I'm only getting this cert because it will count as credit towards the WGU degree I'm working on, along with the other 2 associate level Cisco certs. I think you're totally right about the practicality of it. I'm struggling to learn the material but the truth is I'm struggling to motivate myself to go through the memorization grind. At least with CCNA I could gradually feel the pieces come together and have a sense of real accomplishment. Anyways, I really appreciate your videos!
Thanks for sharing experience. I booked this course because I was very excited about automation. But as I read the book, I found out there are only two chapters of python and the rest is all about interaction of API of different platforms. Which is practically hard to memorize. Another challenge is, how to perforom hand on labs on alle these API to get the concepts clear. Now I watched your video and concluded that it's better to invest time and energy in CCNA and python to get a job rather exhausting yourself in this particular course.
Grats. On the score report, recently, I'm seeing feedback/complaints from the CCNA side as well, where the score reports don't show the numerical score (825, 994, etc) anymore.
Thanks! This is very helpfull. I was thinking about studying for this exam just to renew my CCNA cert but I will go for the CCPN. I had the feeling that this cert is not going to take me anywhere and you just confirmed that. I also hate when they make you memorize stuff that you can google in a second instead of proving your understanding of the material. They will probably change it in the next exam versions.
Hey Jeremiah, Congratulations 👏🏼👏🏼 I got 103 questions in the same test couple of months ago ..,!! Thought it's around 65 ,but it was really big shock.
David Bombal describes it after he took the test as a memorization exam. And that its mostly about API's and scripting. lots of memorization he said many times in a video. Other people who are certified also say its not suppose to carry any weight by itself, its suppose to compliment the CCNA certification. CCNA = controlling & configuring hardware, while DevNET is calling API's and scripting the hardware network aka automation. Also, its been said that there are around 10-k questions and 102 random questions get pulled from that lot for the exam, to prevent cheating.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I was struggling to wonder how the exam is and which tools I would use to study. I was thinking about subscribing to CBT Nuggets or ITProTV but turning out that I will buy the book and take that Python Essentials, I think is more 'secure'
Thank you for the great information. I’m studying for the exam and this is very helpful. I’m finishing up reading the official exam cert guide book for the 2nd time. I was just wondering if cbt nuggets would be helpful at all for me at this point. I’ve done all of the DevNet labs as instructed in the book and I plan on using the practice questions that you recommend.
I never did the CBT Nuggets training, so I can't speak to the quality of it. It's 27 hours long, which is pretty substantial, so there be some good stuff in there. That said, my opinion of them has been steadily declining of late. I'm currently working through their Cisco SD-WAN course and it is rather poorly thought out.
Hello thanks for your review one people in charge of this certification is CCIE Hank Preston he is a good instructor, maybe you can let him know your thoughts .
Probably not. I mean there's almost certainly less eye strain, which means you can read for longer periods. Personally I just like the sensory aspects of it. The weight of the book. The smell of the paper. Being able to see your progress by the position of your bookmark. And it can be easier to skim or to flip pages looking for something. But whether or not any of that contributes to a quantifiable advantage over digital...probably not.
Love your everything about your content! I'm in the midst of finishing my master's degree in computer science and I was thinking of supplementing my education with certifications to become more 'attractive' on the market. In your experience which area of IT (cloud, networking etc.) will be in the most demand / has the biggest potential salary? I've considering of getting into Cisco primarily and then cloud later on but I'm unsure of whether it will be worth it, for a lack of better words, given that I'll have my masters soon.
Hey Seleami. Great question and congratulations on your forthcoming master's degree. So you're in an interesting position. With a master's in computer science I assume the vast bulk of your knowledge is in software development/engineering (though not necessarily). That is a world I have never been part of. Interestingly I've worked with plenty of people with master's, but generally their degree was NOT in an IT related field but the person's career was in IT. I have, to my knowledge, never worked directly with someone with a master's in CS. What I would recommend (not knowing you, not knowing where you live, or what the job market is like where you live) would be to simply rely on your degree. Hopefully your university as some sort of job placement assistance so you won't be looking for long. (Even if you're a few months away from graduating, it's probably best to start applying now.) Once you're in the workforce and getting some experience, then you'll start to get an idea as to what specializations might interest you. So, my recommendation would be to rely on your degree to find a job. Spend a year or two learning the ropes. Figure out what you like/don't like about IT. Then, use certification to help guide your career in the direction you want to go. All that said. I am aware that development certifications exist. I don't know anything else, other than that they exist. It is possible that a development certification can help to augment your degree. It will give perspective employers confidence that you can do things in the real world, not just in a classroom. Finally. I am not a developer and my career has only tangentially involved developers. So my advice may be worthless. I'm sure your university advisor(s) are going to have a lot better information than I will.
Hey, I'm following your steps in taking the PCEP/PCAP and going through the DEVNET track. Trying to do the least amount of relearning what would your order of completion be? Is a PCEP level knowledge adequate enough for the DEVNET Associate or should I complete both and continue on to the Devasc. Thanks for any help a big fan of the channel!
Hello Jesse, I took this exam a long time ago and honestly don't remember. So, I rewatched the video to see if I address your question in the video. I do. I specifically say that BOTH PCEP and PCAP exams are "essential" for the DevNet exam. Of course, if you already have a good understanding of Python (or want to learn it elsewhere) then there's no need for the Python Institute's courses. They don't have any Cisco specific info. But, based on this video, I felt that the material from both courses was needed to pass the exam.
