How Long Should You Study for Your Next IT Certification?

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Scheduling your exam is the most important step in preparing for any IT certification. Study plans with a solid end goal commit you to a date, which introduces good stress into the process.

Yet, timing is the trickiest part of studying for an IT certification, particularly for entry-level exams. You don’t want to spend too much time studying for your IT certification. You also don’t want to hurry the learning process. There’s a lot to consider when planning to take an IT certification.

So, how long should you study for your next IT certification?

Unfortunately, here’s the answer: It depends.

For instance, if you’ve been a sysadmin for five years, you might take a month to brush up on subnetting for CompTIA Network+ and then pass the exam. That same entry-level exam might consume a brand new IT pro for months.

Similarly, that same sysadmin might spend four months studying for the MCSA, but walk into the CCNA after just eight weeks.

To settle this question, we did highly scientific testing to determine how long it typically takes to prepare for the most popular IT certifications. We polled our Facebook and Twitter audiences and asked how long it took them.

Here’s how long some random people on the internet prepared for (and passed) five popular IT certifications.

Cisco CCENT/CCNA ICND1

The Cisco Certified Network Associate – Routing and Switching (CCNA R&S) certification is designed for entry-level networking professionals. The current version of the certification is made up of two exams:

Cisco CCENT/CCNA ICND1 100-205Cisco CCNA ICND2 200-205

The ICND1 exam tests your knowledge and skills to successfully install, operate, and troubleshoot a small branch office network, including topics like the operation of IP data networks, LAN switching technologies, IPv6, IP routing technologies, IP services (DHCP, NAT, ACLs), network device security, and basic troubleshooting.

Unlike Network+ and A+, the CCNA isn’t an exam that most aspiring IT pros use as a first step in their career. (It would certainly help, though.) It’s a launching pad to the next stage. CCENT is intended to validate all the knowledge entry-level IT pros acquired in their first couple of years of experience. So, even though CCENT (and CCNA) is billed as “entry-level” and doesn’t have prerequisites, it’s not an easy certification.

Our recommendation: 3 months

The results: About 43 percent of IT pros spent longer than three months studying for ICND1. Notably, nearly as many IT pros completed their studies in less than two months.