Passed the ICND1 today, but I'm disappointed.

I just took my first Cisco exam and I'm truly disappointed. I have no experience in IT, this was my first exam. I felt like I had a really good level of knowledge going into this and was honest ready to crush OSPF, IPV6, NAT, etc. Configurations and all. Lets just say pretty much every MAJOR area I studied and expected to be the core of this exam, were not even touched. Not a single question. This exam in my opinion was really poor judge of knowledge. I think one can really know their stuff going into this exam and fail. Cisco doesn't have a passing score. But the way I feel is, if we assume an 85% is passing, at least 15% of the questions are absolutely ridiculous and the other 85% are cake if you know your stuff. Part of me feels bad for not getting a 100% (I truly felt I knew everything), but some of the questions were just ridiculous. Not hard, just very poor choices, poor wording, and tedious.

Anyways, the reason I'm posting this is because I'm questioning my continuation with Cisco. Does anyone else feel this way about the exam or know if it gets better from here? If the ICND2 doesn't test a LOT more actual knowledge then I don't know how the CCNA can mean anything to employers. I had been planning on going straight to my CCNP studies, but not if all their exams are this terrible.

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jgraves16

I should be taking my 200-120 (CCNAX) by the end of next week or early the following week. I hope I get an exam like yours

I've been studying, labbing with PT, and taking practice exams for three months now and pulling 90+ on the exams, and still have areas I don't feel 100% on.

It sounds like they pull random questions from a pool. 55-60 questions doesn't seem like a lot, I guess it just matters if you get lucky with the questions.

Anyways, congrats...

volfkhat

Welcome to the world of Multiple Choice certifications.

imo, they are a joke (regardless of the vendor)

Gpdriver17

volfkhat wrote: »

Welcome to the world of Multiple Choice certifications.

imo, they are a joke (regardless of the vendor)

Are their any that aren't multiple choice, aside from the CCIE. I don't regret studying for it, I learned a ton following the curriculum. But the exam, as far as a test of knowledge goes, was an absolute joke and I don't know how it can be respected at all in the industry.

Gpdriver17

jgraves16 wrote: »

I should be taking my 200-120 (CCNAX) by the end of next week or early the following week. I hope I get an exam like yours

I've been studying, labbing with PT, and taking practice exams for three months now and pulling 90+ on the exams, and still have areas I don't feel 100% on.

It sounds like they pull random questions from a pool. 55-60 questions doesn't seem like a lot, I guess it just matters if you get lucky with the questions.

Anyways, congrats...

Thanks! Honestly I think even if you know your stuff you have a 50% chance of passing. I almost wonder if Cisco knows they can't test your knowledge on a multiple choice test so they use ridiculous questions as a barrier to entry. That way not everyone passes. Because the memorization is so easy, they need some way to limit the number of people passing.

volfkhat

Gpdriver17 wrote: »

But the exam, as far as a test of knowledge goes, was an absolute joke and I don't know how it can be respected at all in the industry.

You nailed.
These MC exams can be easily gamed.
It's the dirty, little secret that the certification-industry never talks about.

Lab/Demonstration-based exams are a much better way of accessing knowledge.

Gpdriver17

volfkhat wrote: »

You nailed.
These MC exams can be easily gamed.
It's the dirty, little secret that the certification-industry never talks about.

Lab/Demonstration-based exams are a much better way of accessing knowledge.

What would be some lab based exams I could focus on next?

koz24

Gpdriver17 wrote: »

What would be some lab based exams I could focus on next?

First of all congrats. CCNP TSHOOT is a lab based exam so if you go for the CCNP you will come across it.

They can't test you on everything-- the exam is just a small sample of the Blueprint. Just be ready to defend your cert in an interview because they might test you on everything!

Gpdriver17

koz24 wrote: »

First of all congrats. CCNP TSHOOT is a lab based exam so if you go for the CCNP you will come across it.

They can't test you on everything-- the exam is just a small sample of the Blueprint. Just be ready to defend your cert in an interview because they might test you on everything!

Thanks! I guess what I learned from this is that the actual certs themselves are pretty worthless, but you still get out what you put in. I think the Cisco framework is great. I learned a lot from these studies. There is a HUGE difference between knowing the material they recommend and passing the exam though. At least at this point.

theodoxa

Gpdriver17 wrote: »

Are their any that aren't multiple choice, aside from the CCIE. I don't regret studying for it, I learned a ton following the curriculum. But the exam, as far as a test of knowledge goes, was an absolute joke and I don't know how it can be respected at all in the industry.

Unless something has changed, ICND1, ICND2, ROUTE, and SWITCH all contain Simulations to some degree. ICND1 and ICND2 were more Simlets (Multiple Choice answered using information acquired via the CLI), while ROUTE and SWITCH want you to actually configure things (Sims). TSHOOT is almost entirely Simlets (save for a handful of MC questions at the beginning).

I also felt I knew the answer to every question on ICND2, but as I scored 916 rather than 1000, apparently I didn't. Maybe I misread some questions going too quickly as I finished with a lot of time still on the clock. Unlike the OP (I took the older 640-816 exam), I felt I was tested on every major area, even if some areas were tested more heavily than others.

The one test that I really hated (for doing what happened to the OP) was an MCSE (Microsoft) exam. I spent a ton of time studying topics based on my weak areas on the MeasureUp exams, only to find the topics I had spent so much time studying weren't covered or if they were, I only received 1 or 2 questions. I would say 80% of that exam was on 2 topics and were tested way deeper than the practice exams I had used. The even crazier part was another person who took the same exam said they were tested heavily on a topic I didn't receive a single question on and that the MeasureUp exams (and the official Microsoft books) barely touched on. That is what happens I guess when you have a large pool of questions and no safeguards to ensure the questions are spread evenly among the syllabus topics.

