Peter Wilkinson - CCNA

Here are some great tips from somebody who put the work in and passed his CCNA exam.

Passed the CCNA

What a challenge. 3 months of 2 hours plus a day study, a tough exam which tested more then just my technical ability, and a great score 972.

Being a very nervous person I had Gary the hyptomists words going through my head to calm me down, and Pauls words "you have done the work required, you deserve to pass".

I settled myself down and started the exam. The rest is a blur but I finish with time to spare, even though there were times I thought I wasn't.

I followed the 60 day Challenge plan, although I had already done study off and on for a few months, but no labs. I didn't follow Pauls advice and book my exam Day 1, and as Christchurch has only one Testing Station, which closes for most of January, my 60 days was extended by a few weeks. Those weeks I spent doing one of the 5, 100 question exams each day, then really studying the areas of questions which I was unsure or wrong. I found them really hard, especially exam 3.

My biggest mistakes - Not becoming a Platium Member - coaching is important to hold yourself together during this tough challenge, and not booking my exam day 1.

Best tips - follow Paul and Ftafa's advice, they rock! Use debugs and show commands to understand the theory, and really understand subnetting, you are under real pressure and lots of information, you need it to be second nature.

Thanks so much to Paul, what a great site this is, and what great service Paul and Ftafa give. Thanks to the whole How to Network community and particular Kevin from the CCNA forum, good luck for your upcomming exam.

What next, I will be staying a member of this site, and letting everyone I work with know how its helped me. I need to reassess my goals, my current job expires in two months, after seven years. Plus a need to get my Vegetable Patch under control.

Probably have a good look at both the CCNA Security & Voice and once a can plan 60 days focus, go for one.

Getting the CCNA means that I can sell myself as more then just a Communication Technican, I can really call myself a Network Engineer.

Thanks Guys

Peter

B"H

Peter,

Congrats on your pass, and good luck on your CCNA security, and voice.

You said you studied up on certain sections...was HTN what you used for all your exam prep needs?

Thanks,

Dovid

Hi Dovid;

Yes, when I found areas where I getting stuck I would look at the HowtoNetwork CCNA, then the CCNP Material (especially more detail around routing metrics), then Google it with the leading work Cisco, and use the HTN Forums.

When I tried the Cisco Learning Network site, I usually got lost and wasted time finding what I was after.

Peter

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