How To Pass IT Exams Without Trying (Too Hard)
Shaun Archer
Kindle Edition

Copyright 2010 Shaun Archer

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Table Of Contents
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Chapter 1
In The Beginning

Chapter 2
The Winning Combination

Chapter 3
Courses, Books and Practice Tests, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Chapter 4
Taking the Exam - What To Expect and How To Prepare

Chapter 5
So You Failed Eh…?

Chapter 6
CONGRATULATIONS - Lets party! (at least for a little bit)

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Why I wrote this book -

About a week ago, my CEO and I were interviewing a promising candidate for an IT support position. The young man seemed to be both stable and knowledgeable and the interview was progressing quite nicely. We had just gotten to the point where we were informing him of our expectations as far as certifications were concerned, when my boss made a statement which immediately struck me. He was explaining why our company policy offered each exam candidate the opportunity to make one attempt at each exam at the company's expense. "You see", he began, "Not everyone tests well. Shaun here is good at taking tests but I don't test well, I never did." "What does it mean to test well?", I thought.

After my initial reaction, I decided to disregard this statement but for some reason it stayed with me and a few days later I began thinking it through. Could it be true? Could there be an element or set of elements which allows one person to "test well" and, by extension, is there an element or set of elements which may sabotage an individual's chances of success? Most importantly, could these elements be identified, solidified and taught to others? I have come to the conclusion that they most certainly can and that is the reason this book was written.

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Chapter One
In The Beginning

You may wonder why someone would go to the trouble of writing a book like this. I mean, in today's IT Exam world you can spend 15 minutes searching on Google and come up with the first 15 exam questions verbatim ( in color no less) with the remaining 120 or so questions a click or two away. Why would you bother to do it the "hard" way? In answer to this question I can only share my own experience and hope it can help you find the courage to try it honestly.

I graduated from University in 1999 with a degree in Biology and promptly joined the IT workforce. Even back then, you didn't debate with an employer about your qualifications. If they believed a Biology major qualified me to handle the web design and development position they had available…well…who was I to argue? About a year later I heard about IT certifications and I figured it would be a good idea to get one to prove my ability. After all, at this point the only qualification I had was my Biology degree. All quotes I had received for the, then popular, MCSE (NT4) instructor led course loitered around $15,000. There was no way I could afford that and my employer was definitely not about to spring for it. (They gave me grief about getting a $100 piece of software to make my web development coding easier and suggested I develop their web site using the, "Save As Web Page", feature of Microsoft Word instead, for Pete's sake! I still have "fond" memories of that place, sigh.)

The good thing about not having many resources at my disposal though, was that it forced me to find innovative (and cheap) ways of teaching myself. I don't know how many of you believe in God, but I thank Him every day for these early financial challenges because without them I would never have been motivated to find another way.

Anyway, since the MCSE was way too expensive, I decided to try something in Web Development instead. After all, I was working in that area. So I bought one of the more affordable guides from the ExamCram series(which was highly recommended), got some practice tests and gave the i-NET+ exam a shot and…joy of joys, I passed. I was now hooked. I tried the Microsoft Network Essentials exam next as I figured that would be a nice, general introduction to Microsoft exams.

Around that time, I also recognized that there seemed to be some strategy involved in taking these exams. I started concentrating on exams that gave me a two for one special. For example, if you passed the i-NET+ back then, you could apply for the Certified Internet Webmaster certification, and I did. I discovered if you passed a few basic NT exams you could do an upgrade and get credit towards the 2000 MCSE, and I did.

By January 2001 I was fully involved, studying and passing exams like my life depended on it. I did four exams in January of that year to get my MCSE 2000 and become the first MCSA certified person in Barbados and among the first few in the world. How do I know I was the first? I did the exam the day it was released.

