I was going to start this video off by saying, I hate to sound like I'm bragging, but I'm not going
to actually say that because you know me.
I don't brag.
That's not what I would ever do.
So I'm not bragging.
I just wanted to make it clear that I have passed more I.T. certification exams than probably anyone
you know.
The hardest I ever passed was the Cisco certified Internet work expert routing and switching certification.
That was a three hour written and then an eight hour practical.
Another hard test I passed was my black belt.
Another exam that I passed was the private pilot, both the practical and the written.
So suffice it to say, I am addicted and always have been to studying for and then taking in passing
exams.
I mean, I guess that's why I knew I would be in education.
So let me give you some of my tried and true study tips for no matter what professional certification
you're ramping up for.
So I have organized these general study tips into 12 steps.
Step number one, calm down now.
You'll need to come back to this step a whole bunch of times during the process, the CCI preparation.
I just can't even tell you what a grueling, incredibly challenging endeavor that once I did it many,
many years ago, thank goodness, because now, like when I'm prepping for for any exam, any certification
exam at all, doesn't matter what.
It seems like such a joke compared to what I went through for that CCE constantly during the process
I had to calm myself down because I was getting extreme anxiety.
I mean, just absolute anxiety.
And the anxiety is not going to do anything but get in the way.
That's all it's going to do.
It reminds me of my pilot training.
I had an emergency in the aircraft, a complete engine failure.
I was frightened flying.
A dear friend of mine, Brian Alderman, you may have been in his training.
If you've done anything with SQL Server or SharePoint in your life or Microsoft Windows in general.
And anyways, Brian and I had this complete engine failure and he remained very calm.
It was all easier for him.
He had a few drinks in him.
I had a drink immediately, as soon as I could after that incident, by the way.
But anyways, we got on the ground safe and I didn't panic.
He didn't panic.
And that went a long way to a safe emergency landing.
You have to know exactly what material is going to be covered and all of the certification exams that
I've ever taken.
Enumerate for you, what a great word they enumerate for you the topics that you're going to need.
So you need to live and breathe by that topic list, take that topic list and make a study plan.
There's all kinds of freeware software tools for you to take advantage of that will make the study plan
and then give you the reminders you need and everything.
You need to figure out the study methods that are going to work best for you.
I used to be a mix it up kind of person where I would like to watch some videos that I like to read.
Then I like to Hands-On, then go back to the videos, then read than Hands On.
Nowadays, in my old age, all I like to do is read.
I'm a reader.
That's it.
Read and hammer away on the hands on labs.
Read lab, read lab.
Read lab.
Not a big video guy.
Maybe because I spend so much time making videos, that's probably it.
But anyways, you get the idea.
Find out your nice mix of study methodologies and go for those.
Take notes, ask questions.
So you're going to be note taking.
You're going to be using the Q&A forum to ask your questions.
I'm going to be leading you to resources, but always be out on the lookout for other resources as well.
Art goes back to asking questions.
Ask for help in the Q&A form.
Memorize as much as possible.
I took great pains to create flashcards for you, create more and use those to get as much memorized
as possible.
There is going to be questions in every IT certification exam you ever take that require memorization?
There's going to be some that require logic.
There's going to be some that you can figure out the correct answer through process of elimination.
But memorize as much as possible.
Reward yourself throughout the journey.
Organize yourself for the test.
So if you are taking a certification exam from your home office, which is now allowed thanks to the
COVID pandemic, some good came out of the COVID pandemic amazingly.
But yeah, testing at home.
Great, but you have a whole other set of things to worry about there, and many of them you wouldn't
have thought of because you're used to going off to the testing center.
So get yourself organized for that test.
Eat well, sleep well, and then show up.
Ready to rock.
Those are some general study tips going to help you no matter what profession like t shirt you're going
after.
Give them a try.