So far, all of my preparation for CWNP exams has been self-study. I just passed the CWDP exam and thought this would be a good time for a post about my test preparations.
I begin by purchasing the current exam guide directly from the CWNP website. There are other sources to purchase the CWNP approved study guides, but I’ve noticed that the books sold directly from CWNP come with color diagrams and some other sources are only black and white. As reviewing the diagrams can be difficult enough given their size, I want every advantage I can get. I’ll gladly order directly from CWNP and wait a few extra days for the book to arrive.
After the book arrives, I read it cover-to-cover. Any notes I make are purely mental notes at this time. If the book includes end-of-chapter questions, I will answer them and check my results after reading each chapter. After I complete the first reading of the book, I re-read the book and outline it. These outlines generally result in 50 – 60 pages of outlined notes. After completing the outline, I will review it several times while making any necessary adjustments I feel appropriate and highlighting items of high importance. I do not answer the end-of-chapter questions during the process to avoid memorizing the answers rather then learning the material.
At his point I purchase the practice tests from the CWNP website and take them to establish a rough assessment of my progress. I then re-read the book cover-to-cover again. If all goes according to plan, this will be my final read-through of the book.
After completing this read-through, I will review my notes and make flash cards for anything that I think I need to memorize for the test. A couple examples – channel frequency ranges for 5 GHz channel space, and port numbers for various services (LWAPP, CAPWAP, RADIUS and so on). I will review the flash cards regularly while doing my final exam preparations. Anytime I review my outlined notes, I will also re-read the chapter summaries.
I will then re-take all of the practice exams to determine any material that requires additional attention. If there are any practice questions that I’ve repeatedly missed, I’ll review my notes and re-read the applicable sections/chapters.
Once I feel comfortable at my progress, I re-take the practice tests one last time. I do this to build confidence before taking the exam. At this point I will have taken the practice tests three times. I am careful to be sure the attempts are spaced out enough so that I’m not just memorizing the questions and answers as that isn’t a fair assessment of my understanding of the material and won’t help when sitting for the exam.
I find preparing in this way has afforded me reasonable success on certification exams. I’ve referenced the CWNP exams, but have used a similar process for exams offered by other vendors, substituting based on available vendor approved study materials.
One final note, don’t be discouraged if you fail. I’ve failed certification exams on several occasions. While failing is not what I intend to do, it is part of personal growth. I like to use my failures to propel me forward rather than let them hold me back.
As I stated at the beginning, I recently took the CWDP exam and passed. Now I begin studying for the CWSP exam.
Happy studying!