I have been studying since June and with the summer “officially” done I can increase my focus. July was a bit distracting with the swimming pool and really hot summer days plus I took a vacation with my wife and kids. Although we needed a nice vacation, that really pushed my routine back a bit, plus I felt like August was a blur and now September. Since June I have done some reading and online LinkedIn Learning but lately I have not been retaining or understanding new content. With school back in session and no upcoming vacations I can get my study habits back into a strong daily routine. All of this to take my exam at the end of October.
Today was perfect because I took some time away from my wife and kids, who went to a kids birthday party, and went to my nearest Barnes & Noble to study. I am probably not the only one going to Barnes & Nobles or the library but to me it is the only way to focus and be productive. If at home I will be distracted with the kids and tempted to turn on my iPad to watch some YouTube. So I happily said no to attending the kids birthday party and said yes to my Network+ studies.
Before I continue I want to quickly address a concern that some of you might have, as I did, about pursuing this certification. If your new to the world of information technology there are tons of certifications out there and you can truly be overwhelmed. There are also plenty of YouTube videos and websites that provide their opinion on CompTIA. Some will truly just bad mouth any CompTIA certification, especially the Network+, but I am not going to do the same. What I will do is provide you with my perspective on why you should. If want to know what is the best certification only you can decide that. The best certification, to me, is the one you have and the next one you get. I almost went with another certification path but I had a good feeling about the Network+ and how it aligns with my level of knowledge and experience. I also felt that this was the best certification for me now and it will not be the last certification I achieve so I would not get too hung up on what is “the best”.
However, if you want to be a network engineer or work with systems like Juniper, Cisco or Aruba Wireless then I would focus on those specific vendor certifications. Just take a moment to think about your passions and where you want to be in the next 3-5 years. Also be realistic on your technical knowledge and what it will take to get to that dream job. So far I am happy I went this route and have a plan in place when I hopefully pass the Network+ exam.
It took some time for me to really adjust my understanding of networking as a whole. I think it took me one month to feel confident with some of the content. What might work for me might not work for you but once I take my exam I will gladly provide you with an update and why.
Overall I do not like large text books and some people might discourage you from buying a book nowadays but I would highly recommend to buy one. The one that I use is Exam Cram by Emmett Delaney. Most books include a good practice exam for your computer, which should be part of your study plan. What attracted me to networking was to understand what takes place behind the walls of a computer. I have always gotten fascinated how computers and systems work and communicate through the network.
Why did I purchase the exam voucher? Well I feel as though its an accountability to help encourage myself to study. If you do not know once you purchase the voucher exam it has an expiration of one year. I hope to have this exam done by the end of this year and pushing myself to take it by the end of October. Thankfully my manager is encouraging me to take some development time during the week and the week or two before the exam to study from home and not in the office. This is a must because even at work I get distracted with emails and people walking into my office for computer help or questions.
With my daily studying of at least one hour each day and two or three hours on Saturday or Sunday I feel as though I have a good chance to pass this exam. Now reading a good book can get boring quick and what I would recommend is a good online learning website. I would not recommend to go to an in person training facility because they can get really costly, at least $1200-$3000, and some of them do not provide you with the exam certification at the end of the week long class. One online website that I would recommend is Udemy and LinkedIn Learning. Once there search for Mike Meyers Network+ certification. I have watched most of my online video lessons from him and decided to purchase his full training videos through Udemy because its not all available through LinkedIn Learning. Why I like his teaching is because he keeps me engaged through most of his videos and explains this with great visuals. Now these videos and book both work for me but it may not be the same for you. In all just do not stick to just one video author and one book.
In regards to practices exams and validation I have been using the Pearson Vue exam included from my Exam Cram study book. That has worked out well and reading some Amazon reviews some have been able to pass the exam with that book alone. I really like it because its not as large as Mike Meyer's book and easy to read but I found the Mike Meyer's study book through my company online and it provides a different approach. With that I also have another site to take practice exams. I am lucky to have my company provide technicians with free online training through Skillsoft. Another great website to use for learning. Their exam questions and system is different which helps present some content that I might have missed through my book or the Pearson Vue practice exam.
In all I am back at it and excited to take this learning to another level. I wanted to express it in this blog to help keep me accountable and motivated. If you are not sure what certification to pursue just do a little bit more research and maybe get a book at the library to see if anything is of interest. Last thing I will encourage you is to create a written plan. Not typed...well maybe, but write it out first and see how it turns out. It helps me and it could help you with achieving your IT career goals. Stay tuned in the coming months to see how things turned out. I cannot wait to tell you how it all went. If you have any questions or comments please leave a comment below or visit my YouTube page.
