How I Passed 11 Certifications In 18 Months (Part I)

My certification path started back in 2017, I had moved from the United States back to Nigeria.

I tried to get into Medical School in the United States but was unsuccessful after taking my MCAT (Medical College Admission Test).

I remember getting back into the airport in Nigeria, with thoughts of being a failure and where would my career go from there.

I tried several job opportunities, which include banks, marketing agencies e.t.c, after several interview failures. I suddenly began to gradually give up on myself and locked myself away playing video games.

One night, I remembered during my bachelor’s degree when they brought out ex alumni’s at an event, and congratulated them on passing their CCIE’s

I didn’t know what it meant then, but I thought it was cool because apparently, it was a very tough exam to write and pass, as they were very few in the whole of the country.

I opened my laptop and researched on the certification and jobs associated with it, I was quite shocked at the average salary they earned.

I later called my Dad and told him about the change in career path and how I was going to go about it. I asked for their help in funding every certification and training I was going to take.

The next morning I set off to a Cisco training center, I immediately paid for the certification training and booked the exam for April, as I was desperate. I tried every material and video course available, I religiously took time to study, at a time I was clocking 12 hours a day on reading both books and videos on CCNA.

It took me three months to Pass my CCNA. I remember seeing my Printout and jumping and screaming, the proctor probably thought I had lost my marbles (Who cares ?? )

I desperately needed a win at that moment, and that was the spark.

As most people do, I immediately started applying for positions as a Network Engineer (“Plays Hero Theme Song”) well to my surprise I wasn’t getting any feedback from recruiters and the few ones that called me, said I lack enough work experience.

Well particularly in my home country Nigeria, you perhaps need more than a CCNA Routing & Switching to get any job, The market is saturated with certifications and experienced hands already.

The CCNA just introduces you to the basic concepts of networking, and how computers talk to each other.

So I decided to pursue my CCNP in Routing & Switching. In my head why not keep the momentum going?

The CCNP contains advanced internetworking concepts and goes into deeper details of the core concepts of Routing and Switching.

It involves three exams to obtain the certification (SWITCH, ROUTE, TSHOOT)

You’re generally advised to start with the SWITCH, but in my experience, the ROUTE was easier

Well, I got my first punch in the face here, as I failed the very first CCNP Exam SWITCH (Very Annoying Exam :)

I remember crying back to the BRT bus in Lagos (Why does it always rain during these times?)

It was at this time, I came across Jorge Armando Navarro (Network Engineer Academy) who had a video of him telling a story of him failing CCNA a couple of times, and how he bounced back (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiMBqotPW8w)

He also has a video on how to prepare for any certification exam. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV91oKG4-LY)

I had finally came across a certification preparation blueprint that worked for me

I also created my home lab with the help of this video by Jeremy Cioara (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAS5_Wzolfs)

I prepared properly this time around and cleared my switch exam, and then ROUTE and TSHOOT a few months later and finally became CCNP Routing & Switching.

You must dedicate at least 35 hours per week, for this to work

(P:S Not CCIE, ’That’s a different beast’)

WEEK 1: Complete a Video Course From Any Top Vendor (INE, CBTNuggets)

WEEK 2: Complete Another Video Course From Another Vendor (Kevin Wallace, ITProTV, AcloudGuru)

WEEK 3: Read A Relevant Textbook (Not the entire thing, Research only things you’re not clear about)

WEEK 4: Do a Lot of Labs (EVENG, GNS3, VIRL, Packet Tracer)

WEEK 5: Read Notes and Start Solving Past Questions

WEEK 6: Solve More Past Questions

I would be writing subsequent blog posts, on why I decided to get more certifications and what certification path I took.

Cheers :)

Immanuel