Work Smart — Not Hard: Achieving Your IT Certification Goals

It has been said — the price of mastery is thorough preparation.

I believe that wholeheartedly. How we prepare, though, can determine just how high that price may be. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to be able to achieve some goal or objective in half the time, at half the cost?

Granted, there are those with an endless bankroll, but for the rest of us, we usually have to make lemonade out of the lemons in our bank account. If you’re like me, you hate to spend money without seeing some kind of benefit.

As we look at the approach I’ve used to achieve my own certifications, you’ll find that I have a philosophy of efficiency: Work Smart, Not Hard.

Where Do I Want To Go? How Do I Get There?

When we last got together for a discussion of How to choose the IT certification that’s right for you, I proposed that we would be exploring the two questions:

• Where do I want to go?
• How do I get there?

We spent some time discussing the idea that we need to know ourselves — our strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, etc. — in order to make the best decision on what certification path to follow; thus, we explored the first question: Where do I want to go?

As we contemplate the second, you’ll see that I’m pretty narrow in my vision. Hence, the focus of this article is going to be on how to achieve your certification goals with the greatest ROI (Return on Investment).

Once again, though, we have to break this down into manageable compartments. For our current purposes, let’s consider these three categories:

1. Experienced, with no training
2. Educated, with no experience
3. No Experience, with no training

The first two can be approached much differently than the third, and if you make the right choice in your resources, you can actually pass any respective exam with total confidence in 3-4 weeks.

You may ask yourself, "If I’ve got experience or education, why will it still take 3 to 4 weeks?" My answer to that is simple and direct. You’re not testing your knowledge of the "real world," per se. You’re preparing for an exam developed by exam writers, working for their respective organizations (such as CompTIA, Microsoft, Cisco, etc.), with specific and narrow guidelines as spelled out in the exam objectives.

This is true for all three categories above — whether you’re lacking experience, training or both — but the third will need to apply themselves more extensively, and will take a bit more time than 3-4 weeks.

IT Certification — Return on Investment

I mentioned ROI earlier. Remember this term, because as you get further into the field, you’ll find that ROI drives almost every budgetary decision your company or department will face.

By its very nature, IT isn’t necessarily a profit-margin department. Unless you work for a Service company, IT is usually a cost center, or expense, to their company, so the ROI in that respect is in the efficiency that is garnered company-wide by the work we do.

As it relates to certifications, ROI is achieved after the fact … by the jobs we get. We must first spend money, and expend time and energy, in order to gain that return on our investment later down the road.

Test Preparation Software for IT Professionals

For those of you that have experience or training, but not both, the most efficient method toward getting your certification is through the use of Test Prep resources. Suffice it to say that you can bypass the need for in-depth materials, and jump right into practicing for the exams.

This is exactly what I did. I had a fair amount of experience, but no training at all. I needed only to be able to convert that experience into the correct answers on the exams. So, I scoured the internet, and eventually decided upon three different vendors whose products were thorough, and more than adequate to prepare me for my exams.

Granted, there’s a plethora of options, but most of them are just not adequate. If it’s "free," then I don’t recommend it. Remember the adage, "You get what you pay for." Trust me on this, I’ve learned the hard way.

Also, I highly recommend that you get two different vendor’s product. I’ve found that each company has a particular methodology in their test prep software. Using two vendors allowed me to cover a wider array of questions and knowledge.

I know this is my own opinion, and my own approach … but it has served me well. I’ve never failed to pass an exam on the first take.

Also, there is one thing that is absolutely essential as you choose your test prep software. The program must — I repeat, must — give thorough explanations of both the correct answers and the incorrect answers. This will serve as another source of training and knowledge.

The few products that I’ve come to rely on not only give those explanations, but often link directly to their own in-depth training materials. To be honest, I continue to go back to this software to refresh my knowledge and understanding.

Learning with Training Videos (CBTs)

For the person in the third category above — with minimal experience and training — it is important to precede this "Self Test" phase with proper training, in order to lay the foundation for the test preparation.

I would like to say something here that I feel very strongly about. Take your time. Research the companies and the products.

The number one rule in choosing decent training resources should be focused thoroughness. Remember, we’re training to take exams. We want to make the most of the money we spend, and be able to take the exams as soon as possible.

Make sure that the products cover all the respective exam objectives. They should include intuitive teaching, with adequate "hands on" exercises that allow you to practice what they are teaching.

It’s unfortunate that so many vendors don’t include free demos of their products. The most reputable and effective vendors will always include links to free streaming demos on their web site, or allow you to download modules to view on your own.

I’ve purchased some that turned out to be woefully incomplete, and once again have learned the hard way. If the products are worth their price, then the vendors will not hesitate to let you see what you are getting.

Bringing It All Together

This subject is one that can quickly become convoluted and confusing. Just remember that any journey always begins with the first step.

In our case, that first step is taking the time to research the companies that sell certification preparation products. Don’t rush into a decision. When you think you have chosen a vendor, take another week to continue looking.

Your success depends less on outside help than on your own self-reliance. Set a specific date and goal; don’t waste your time.

I found that if I schedule the exam, I’m absolutely going to prepare for it. Once you have chosen a resource to help you prepare for the test, then just go for it.

Good luck, and live your dream!

One Response to “Work Smart — Not Hard: Achieving Your IT Certification Goals”

• Devender kumar Says:

  September 4th, 2008 at 2:50 am

  HI!
  I’m confused to start with the certification ?
  isn’t better to go for n+ or mcse2003.
  how to do so? where to get all those practice questions?what are the details of exam ? like how many questions i have to face? duration and etc…….
  I’m very tensed and very aggressive how to over come my tension.
  please help me ? I want to get certified till this month ending.

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