Studying For Cisco Certs

[CiscoNutt]

I was curious as to everyone elses study techniques when studying for your certs.  More accurately, I have just passed my CCNA Security but am having trouble retaining the information. I am also studying for CCNP Security at the moment and still more of the same issue.

so I suppose my question should be what are your techniques for remembering the information and becoming a Cisco Guru

[varrao]

Hi Marius,

I would say no bookish knowledge can match up with hands on experience on devices, that helps you retain the info forever. If you work in a job where you need to implement the knowledge that you gain, nothing can be better than that. Otherwise its just like allowing the dust to settle down on the knowledge that you have gained

If you have interest, go for a networking job, where you can use the knowledge that you have gained on a daily basis. I do the same Or get some devices from any cheap price or from e-bay, practice on it and you would be able to retain it for longer.

Thanks,

Varun

[Jon Marshall]

Marius

Just to add to Varun's post. I agree that getting a job where you use the knowledge you have learned is the best way to go.

However if you are struggling with that another excellent way to retain your knowledge is to particpate in these forums and answer questions. Not only does it drive home the information you have learnt it can also challenge what you think you know and make you do even more study.

I know from my own experience that i often find i have to revisit certain things because i perhaps didn't understand them as well as i thought i did

Jon

[CiscoNutt]

Thanks for the replies! One last thing. When studying the theory what best helps you remember other than working with the technology of course?  things like using flash cards, writing things down....etc.

[johnlloyd_13]

Hi,

Based from personal experience, I've used notepad to put and collect interesting stuff like URLs or config. That way I just do a search or Ctrl+F on the topic I want to re-visit.

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

[Howard Keeter]

Depends on the type of learner you are.  There are basically 4 main types of learning; visual, audio, hands on, and reading.  These are not the lastest terms used for the areas, as I don't remember them right now and they change every so often.  Anyway, some people learn best from graphics and video (visual- seeing connections), some from hearing it (audio - tapes, lectures, listening to vidoes), some from using there hands to do it ( hands on - labs, writting the info down, active illustrations), and some from reading the information.  Most people use a combination of prefered learning methods.  It is always a good idea to know which are best for you, but work on the other areas as practice improves any style.  I am good at reading material and retaining it, but use the visual and audio as well.  Every one does better with hands on as this gives better contect to remember the material.  Try lab exercises, and just writting the material down from memory.  Also, one of the best ways to master a subject is to teach it to someone else.  Thats why answering questions on boards helps alot.

Good luck on your studys

[Kenneth Oriel]

Perhaps the best question to ask is "What is the goal of my studying, is it solely to pass an exam, or is it to learn the subject?"  If you are only trying to pass the exam, you will not retain the info as well, whereas if you are trying to learn the suject matter you will be using all the study techniques and it will be easier to retain it all.

I've done it both ways, so I speak from experience.