u/Vegetable_Ad_529

Hi Guys,

anyone from western world ideally.

what struggle do you have after getting CCNP specially if you are in the UK, what do employers beside experience do they expect if you have CCNP?

what challenges do you face finding a job with CCNA and CCNP?

I got one year experience as a IT SUPPORT ENGINEER and by the time i finish CCNP next year this time, i will have almost two years of experience some of my role does involve networking all the basic stuff like DHCP and DNS from windows server and some hand on stuff..

Hi Guys i am study the OSPF material from JITL Volume one book but OSPF is starting become a bit of b**** as it is difficult was wondering how do u guys over the issue with the difficulty and if u have any recommendation for the topics.

Hi guys,

I have been studying for the CCNA since the beginning of March (5th), and I've been using Jeremy's IT Lab material — some of his videos, but mostly his Volume 1 book so far. I haven't gotten to his Volume 2 material yet.

I read Volume 1 from cover to cover and understood the material at the time of reading with no issues. However, I did not do much practical Packet Tracer lab work or use Anki flashcards. Regarding labs, I only completed them up to EtherChannels — nothing beyond that: no dynamic routing, OSPF, IPv6, Layer 4, or ACLs.

Now that I've completed the theory side, I'm thinking of going back to do the practical work, but I feel like I don't remember much of the material. I can look at a summary of a topic — STP, VLANs, subnetting, etc. — and I know what it's talking about, but if you asked me to go into detail, I wouldn't be able to. Most of the material past EtherChannels from the JITL Volume 1 book has completely left my brain at this point.

This feels slow compared to what I read about other people achieving in the same timeframe. I know that going back over all that theory again would take several weeks, which doesn't feel like an efficient path — but at the same time, I do need to revisit that material somehow.

So my real question is this: should I reread the theory for the remaining chapters I haven't lab'd through, and do the labs immediately after the theory on a per-chapter basis? Or should I skip the theory re-read, power through the labs, and use AI tools to fill in the gaps as they come up?

I want to achieve two things here: my company has great opportunities for me to take on other learning after the CCNA is complete, which I want to pursue — but I also want the CCNA done as quickly as possible with maximum understanding, and I want the best ROI on my time.

For anyone thinking I'll burn out — I won't. I can power through this kind of material for years, so that's not a concern.

A few things worth noting:

• My company has offered to pay for Boson study materials (NetSim and ExSim — practice labs and exams) as well as the CCNA exam itself, so money is not much of a consideration (I will get the NetSim and ExSim bundle today).
• I genuinely cannot watch videos. I simply cannot sit through a two-hour video. However, I can sit for six hours and read, which is how I prefer to absorb theory.
• I have a BSc and MSc in Mathematics, strong Python and Linux experience, and have been working as an IT support engineer for about seven months.
• I study roughly three hours per weekday and six hours per weekend day — about 12 hours over the weekend — totalling around 30–40 hours per week.
• This is for the full CCNA 200-301, not a partial or specialised cert.

Hi Guys i am thinking of doing CCNP, but i prefer reading than watching vidoes, any recommendsion for good books that cover CCNP ENCOR AND ENSARI?

note i am only looking for books for my theory not videos.

also out of the option for labs, which is the better option eve-ng, cml or what ever the other option is, I am in the UK so money is that much of an issue but i want the experieince of learning to be easier so happy to spend, so long i get better learning experieince.

many thanks.