FWIW, ROUTE and SWITCH (CCNP) are much more difficult, especially IMHO ROUTE.

pinkiaiii

then I don't know how the CCNA can mean anything to employers.

First off all i think well done,seems you have nailed it quite well,and got to point to know how to do different protocols ipv6.

The CCENT isnt meant to be of any value really,many cover quite a bit in compTIA networking on most subjects.Since ccent is just more of introduction for people that start networking.
Even CCNA is overrated in many peoples minds-as getting it means really nothing,since its first cert to show you did your course and have foundation knowledge for doing mid size basic networking.

Since depending on country your based its tough market,and ccna alone is usually-no more then entry to get into IT sector,since im based in EU any networking jobs require at least 3 years experience,and companies like amazon also wants you to have experience in say linux or system administration or server management.
Thus-expectation that having ccna someone will let you straight into company to work or real gear is slim,i imagine most jobs go as level 1-2 tech support,and thats usually working in teams.Thus that said id depends on country who hires you,since once getting ccna you can be freelance worker thus setting up networks on private contracts,otherwise its usually recruiters that seek out people to add to existing companies,and while having ccna you might end up connecting routers or just doing simple setups.

All said if your good at your skills you should have no troubles crushing ccna and moving step up to ccnp where you would have more leverage and general job would be more hands on,as well as the pay,and other perks-but need to remember that you will be tested way harder for such positions and would have to prove a lot more then just basic knowledge you gained from ccna.

DAVIS NGUYEN

Congrats!

fuz1on

Congrats for passing! Sometimes your exam question bank contains more difficult simulation questions and - maybe - sometimes you get tons (and tons) of MC which can be more challenging to people since they need to assimilate and synthesize the answer alluded. It's all in the luck of the draw...

greg9891

congrats!!!

Brain-D

Congrats!!!

JamesKurtovich

I didn't get any OSPF, IPv6, or NAT either.

It sounds like you were expecting something more challenging than a Cisco entry-level test.

NetworkNewb

Gpdriver17 wrote: »

the reason I'm posting this is because I'm questioning my continuation with Cisco. Does anyone else feel this way about the exam or know if it gets better from here? If the ICND2 doesn't test a LOT more actual knowledge then I don't know how the CCNA can mean anything to employers. I had been planning on going straight to my CCNP studies, but not if all their exams are this terrible.

You just took the most entry level exam Cisco has and complaining about the level of knowledge required? Really? You just passed half of a cert that is required for most entry level Networking positions. (CCNA)

And as far as "I think one can really know their stuff going into this exam and fail" I would doubt that, there is a lot of basic networking questions on this exam.

Gratz on the pass, I find this post a little ridiculous though.

Params7

Yeah the certification by itself holds no credence, specially now that its easy to dupe it. Very easy to find leaked exams online and just mug up the answers. Which is why employers in interviews need to be careful and test the candidate even if it says CCNA on the resume. Cisco really needs a total exam overhaul for these certifications.

Cisco probably gets the credibility because its really the only organized testing method for network engineers and they started with the CCIE which set the industry standard for networking education.

DPG

pinkiaiii wrote: »

then I don't know how the CCNA can mean anything to employers.

The fact that someone is able to get the certification regardless of method has some merit. I have interviewed many candidates and almost all of them say they want to get the CCNA or have studied for it in the past. When I ask why they haven't done it yet I get the same old excuses: it costs too much, I don't have time for it, it is too hard, my dog ate my Cisco lab, etc.

hurricane1091

My boss got a 6/10 on a CCNA practice exam the other day, and he's the smartest guy I know. He has a CCNP from way back and he designed the entire network here that is completely 100% redundant and as good as it gets. He told me "I build stuff for the real world, forget this test" and it's true. You need to know stuff for tests that just do not really apply to the real world, but oh well. There's more knowledge in the studying for the exam, the reward is just having the letters for the resume to get you in the door so you can express what you know.

stunnedsoup

I can agree with DPG his his post regarding merit.

I have a coworker who is in IT and is always asked why he has not gotten a certification yet. His excuses were pretty much the same..."No time" or "Yea right...not for $150 or $300" or "I already know the answers and can pass if I wanted to." The last one kind of irritates me because if that's the case, why not go and get it? He often complains that he wants a raise/better pay. Last spring he sat for the A+ after barely studying for a month and he got stuffed...ended up blaming everything for not passing. Hasn't sat for it since.

I am just starting out with the who certification thing. My goal is to not only get certified, but to actually learn the material and practice it as often as possible even when I am not using it on the job.

PS: Congrats OP!

theodoxa

stunnedsoup wrote: »

...His excuses were pretty much the same..."No time" or "Yea right...not for $150 or $300" or "I already know the answers and can pass if I wanted to." The last one kind of irritates me because if that's the case, why not go and get it? He often complains that he wants a raise/better pay...

At one place I worked, there was a coworker who had been there for a long time. He said there were some folks who had been there for years and never bothered to get certs and would complain when others got promoted ahead of them. This was despite the company paying for training materials and the exam cost. I could understand not wanting to spend money on something you deem unnecessary (apparently, they haven't connected the dots as to why they aren't getting promoted), but when it is free...what possible excuse is there for not learning something new.

mkazi

It took me 2 attempts to pass CCNA 200-120 and the first time i was astonished at how stupid the questions were. Extremely basic questions which i hadn't anticipated. Anyway, the second time around i made sure i polished up all the basic (easy/simple) stuff as well as the rest and passed.

Congrats though!