Currently (Sept. 2010) the CCENT Exam is going to cost you $125 USD. If you live in another country other than the United States I’ll show you how you can find out how much it will cost you to take the CCENT Exam in your country’s native currency.
First of all I just want to say that if you think that the CCENT Exam is priced too high or that it isn’t worth getting, it is well worth the investment. Because of the important skills you learn along the way of becoming a CCENT you will become a lot more valuable than other people looking for jobs without it. It also is a great stepping stone toward getting your CCNA. Also just within the first month of getting a job or a pay raise (if you already have an IT job) you will earn more than enough to pay off the original investment of $125 plus study materials.
Step 1: Go to http://www.vue.com. I’m not sure if there are other sites that you can use to register for Cisco Exams, but this is the site that I have always used. Their homepage will look like the one below and you will need to click on the “sign in” button on the right. You will need to click ”sign in” even if you don’t have an account yet. I’m not sure why they don’t have a register button on their home page.
Step 2: The next page will ask you to select the category and then the testing program. The Category that you will need to select is “Information Technology (IT)” and the testing program is “Cisco Systems”. See the screen shot below:
Right after you click on Cisco Systems this screen is going to change automatically (there is no next button or anything).
Step 3: On this page Vue is asking if you are interested in an online exam or a career certification exam. You will need to check the first option witch is, “Career Certifications or Specialization Exams”. See the screen shot below:
Step 4: On this page Vue is asking you to either sign in if you already have an account or to register for an account if this is your first time. Since this is your first time go ahead and click on the link that says, “create a new web account”. See the screen shot below:
Step 5: On this page Vue is going to ask you to enter in the following required fields: first name, last name, email address, confirmation of email address, your country of residence, and if you have ever taken a Cisco Exam before. After you are done filling in this information you can click on the next button. See the screen shot below:
Step 6: On this page you will need to enter in a few more fields about yourself: address, city, and telephone number. See the screen shot below:
Step 7: On this page you will need to fill in the name of your employer. If you don’t work for anybody right now you can just make something up. The following three questions want to know if you work for a Cisco Reseller, if you have ever taken a Cisco test before, and if you work for Cisco. Since I’m assuming this is your first time taking a Cisco Exam you probably can just choose “No” for all three questions. See the screen shot below:
Step 8: On this page you will choose the username that you will use. Try and pick something that you will remember because chances are that you won’t be logging to to vue everyday once you pass your CCENT Exam. See the screen shot below:
Step 9: This is the confirmation page. Now you are finally done will all the sign up pages. I’ve seen 2 different confirmation pages, one of them is just like the one below where you can click on the button to go ahead and schedule your exam, but the other page I’ve seen doesn’t have a button on it to proceed to scheduling your exam. It just says that they will send you an email the next day.
Step 10: This is the first page for scheduling your exam. You can see a list of all the Cisco Exams that are offered.
Step 11: You will need to scroll down in order to find the CCENT Exam so that you can select it. The CCENT Exam is listed as, “640-822 Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1″. As soon as you select it, it will be added to the bottom where you can see how much the CCENT Exam will cost ($125 USD). I’m not sure if it is a straight currency conversion from US Dollars or not. You also will need to select the language you would like to take it in. See the screen shot below:
Step 12: Now that you have selected the CCENT Exam it’s time to see where exactly you will be able to take the test. On this page it will ask you for your address so that it can search for the nearest testing centers around you. See the screen shot below:
Step 13: Now that you have selected the nearest testing center (your selection will show up on the bottom), you can click next.
Step 14: Now that Vue knows the location of the testing center it knows the dates available that they offer the CCENT Exam. Select an open date that works for you. See the screen shot below:
Step 15: After you have selected the date a whole list of available times for that day will appear. I prefer to take my tests early in the morning. Waiting all day just contributes even more to my nervousness and I like to get the test over with as quickly as possible.
Step 16: Once you have selected the time of day for your exam the box will change again and it will say that you have selected an appointment time. Now go ahead and click on the next button. See the screen shot below:
Step 17: This page shows the user agreement with a link to download it. If you agree click “yes”. See the screen shot below:
Step 18: On this screen you can verify all of your information and also enter in voucher codes or discount codes that you may or may not have. See the screen shot below:
Step 19: Now is the time to enter in all your payment info. See the screen shot below:
And after you confirm your order on the next page you are all registered for you CCENT Exam! You should be emailed a receipt or have a chance to print out your confirmation. The testing center will also be notified so they that can be ready for you when you show up the day of your exam. After 19 steps you are finally registered for your exam!
I hope this little guide about how to register for the CCENT Exam helps you out and clears up any confusion or curiosity you may have had about the whole process.
I recommend registering for you test as quickly as possible that way you feel obligated to study because you have paid for it already. Don’t take my word for it, find out for your self how much your study habits improve after you pay $125 for your CCENT Exam registration.
So, how much lead time should you give yourself to study and prepare for your test? I would say anywhere from 3 to 6 months is ideal. Anything after 6 months is probably way too long and you will start to forget things you learned in the beginning and or you need to be in a situation where you are studying every single day. If you are studying for a little bit every single day (example: 1 hour) I would say that 6 months is plenty of time to prepare. Unless you have a lot of networking experience, anything before 3 months is probably pushing it for those just starting out.
