1:10

Infosec and the Sidework Hacks podcast

1:12

want to help you pass the CCNA

1:15

exam . So for today's hack , let's

1:17

talk bootcamps . The CCNA

1:19

is an intimidating exam , especially if you're

1:21

trying to go it alone , just you and yourself

1:23

study book at home . That's why I'd like to introduce

1:25

you to Infosec CCNA Bootcamp instructor

1:28

Wolfredo . Lance Wolfredo

1:30

will explain what the Infosec five-day

1:32

CCNA Bootcamp is like , the

1:34

learning and memorizing strategies you'll employ

1:36

while you're doing it , and all of the ways that

1:38

bootcamp training can help you pass on the

1:40

first try . Wolfredo helps his

1:42

students with every single networking question

1:44

they have , and students who commit to those

1:46

five intensive days will see big results

1:49

. But to learn more about this , you have to keep

1:51

it right . Here for another Cyberwork Hack . Hey

1:59

, welcome to a new episode of Cyberwork Hacks

2:01

. The purpose of this spin-off of our popular

2:04

Cyberwork podcast is to take a single fundamental

2:06

question and give you a quick , clear

2:08

and actionable solution or

2:10

a new insight into how to utilize Infosec products

2:12

and training to achieve your work and career

2:15

goals . To that end , today's guest

2:17

, wolfredo Lance , is an Infosec instructor

2:19

and among his many areas of expertise

2:21

, he is our Bootcamp instructor for

2:24

Cisco's foundational IT certification

2:26

, the Cisco Certified Network Associate

2:28

, otherwise known as the CCNA . So

2:30

for today's Cyberwork Hack , wolfredo

2:33

is going to take us on a guided tour

2:35

of what it's like to actually take an Infosec

2:37

CCNA certification Bootcamp

2:39

. If you've been wondering about this , this is the one to check

2:41

out . So welcome Wolfredo .

2:43

Thank you , chris , glad to be on .

2:46

So , Wolfredo , just to get everyone on the same

2:48

page , can you briefly explain the difference

2:50

between bootcamp training for a certification

2:52

versus the more common approaches of , say

2:54

, taking an academic course or just doing self-study

2:57

at home ?

2:59

Sure , actually I also

3:01

do some of these training at

3:03

the college level , where

3:05

training like the CCNA takes

3:08

a full semester . Right . Of

3:10

the three options , the self-study

3:12

may be the most challenging one because

3:15

that requires a great amount

3:17

of discipline . You may

3:19

be more isolated no interaction

3:22

with a group , learning

3:24

together , no , like

3:27

a trainer guiding the program

3:29

. So that may be very , very challenging

3:32

. Very few people are successful doing

3:35

the self-study approach . The

3:38

college level approach which again I

3:40

also have experienced with that

3:43

, is kind of for

3:45

a different crowd

3:48

. So when you do the college

3:50

level it takes 10

3:52

, 12 weeks to go over the whole

3:54

program . It's a slow

3:56

approach to cover the

3:58

whole content . There are people

4:01

who come twice a

4:03

week , do some homework

4:05

, go back . So one of the

4:07

challenges of doing that at

4:09

the college level within

4:11

a semester is that you

4:14

have to remain concentrated

4:17

for several weeks On

4:20

the topic to be able to , at

4:22

the end of the semester then

4:25

try to get the certification

4:27

. So again , some people are

4:29

successful doing it that way

4:31

. But when you need

4:34

the certification , when you want

4:36

to really do your main

4:38

purpose and objectives , the

4:41

bootcamp may be the best

4:43

approach because you

4:46

do a five days intensive

4:48

training and if

4:50

you concentrate during

4:53

those five days on the system

4:55

that we have because we have a

4:57

system to get people

5:00

through the program and get certified

5:02

then most people are successful

5:05

with the bootcamp . Five days

5:07

concentration , working

5:09

hard , day and night , day

5:12

five you get your certification

5:14

.

5:14

Okay , so sort of walk me through

5:16

those five days . Can you give us a sense of

5:18

the schedule and how much of each day

5:21

is spent on different domains of the exam

5:23

and what you'll be working on from day to day ?

