Off the Rails: CCNA Security Review

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CCNA Security: Off The Rails

I passed my CCNA Security on August 19, 2019. Before I passed, I failed it. Before I failed it, I was one month late taking it.

My journey started in late June. I planned to take the exam July 20. I thought a month would be sufficient since thats what it took for the CCNA R&S. Well.. work got out of control where I wasn't working 40 hours anymore. I had some Shift 1 and Shift 2 days. I study in the evenings after work so I couldn't do this anymore. Not having my evenings slowed me down. When I did have my evenings I was stressed and tired. I created a plan to fix this. My plan was to RUN to wake myself up so I could study for my CCNA Security. I would run for 20 minutes and jump on a rock 20 times. I did pushups when I got tired. I literally ran, jump, and did pushups.. to wake myself up... to study for my CCNA Security. Energy became a precious commodity.

Attempt 1: Failure

I assumed the CCNA Security exam would be in the same ballpark as R&S. I felt 80% ready and thought 'well I can just use common sense to get to the other 20%'. When I got to the questions it became apparent 'common sense' was not going to save me. Some of the questions were not something you can intuitively answer. The Exam Topic PDF left 30% of the exam out. I was totally blindsided. I scored a 846/860, something I was very surprised about. I had to guess on at least 10 questions. When I got to my car I wrote down all the questions I could remember. The ones that I didn't know or confused me. I filled up a page and a half. My memory is pretty poor and I didn't have this idea when I took the exam. I'm glad I thought to do this! It helped me prepare for my second attempt.

Attempt 2: Success

I waited two weeks to take the exam again. Today was the perfect day to take it! My next project wasn't starting until 3pm. I had 0 meetings and no one needed me. I couldn't have picked a better day!

I breezed through the exam. Studying the blindside material and sections I did poorly in helped.

Money Spent

Exam Attempt 1 ($300)
Exam Attempt 2 ($300)
CBT Nuggets 1 Month ($60)
Boson Practice Exam ($90)
Total: $750.

I planned to use free resources only like my R&S. However with my limited time I just bought CBT Nuggets for a month. CBT Nuggets is helpful for the VPN section. Boson and CBT won't get ya over the fence the first time. I think you might have to fail this first to get an understanding of what your missing.

Tips

  1. I'm a keyboard/lab-heavy person. The CCNA Security leans more booksmart. The R&S was a "do-it yourself" exam. If your a lab-heavy person you will get a surprise from CCNA Security.
  2. You might need to fail it first to figure out what this is about. This is fine. Just think your getting closer to passing it. THERE are things on this exam that are not advertised as 'You should study this'.
  3. Don't wait forever. Just take it.

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