Should I Self-Study for the CCNA? (Or any other IT Certification)

About this video

Chuck argues you should self-study for the CCNA or any IT certification rather than rely on a classroom or boot camp. He lays out three training types — self-study, prolonged classroom/college programs, and short boot camps — and three factors to weigh: time, money, and what he calls the X factor. The X factor is his central case: IT work itself is constant self-study, because you will be handed new projects like deploying NetScalers, F5, or a Nexus switch and be expected to learn them on the job, sometimes with no formal training. Self-study therefore teaches discipline, grit, and organization while teaching the technology, and forces active learning — checking exam topics, Googling, and digging in forums — instead of passively absorbing lectures. He says self-study is also the cheapest option, notes that WGU gave him CBT Nuggets with Keith Barker for Security+ as self-paced material, and admits the downside from his own experience: he has worked on his CCNP for almost three years, with ROUTE and SWITCH done but TSHOOT unfinished, because self-study can be postponed indefinitely.

Key takeaways

• Choose between self-study, classroom, and boot camp based on time available, money, and how well you can learn independently
• Self-study builds the discipline and self-teaching skill that IT jobs require daily, since new technologies must be learned on the job
• Active self-study — using exam topics, searching, and forums beyond one video course — leads to deeper learning than passive classroom listening
• Self-study is presented as the cheapest option; classroom and boot camp costs vary and are worth it mainly if an employer pays
• The main risk is procrastination: Chuck cites almost three years on his CCNP, with TSHOOT still unfinished, as the dark side of no external deadline

Episode details: published October 22, 2017 · 14:41 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are NetworkChuck’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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