Well, my month at Network World’s Cisco Subnet is coming to an end. To wrap up my CCNA “prep central,” I’d like to walk you through how I personally prepare for any Cisco exam. I noticed that Wendell Odom was just talking about this, so I’ll try not to duplicate his work. Here’s the process I go through:

1. Visit Cisco’s Certification website (http://www.cisco.com/certification), print out exam objectives. I’ll use this and a highlighter as a study guide; as I feel like I’ve mastered each objective, I’ll highlight it and move on to the next.

2. Get the Authorized Self-Study Guide material from Cisco Press that matches the exam I’m taking. If you were to go to a Cisco authorized training center for a week long course for any Cisco certification (CCNA/BSCI/BCMSN/etc…), you would receive the Cisco Official Curriculum box kit. This box of books cost the training center (and you) somewhere between $200 - $400. This is the price the Cisco training partners pay to become “Cisco authorized.” The beauty of the books in this box is the exam objectives & questions come straight out of this material. The Authorized Self Study Guide material from Cisco Press is typically a carbon copy of Cisco authorized material training partners use. It’s the best study book you can get. Your best bet is to hit Amazon and search for "Cisco Authorized Self Study Guide" - here's one example of one of these guides .

3. If necessary, work through some labs. Either use your home equipment or someone like NIL . NIL is a little expensive, but they have amazing labs & scenarios that require no setup on your end. If you really want to get right into the hands on config, NIL is the way to go. If anyone has recommendations of a place cheaper than NIL, I’d love to hear about it!

Before I’ve walked through those three steps, I’ll set a date and schedule the exam. My mind is always scattered with different priorities – church, consulting, training, family, whatever. If I don’t set a date for myself and put my credit card on the line, chances are I’ll just keep pushing it off further and further.