5:26

Yeah , absolutely Five days . So

5:28

, as we mentioned , there

5:31

are six domains and

5:33

the first three domains the network

5:36

fundamentals and the network

5:39

access and IP connectivity

5:41

. Those first three domains

5:43

are almost 70%

5:47

of the exam , 65% , okay

5:49

. So we spend the first three

5:51

days on those domains

5:53

. The bootcamp is

5:55

lab driven . So

5:58

what we do from day one

6:01

we start building a lab and

6:03

then we do a lot of commands

6:06

, a lot of labs , and then from

6:08

day one we tell

6:11

everybody that they have access to the

6:13

practice questions . So at

6:15

any time during the bootcamp

6:17

a student is allowed to come

6:19

up and say , hey , I saw

6:22

this question , number 41

6:24

. I do not understand it , I

6:26

do not get it . Can we go over

6:28

? And we just put it

6:30

up there . And in most cases

6:32

we are able to lab it up

6:34

, we do a lab . So to say

6:37

, okay , yb is

6:39

correct , and we do the lab and

6:41

we demonstrate Y A

6:43

, c and D are wrong . And

6:46

that gives people confidence . You see

6:48

, if you see it , you believe it . You say

6:50

, okay , I get it . And that's

6:52

the way we run the bootcamp

6:55

right , with demos and

6:57

demonstrations of the questions

7:00

on the labs . And so

7:03

the first three days are basically

7:05

those three domains . The last two days

7:07

are for the other three domains

7:10

Domain number four , which is IP

7:12

services , and number five

7:15

, which is network security

7:17

, and domain number six , which

7:19

is the automation and programmability

7:21

All along the way

7:24

. During the day we run the labs , the

7:26

practice questions and the students

7:28

do review of more

7:30

practice questions . During the evening

7:33

, if there are questions there

7:35

they are not clear , they will come back

7:37

ask those questions in class and it's

7:39

very helpful for the whole

7:41

group by day five ready

7:44

to go .

7:45

Ready to go . So , as

7:47

you sort of alluded to , and like some other IT

7:49

and security exams , ccna requires you to understand

7:51

a tactile and three-dimensional

7:53

thing , and namely a computer network and all its routers

7:56

and switches , and in the real world

7:58

requires hands-on learning . So , with

8:01

these bootcamps , do students need to bring any special

8:03

equipment or tools to help them absorb the concepts

8:05

here , or is everything sort of provided

8:08

in-house ?

8:09

It is provided in-house , so

8:11

we do not need physical equipment

8:14

, as there are very good

8:16

simulators out

8:19

there . We use the packet tracer

8:21

, we use GNS3 . Those are excellent

8:24

simulators that allows you to

8:26

run all the commands , all the

8:28

configurations that we

8:30

need to pass exam .

8:32

OK , and now do

8:35

you go right from day five

8:37

of the bootcamp into taking the exam

8:39

? Or do people take a few days off to give their

8:41

brain time to cool off ? Or do you just sort

8:43

of like generally run right

8:45

into it , right as soon as you're done with your last practice

8:47

exam ?

8:49

My recommendation is to take

8:51

the exam right after the bootcamp

8:54

On day five , you finish , you walk

8:56

into the exam . I mean that's what I highly

8:59

recommend . Now that applies

9:01

to people that during

9:04

that week remain concentrated

9:07

on the bootcamp . They did the homework

9:09

, they did the practice questions , they

9:11

run the labs and so on . Now

9:14

things happen right . If somebody

9:16

is not able to do that

9:18

during the week because they have all the

9:20

issues , all the things to do

9:22

, then they may need an extra

9:24

few days to complete preparation

9:26

. But again , best approach

9:28

take the exam right after

9:31

the bootcamp on day

9:33

five .

9:34

Great . So one last question

9:36

here In considering taking a bootcamp for certification

9:39

exam study , Wilfrido , what advice

9:41

or evidence can you give to listeners who are

9:43

wondering if a bootcamp is their best option

9:45

for learning this material ?

9:48

Well , the advantage of

9:51

the bootcamp is

9:53

the concentration time

9:56

that you dedicate to that . If you really

9:58

spend five days there

10:00

doing labs , practice

10:02

questions , your mind gets

10:05

all into the topics

10:07

. So you get really into

10:09

that in a way that is

10:12

all fresh in your head . So

10:14

you go to take the exam and you've

10:17

been doing this for five days

10:19

, 100% day

10:21

and night . So

10:23

again , doing it in

10:26

a longer period of time may

10:28

be a little more distracting . It will require

10:30

you to remain concentrated for

10:32

a longer period of time and

10:35

the best evidence is a

10:37

successful passing rate

10:39

that we have on the bootcamps . So

10:42

you can do a successful pass exam by

10:44

taking the bootcamp and other

10:46

approaches .

10:47

Fabulous , All right . Well , we'll read it all on . Thank

10:50

you for touring us pulling the curtains back on your CCNA bootcamp

10:52

. That was a lot of fun .

10:54

Thank you , Chris .

10:56

And thank you all for watching this episode . If you enjoyed this

10:58

video and felt that it helped you or that might

11:00

help your colleagues , please share it with them , or

11:02

whether person to person or on forums

11:05

or on your social media accounts . We'd

11:07

love to see when you're hyping it up out

11:10

in the world there . Definitely subscribe to our podcast

11:13

feed and YouTube page . We got lots more

11:15

material just like this . If you type in cyber

11:17

work and infosect into any of

11:19

these places , you'll be well on your way . We're all anywhere

11:21

you want to be . There's plenty more to come , and

11:24

if you have any topics that you want us to cover in future , drop

11:26

them in the comments below . I read them

11:28

all and I love to see them , so until then , we will

11:30

see you next time and , as always , happy

11:33

learning .