When you wake up on exam day, one of two things is going to
happen. Well, yes, you’re going to pass or fail. But what I’m
thinking of comes before that, and has a lot to do with how you
perform on exam day.
You’re either going to have a tremendous feeling of anticipation
or the dreaded feeling of being nervous about it.
Anticipation is a great thing to feel on exam day. You’re
driving to the exam center, excited about the exam. You’re much
like a football player, slapping another player on the helmet or
the shoulder pads before the game starts. (Warning: Don’t try
this on the exam proctor.) You know there’s a challenge ahead,
but you’re looking forward to it. In your mind, you’re already
victorious you’re at the testing center only to make it official.
Conversely, there’s nothing worse than being nervous or feeling
unprepared before the exam. I’ve driven up to an exam center and
seen exam candidates doing some last-minute cramming in their
car. Sadly for them, if there’s something you were unprepared
for at 8 AM on exam day, you’re still going to be unprepared
when you go into the test center, no matter what you read in the
car at the last minute. You don’t see football players studying
their playbook on the sideline before the game starts.
It’s all about preparation. I regularly tell my students and
customers that you don’t pass a Cisco exam (or any other vendor
exam) the day you take it. You pass when you turn the TV off for
weeks before the exam to study you pass when you spend time and
money to attend a class or buy a book or training video you pass
when you give up a weekend to get some hands-on experience.
That’s when you pass. The exam score you get is simply feedback
on your exam preparation.
There’s a great saying “Prior Preparation Prevents Poor
Performance”. That describes to a “T” what your strategy to pass
the exam must include. Put the time in well before exam day and
you’ll reap the rewards on the big day. If you’re just planting
the seeds of knowledge in your car the morning of the exam,
don’t expect much of a harvest.
About the author:
Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage
(http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials!
For my FREE “How To Pass The CCNA” or “CCNP” ebook, write to
chris@thebryantadvantage.com !