By now you must be ready to think I am a pompous self-impressed idiot and this book may almost be on its way back to the shelf, but I told you this story for a reason other than showing off. You see, I was not always like this. Four years before, in 1997, I had trudged dejectedly into my student advisor's office to discuss my horrible grades. That semester, I had failed all but one subject and the only reason I passed that one was because the lecturer gave me a break. I showed some promise in the exam so he offered to give me a C if I could at least hand in the reports for the lab sessions I had done during the semester.

It was the second semester of my second year at University. This semester's report was much like the semester before that and the semester before that. In fact much of my school life looked like that, but up until that point no one had given me an ultimatum. I had always coasted along on sheer luck, narrowly avoiding disaster at every turn. My student advisor "advised" me, that I need to either "get serious" or go, find some work and come back when I was serious. I opted for the work. I enthusiastically took a summer job on a farm owned by the father of one of my friends. He was a good and fair man, but, in my humble estimation, a crocus bag full of squash is perhaps the heaviest thing I have ever encountered in my entire life (second perhaps only to the internal workings of a washing machine).

Allow me to digress for a moment and explain that in Barbados, a crocus bag is a sack, which I believe is made of crocus fibers (or plastic I'm not sure) used to hold large amounts of ground provisions (like yams, potatoes, cassava etc) and other tough but healthy stuff. You should also know that we local Barbadians refer to ourselves as bajans.

Farm labour gives one plenty of time to reflect on life. It was during one of these moments of quiet reflection that I heard a statement from one of my co-workers which gave me the impetus I needed to go back to school. I had given up a summer job as a clerk in an office to work on the farm (labour on the farm actually paid better). I never forgot my co-workers reaction when she heard I had given up a temporary office job. Her words were, "out o' de sun?", which, when translated for those non-bajans among you goes something like - " Why would you choose to work in the hot sun all day when you have options?". For some reason those words hit me (like a bag of squash) and I thought to myself. I might have options now, but if I don't go back to university I may not later. So off to school I went.

My student advisor was willing to work with me but there was a problem. There was a rule then, I don't know if it still exists, but it basically stated that if you fail a course twice, you cannot retake it. I guess they figure you are either not serious enough or too dim for that particular course. I had failed certain key Biology courses so many times that there were not enough courses left in the Biology syllabus for which I was eligible in order for me to obtain the credits required for a major in Biology.

My student advisor, being a determined sort did not give up on me that easily however, and together we worked out a strategy where I could satisfy the remaining credit requirements with computer science courses. I just had to secure the approval of the head of the computer science department. He too was one of the good ones and said that since I attempted and passed his first year course the first time around, quite a feat apparently, he would let me take any computer course I qualified for once I could keep up. (I tried the first year computer science course because most of my friends were doing it and I figured it would mean more time to hang out and "talk junk") If I dropped behind that was my problem. I hastily agreed and the journey which brought me to where I am now began in earnest.

So what does this seemingly irrelevant story have to do with the purpose of this book? I get to the point in about a paragraph, so keep your shirt on (never quite understood the logic behind that saying). With the sword of Damocles hanging over my head and a naturally laid-back disposition to contend with, I actually figured I was pretty much doomed but I would try anyhow. It was in this first semester, during the first computer course, in the first week that I discovered the secret that set the pathway for the rest of my University studies and every exam I would take after that point. I cannot remember what the course was called, but I do remember that the first topic was Matrices.

This illustration loses its impact until you know that all of the other folks in the class were either Computer Science majors or were doing a double major in Computer Science and Math (or Physics or something like that). As a result, they were all quite familiar with matrices. I on the other hand had no idea what the lecturer was talking about. In addition, they had, apparently, collectively, in some unspoken way, agreed that if I asked them for help, they would:

1. Assure me that this topic is easy

2. Point me in the direction of the library and say something like "there are some good books there on it"

3. Walk away muttering something that I am sure was " If you know you didn't do the prerequisite courses why are you doing this one, go back and do Math like everyone else, idiot"

Well…with an imagined insult like that, the stage was set. My lecturer also was not much help except to basically repeat the same verbiage he spouted in class. He meant well, but still I didn't understand. I was on my own.

