks mate

Great job Wayne!

Congrats!

Thanks everyone

Any tips on breaking into the IT world?

router_switch

Congrats mate.

Could you post your prep process for the exams.

Thanks in advance.

byron66

Congrats man. How did you study for it?

Chev Chellios

Congrats on the pass man, great news!

Mr.Network

congrats

CiscoWayne

Thanks everyone.

I used CBT nuggets for ICND1 but didn't bother for ICND2 because I found them massively short on the detail. So for ICND2 I switched to Kevin Wallace's Cisco press video series (Much better, I can't recommend this enough). I supplemented this with Chris Bryants Udemy course. He goes into much more detail. I'd basically take notes on the Kevin Wallace vids, then have Chris Bryants videos playing over my car stereo to and from work everyday to keep the stuff fresh in my head and provide the detail that other sources didn't.

As I went along I also read the Todd Lammle CCNA study guide.

Once I finished all the videos I just labbed solidly, going through the exam objectives, making up random networks with imaginary scenarios and referred to my notes to get me through.

thatguy67

Congrats Wayne. I am taking the ICND2 next month. Better later than never lol.

CiscoWayne

Good luck mate!

Thatdaveguy

First of all, congrats on the pass!

Funny that my first post should be in a fellow stokies thread

But id just like to give a +1 to the Kevin Wallace series. Im currently going through his ICND1 set of videos and they are fantastic. Im supplementing my knowledge with the same Tod Lammle book you mentioned also.

Can i ask where you found the ICND2 videos? I currently use safaribooks for his ICND1 stuff, but dont seem to be able to find the ICND2. Also, good shout on the CBT nuggets - id not heard of that until now.

Good luck with the job hunt!

CiscoWayne

Ha no way man a fellow Stokie!

You can get the vids from - Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching 200-120 Complete Video Course - Pretty pricey though.

However, a mate of mine had them from when he did his CCNA and let me take a look.

Also check out Chris Bryant's Udemy courses, they're very indepth.

Give me a shout if you need anything mate - Feel free to private message with any questions etc.

Good luck with your ICND1 - When are you thinking about taking the exam?

Mooseboost

Congrats on your pass!

bender_fender100

Congrats man! Good information too about your study materials. I feel very close to passing ICND1 myself this week with all the studying I've been doing and came very close the first time and want to immediately dive into ICND2 material when I get that taken care of this weekend. Inadvertently when I was going through Laz's Udemy videos, there were some topics in there that I watched videos on that he had and that I labbed on that were actually ICND2 topics in the way that he had the labs set up, like spanning-tree protocol and several EIGRP labs, so even though I didn't need to do study that right now that much, I at least have a little preview of what else is in store.

Did you use any physical equipment to study?

Thatdaveguy

CiscoWayne wrote: »

Ha no way man a fellow Stokie!

You can get the vids from - Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching 200-120 Complete Video Course - Pretty pricey though.

However, a mate of mine had them from when he did his CCNA and let me take a look.

Also check out Chris Bryant's Udemy courses, they're very indepth.

Give me a shout if you need anything mate - Feel free to private message with any questions etc.

Good luck with your ICND1 - When are you thinking about taking the exam?

Stoke massive takin over!

When i checked out your link, there was a small safari ad on the page so perhaps it actually is in their database and ive just not looked properly!

Ill be sure to check out those Udemy notes you mentioned. If they are so indepth i think ill work through the Kevin Wallace stuff first so i dont end up frying my brain trying to understand too much at once.

As for the ICND1 exam itself, im quite a way off it. Im a long distance trucker in the week and a bouncer up Hanley at the weekend, so i dont get a lot of study time. That being said ive handed in my notice yesterday at the bar i work at so ill have weekends to myself - extra study time! Ive just taken delivery of a x2 switches and x2 routers to cobble together my own lab, so once i'm upto speed on the theory and reading, ill just be labbing till the cows come home. so to answer your original question..perhaps a month or two?

I actually completed what would have been one of the first incarnations of the CCNA back in 2001 when id just left school, but never managed to get a job off the back of that alone. To be honest the lure of full time work and money/partying/girls meant i didn't really apply myself anyway. A decade of manual labour and dead end jobs has made me realise where i went wrong, i just hope that obtaining a few certifications and diving head first into the jobs market pays off. Although i have to say its comforting to know that im not alone in that boat and there are others out there with no exposure to the IT industry who are getting certified and getting out there looking for work

/end ramble

CiscoWayne

Mooseboost wrote: »

Congrats on your pass!

Thanks mate

bender_fender100 wrote: »

Congrats man! Good information too about your study materials. I feel very close to passing ICND1 myself this week with all the studying I've been doing and came very close the first time and want to immediately dive into ICND2 material when I get that taken care of this weekend. Inadvertently when I was going through Laz's Udemy videos, there were some topics in there that I watched videos on that he had and that I labbed on that were actually ICND2 topics in the way that he had the labs set up, like spanning-tree protocol and several EIGRP labs, so even though I didn't need to do study that right now that much, I at least have a little preview of what else is in store.

Did you use any physical equipment to study?

Yeah I think it depends on how they do their 'split' Some videos I've seen just do a CCNA course and the line between ICND1 and ICND2 can be blurry.

I've got some physical equipment (2x2960 switches 1x3750 layer 3 switch and 2x2811 routers) and use it to run through alot of the topics, just so I had an understanding of how physical equipment works, however, packet tracer does absolutely fine for the CCNA.

You can do MOST things in packet tracer. I preferred to use GNS3 where possible though, as it gives a more authentic experience to routing.

Thatdaveguy

Hows the job hunt coming along mate?