Hi. Great video. Can I ask how many months did you study for this exam? I’m a Developer studying for this exam as a requirement in work. I’ve got my PCEP, MTA in Python and studying for PCAP. I’m comfortable with docker, apis and programming elements but kind of scared about learning all the networking elements and Cisco platforms. Would you consider it an easier exam for a programmer first approach? Or more for network engineers intro to programming?
Hey Ashleen. Good question. I'll be honest, I took the exam a month ago and have been working on other stuff, so my memory of it is a bit faded. That said... You will have to memorize the cisco products and their roles (just the ones whose APIs are covered). Thankfully you don't need to know them in great detail. But you will need to know which product does what. You will also need to learn some networking basics. OSI model, and basic routing and switching. I will admit, I skipped those portions of the book. I just have a lot of experience in that stuff. So it seemed very easy, but I'm sure it will be challenging for someone new to networking. Personally, I consider a PCAP level of Python knowledge to be essential. This is an entry level(ish) certification. However it does seem to expect you to have at least some programming knowledge. Prior networking experience will make it easier, but it assumes you're starting from zero. I've heard several people indicate that this exam is for network engineers who are learning automation. I think they're mostly parroting what they've heard elsewhere. From my point of view, this exam is targeted at programmers. The long and short of it is... If it's in the book, know it! There's no "trick" (i.e. "Don't worry too much about X, just really focus on Y.") Just read the book and take notes. This is a memorization heavy exam. I thought, "There's no way they'd expect anyone to memorize *that*." and I was wrong. My score was hurt because I didn't spend more time with flash cards memorizing API paths and which APIs use which protocols.
@@jeremiahwolfe thank you so much! I’m actually so relieved you said that! I got the book recently and started to read that. In terms of studying for exam, memorising things is a key strength of mine so to hear that I’m delighted. I used to ace the networking theory exams in college from lot of memory work. I’ll probably give myself 6 or 7 weeks too. I’ve pcap coming up so I should have that under my belt. I have 2 other python certs (PCEP and MTA 98-381) I studied for previously too, so I’m happy with python knowledge once I’ve passed pcap. Thanks for all your detailed knowledge. Really reassured me I’m on the right path with all my current resources. And your video is very useful too!
I don't remember exactly what I said in that video, it was from a while ago. The main point of the video was to discuss the DevNet Associate exam and how I prepared for it. I didn't intend to make career path recommendations, however if I did, I think my overall takeaway was that DevNet Associate wasn't really worth it. That said (and I apologize, I don't know anything about you or your career) but you may be looking at this incorrectly. When you decide what expert level exam to pursue, it's usually because you've been in your career for years and are operating at a senior level. You pick the appropriate expert level exam that matches your day-to-day experience. The other day Cisco had a webinar discussing some recent updates to the CCIE/CCDE/DevNet Expert tracks. In discussing the DevNet expert they said that the test was designed such that it would be impossible for someone to study for it exclusively. The scenarios were designed such that only an engineer who has years of experience and had encountered situations that just don't come up in books and labs would have the knowledge to complete them. It's also worth mentioning something that a lot of people misunderstand (and maybe you're aware, but I'll mention it anyway). That is the gap between "Professional" and "Expert" level certs is completely different than that between "Associate" and "Professional." To go from CCNA to CCNP I read like 1,400 pages, watched ~50 hours of videos and spent maybe 8 hours doing labs. To go from CCNP to CCIE I'm reading 12,000 pages, watching several hundred hours of videos, and doing 3 full months of labs. (And that's on top of the fact that I have nearly 20 years experience in networking.)
@@jeremiahwolfe thank you for the quick reply! I apologize for not going into detail with my career. On Reddit post I usually do lol. I have 5 years of networking experience. 4 years in Government and 1 year in the Service Provider industry. I have a network plus certification and no Cisco certs. I am about to be 30. You said that DevNet felt like Comptia lol. I get that feeling to lol. For me I’m trying to pick a path and stick to it. I really don’t want to go all over the place. I have a boss who does not believe in automation and orchestration. He believes in the old CLI and is a master at it. He will log in every router and operate in that matter. Like you he has 20 years of experience in Cisco. Guy is fantastic at command line. He is about to hit 50 soon. However some of the guys on our team want to explore automation and orchestration technology. Another guy on our team believes that in 10 years, the CLI will still be there but no one will barely use it. He thinks we need to start researching on ZTP and other automation and orchestration tools. I can see both schools of thought. I can also see what you are saying. I have scanned and read the first seven chapters of DevNet and it does feel like you have to do outside reading and practice labs to fully grasp it. However I am currently reading my CCNP Encore (skipping CCNA) and I do find the content to be more focused and direct. Also maybe DevNet can be a pivot of Network Engineers to go into software development completely if they decide to do that. I mean you make a lot of good points! Even by typing this, I can see that is best to go down the path of CCNP! But I can see that years for now, DevNet can do wonderful things, especially with developer.cisco being a great resource!!! But Network Lessons is a great resource too. Sorry I’m all over the place. Also it’s good to know the difference and vast material you would have to know from professional to expert! I will definitely keep that in mind. But even so, should I master every Network protocol concept and Google the DevNet stuff, or vice versa. It does sound like the DevNet track is for software developers wanting to become more into a networking role. Let me ask you this. If you have a network engineer position opened, who would you hire? A network engineer with no python or DevNet experience, or a python developer with no networking experience but is a pro in those DevNet concepts?