Then…something happened. I learned something which changed my approach to studying and exams forever. For the first time in my life since the dawn of my uneventful school career, I was able to go to the library, get the book and study, completely on my own, forgetting the lecturer, the other students and everyone else and…pass. In fact, when I arrived at the board where the grades for the first test were posted, I heard people asking, who is Shaun Archer. "Uh Oh", I thought. Were my grades that bad? I had, in fact, gotten an A+. I think it was the only A+ in the class. It was ON now.

I had failed my first two years of University. At my University there are four levels of degree you can be awarded at graduation: Pass, Lower Second Class Honours, Upper Second Class Honours and First Class Honours. If I scraped by with a Pass at that point it would have been a miracle. Over the next two years my grades climbed slowly from a possible Pass to a definite Pass. Then slowly to Lower Second Class honours. And, finally, in my last semester, I got that final A+ needed to push my graduating rank to Upper Second Class. Considering that most of my classmates, who were doing well from the beginning, graduated with Upper or Lower Second Class Honors that was quite a feat.

In case you are still wondering "why did he tell this story, what is his point, is he still showing off? The point is simply this. I am no genius. There is nothing extra special about me. I simply discovered a few, very simple truths in that first topic of that first course which gave me my first A+ and changed my life. They can change yours. It has nothing to do with matrices, or being smart or talented or gifted. It instead has everything to do with you, understanding who you are and how you learn. Catch these points and learning becomes considerably easier from here on. Miss them and you may continue to struggle with every exam you attempt for the rest of your life. These truths or techniques have been applied in this book to IT exams. But they work for any kind of learning and can actually be extended to allow you to enhance other aspects of your life.
So…are you ready to teach yourself something about you, and pass that exam to boot? Good, let's get started.

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Chapter 2
The Winning Combination

Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese military general and philosopher wrote in his book "The Art of War" - "If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt." That, in a nutshell, is the essence of what will put you over the top. Try to succeed without covering both aspects of this proverb and you will definitely work WAY harder at passing these exams than you need to.

Know Yourself:
By this I mean know your learning style. Everyone in the world has a style or set of styles of learning that suits them and other learning styles which unfortunately, are less effective for them. Common sense would dictate that you find out what your style is, discover your strengths and weaknesses and, take full advantage of your strengths to get ahead fast.

I can give you a classic example of this. The story I am about to tell was taken from my own experiences but understand that this is the experience of a huge number of people all around the world. I hate school and, to the best of my knowledge, I always have. One of the things I hated most about school was the endless requirement to learn a bunch of facts and bits of information which, in my opinion, have little or no bearing on real life. As I got older my aversion to this became more and more pronounced and gave me the first clue as to how I learn. I discovered that once I can find some practical application for a given fact which I had to learn, it in turn makes it real to me and I never forget it. That is one of my personal tricks and it's all based on knowing the way I learn.

The same is true of you. No matter how poorly you "test" now or how slow you seem to be, all you need to do is access your own God-given abilities, strengths and learning style and those exams will just seem to melt before your very eyes. So enough build-up, on to the learning styles. Scientific evidence proves that there are at least seven categories of learner or learning styles. Most persons fall primarily into one of these seven categories. The types of learner are: Visual, Auditory (or Aural), Kinesthetic (or Physical), Verbal (or Linguistic), Logical, Social and Solitary.

Visual
Visual learners tend to remember and internalize what they can see with their own eyes. They might enjoy being up front at sporting events and other gatherings so they can see clearly and may get irritated if they can't. If you automatically form pictures in your head when people describe things to you or when you are reading a book, you are probably a visual learner. My wife is a visual learner and it always amazes me how she can automatically spot a misspelled word in the newspaper before she even reads a sentence.

