Getting Started
From deciding that I want to start a new certification to sitting for the exam, here is how I systemically approach each challenge:
Finding the Learning Material
Let’s assume that we’ve selected a certification that we want. Now we need to find the best materials for preparation. Do we prefer reading from a book or watching videos? Does the vendor offer their own official course guide, or do we need to check out what’s on the market? These are important considerations. My advice is that if the vendor offers a comprehensive course guide, that is almost always the best option. Many vendors offer their own training portal. When they do, they make this step easy on us.
Taking Notes
I use Google Docs for all of my note-taking. I can pull up my notes on my phone, I can type faster than I can write, and I can copy/paste helpful diagrams and illustrations into my notes. While I love books, I much prefer to buy ebooks for certification course guides. It’s very helpful being able to display both Google Docs and an ebook on the same monitor. Another added bonus is that we can easily refer to our notes with a quick search. Just recently, I was using ctrl+f to go through some notes I took almost a year ago.
Be Meticulous
If we are using the official course guide, then there is probably a reason they’ve included all those chapters. Keep taking notes until the entire certification course has been completed. Once we are completely finished going through every chapter, video, and lab, we enter a new phase in our journey. Now it’s all about testing what we’ve learned.
Practice, Practice, Practice
If we’re lucky, we’ll have at least a few practice exams that we can take. I would recommend checking out if there are some third-party ones available, too. When I went through studying for the Cisco DevNet Associate exam, I bought an additional practice exam from MeasureUp. The questions were very different from the Pearson practice exams. The questions on the actual exam were much more similar to the MeasureUp one. In short, practice as much as possible.
Don’t be like the original AI! Practice is extremely important. Not just for passing the exam, but for truly learning the concepts.
Also, if you bomb your practice exams, don’t worry! I often fail them the first time. It’s fine. It’s part of the learning journey. What I find really helpful is to make Quizlet flashcard set of the questions that we missed or got lucky guessing on. I do this every single time after I finish a practice exam. There’s also a Quizlet mobile app, so we can easily study on the go.
If we just cannot seem to pass these practice exams with consistency, I would recommend going back through your notes and then making slide decks for each section. Google Slides is great for this. There was so much material for the Cisco DevNet Associate exam. I took all these notes, but it was just so much to go back and read. I found that converting my notes into slide decks really helped. I went through all of my notes a second time, and then had to find a way to summarize a whole lot of words into just mere bullet points. That helped me understand the concepts and rethink what I was actually taking notes on in the first place.
Hands-on experience is important. Make sure to not only review notes and take practice exams, but also apply what you’ve learned in a lab environment or in the cloud. This is crucial! Many certification exams are expecting us to have hands-on experience.
Test Time
Once we finish taking practice exams and reviewing notes, we should be ready to schedule the exam. Now we usually have two options here: do we want to take it in person or take it online? This is just me, but I hate taking tests online. There’s a Pearson Vue testing center at a community college near where I currently live. I go there every time I get the chance. If you are like me and want to use this option, just make sure you have the right address and show up at least 15 minutes before your exam begins. Also, make sure you have all the necessary forms of ID. Usually this requires a driver’s license as well as a passport or birth certificate.
For some tech vendors, an online proctor is the only option. If you take it online, make sure you run through the system test really well. In the past, I had issues where my microphone was too quiet and the proctor cancelled my appointment because they couldn’t hear me very well. Really, really frustrating. They also have strict rules about what can be in the room and on your desk. Do not expect this to be the most simple option just because you do not need to leave your house.
The Day Of
At this point, you’ve probably spent weeks or even months preparing to sit for the exam. Try not to stress too much. Test anxiety is a thing. At the end of the day, be confident that you gave yourself every opportunity to succeed. Failing is not the end of the world. I failed the first certification exam I ever sat for. I just barely failed my first shot at the Routing and Switching CCNA back in 2019. I took it a couple weeks later and passed.
What next?
If you’re like me, there is never just one or two certifications on our list. I have a sequentially ordered list for what is next for me. This may be overkill for you, but I believe it to be imperative for long-term planning. Microsoft To Do is great for this. You can even mark items as complete so your progress can be visualized. Here’s an example:
Recertification
At a certain point, most certifications will expire. This is the worst part about certification. It makes sense. Content changes fast, but it’s still frustrating. This part is totally up to you. Do you want to keep them active, or let them expire?
I like to track the status of each one. I use Google Sheets to document the date, renewal methods, and my current status with each one.
Even if a certification expires, I would keep it on a resume. Maybe add a note to differentiate which ones are active or not. Employers likely won’t care. Some certifications must stay active for compliance reasons, but this is mostly for cybersecurity.
Just because a certification is no longer active, it doesn’t mean that we forgot everything we learned.
Motivation
I want to end this section with “that one time a motivational post on LinkedIn actually motivated me”.
Being consistent for a year is better than being highly productive for a month. Burnout is real, so know when to take a break. And as always, reach out if you need help.
It’s not easy, but if it were, wouldn’t everybody be doing it? Good luck.