Auditory
Auditory learners internalize sound better than other learner types. If you can watch a movie and are conscious of the background music in each scene or can easily recognize the voice of a given actor with which you are acquainted without seeing the screen, chances are you are an auditory learner. (My eldest son and I do this and it freaks my wife out.) Music, rhymes, spoken words and other auditory stimuli are the best way to get through to an auditory learner.

Kinesthetic
Kinesthetic learners remember best when they can actually get involved and physically try what is being described. Hands on projects and experiments are usually right up their alley, while sitting in a lecture…is not. They may excel at sports and other things which require good hand-eye coordination. One of my work colleagues is a kinesthetic learner and, by his own admission, you can talk 'til the cows come home, unless he actually gets a chance to work with a given product he never quite gets it.

Verbal
Verbal learners get deep into both the written and spoken word. They can express themselves easily in either arena. They may develop a passion for learning new words and will actually use them in everyday conversation. These learners may lean towards politics, debating and journalism as career choices.

Logical
My wife tells the story of a classmate she had once who did something so amazing it has stuck with her for the last decade or so. The mathematics teacher would write a simple sum on the board. Let's say 9 + 5 for example. He would then challenge the students to continue adding 9 to the answer they got for about 10 minutes or so. . At the end of 10 minutes the teacher would have all members of the class stand, and ask, "Who got to 14?". All persons who reached 14 or lower would sit (not that anyone would get less than 14). He would then continue, progressively adding 9 until the last person sat. My wife vividly recalls that there was one student who was always left standing and the teacher frequently had to ask that student what number he had reached. It is likely he was a logical learner.

Logical learners excel at logical and mathematical reasoning. They can quickly recognize patterns and perform moderately complex calculations in their heads. They are very sensitive to flaws in other persons' logic and do well with structured objects such as to do lists and budgets. I confess that this is perhaps my weakest area and so I regard this type of learner with a level of awe.

Social
Social learners are people persons. They learn well in study groups or other group settings. They may also do extremely well in one-on-one tutorials where they feel comfortable. They tend to be good counselors or mentors. If you like to involve other people in what you are doing then perhaps you may be a social learner.

Solitary
Solitary learners may be loners. They tend to be more private and introspective and…well…solitary. They will study or work best alone but they may miss the benefit of having someone off which to bounce a given problem.

Now I bet some of you are thinking, "This guy has it all wrong. I don't fall into any one of those categories or I am a mix of at least three of them". The fact is most persons fall into multiple categories but most if not all of them also have a dominant category. Just about everyone is a mix of two or more of the identified categories. For example, I am primarily an auditory learner, but I NEED to read about a topic in order to really understand. I am largely a social person, but I prefer to study and have fun alone or with my family.

It can get confusing trying to figure out your dominant style. Fortunately a plethora of tests exist which help pin this down for you. One such test can be found at www.learning-styles-online.com. Another good site for this kind of test is www.ldpride.net. They refer to these styles as Multiple Intelligences. These sites also offer study tips for each style which take advantage of a given learner's special abilities.

My parting shot on learning styles would be the short listing below. Here I just try to quickly summarize some of the learning techniques which work best for each learner category. Choose study materials which fit with your dominant style or styles and you will start miles ahead of where you would ordinarily be.

- Visual - Resources you can read, diagrams, drawings and other resources utilizing color will be easier for you to assimilate.

- Auditory - Audio books and quizzes usually available in mp3 format work well. Take advantage of time driving in the car to strengthen your knowledge using these avenues.

- Kinesthetic - Install the software or get your hands on the hardware (real or simulated) and play with it. You will find the information sticks a lot better and a lot faster. Explore every button, switch and option and make use of the help files and manuals if available.

- Verbal - Typical classroom training, real or recorded may be good for you (once the trainer is interesting). Write out concepts in your own words, take copious notes (you know you want to). Read books to yourself in grand theatrical style.

- Logical - It will help to try to understand the "Why" behind the "How". Most logical learners can't help but learn why things work. They may feel like their knowledge is incomplete or lacking. You will need to get your hands on the syllabus, understand the big picture and set goals/times on each section. This will help overcome your tendency to over analyze an item.

- Social - Find a group of determined learners like yourself and get to it. This can be in a formal classroom setting. You may find that a physical or online study group may provide what you need as well. Once you are together, make use of techniques which involve as many people as possible such as role play, mind maps and other brainstorming methodologies.

- Solitary Rent a cabin, commandeer a spare room, find a mountain cave, do what you need to do but find a place you can study alone. Make sure you have access to all of the resources you need when you get there though. This would include books, online resources and knowledgeable people who can provide answers if needed.

NOTE: Just a brief disclaimer. While it is always good to categorize yourself so you can take advantage of your strengths, you will want to integrate multiple study methods into your preparation program. Just about everyone benefits from practice tests and hands-on practice. I know a primarily logical learner who did a great job of preparing the best way he knows, with lots of lists, structure and background information and still failed because he lacked the hands-on experience.

Know Your Opponent:
Who is your opponent? Why the exam of course. That slimy bugger is all that stands between you and your certification. In fact for some of you, it may be a whole putrid nest of exams that stands between you and your goal but whether it's one or many, understanding the exam places you in a MUCH better position.

As a teenager I remember riding the school bus home. As I mentioned before I am a largely social person so I enjoyed talking to just about anyone I sat next to. I usually tried to ensure that person was young and female. I made quite a few friends on those long bus rides. (I lived waaay out in the country). There were two girls however who I genuinely found attractive. I sat next to, and conversed with, all of the others but I stayed severely away from those two. The truth is, I was terrified of them and the heart-breaking rejection they could so easily bestow. What made matters worse was, the more I avoided them, the more afraid I became. We humans naturally fear the unknown. This is perhaps why most of us are so resistant to change. One of the obvious ways to get over that fear is to get to know the thing we fear. By the time I got acquainted with the lass I found most interesting, I had basically finished school and the opportunities I would have had to chat with her were then few and far between. It turns out she may have been interested too. Oh well...(Sad Pause)

Don't let this happen to you. Below I have outlined a sure fire methodology for getting to know your exam and leaving that fear in the dust. One brief note before we get into the "how to" section. When I suggest that you "know" the exam, I am in no way advocating getting your hands on Real or Actual Exams which promise that you can Pass For Sure if you use them. Instead I am suggesting that you find out ABOUT the exam you will be taking.

At the very least you should know:

1. The number or exam code for the exam you will be taking. This may seem pretty obvious but I think of at least one situation where someone ended up signing up for an exam they did not prepare for just because they mixed up the exam number.

2. The amount of time you will be allowed during the exam to complete the questions. This can vary considerably depending on the part of the world in which you live and the language in which the exam is written. I do not know if this is still the case but back in 2000, exam takers in Barbados where I live were allowed extra time for English IT exams because we do not speak English. This really amused me because Barbados has forever been an English speaking country. One way or the other it is good to know if you get any undue advantages as far as time is concerned. Your local testing centre usually has information about this.

3. The certification towards which this exam contributes. In the IT arena, higher level certifications often require you to take many exams. If you are wise about your choice of exams you can cover prerequisites or many higher level certifications allowing you to reach those certification levels with reduced effort. One example of this would be the Cisco Building Scalable Cisco Infrastructure (BSCI) switching exam. This is a prerequisite for the Cisco Certified Network Professional and Cisco Certified Design Professional certifications. In some cases, like with Microsoft certification, you are required to select electives to fulfill a certification requirement. In those cases, carefully select your elective so that you position yourself to attain as many certifications as possible.

4. The knowledge you are expected to have before going in to the exam. By this I simply mean get your hands on the syllabus. This is usually readily available from the vendor's website. Make sure you study this syllabus well. In the case of the syllabi available for Microsoft exams, you can actually define a pretty clear study plan from the syllabus itself. Don't take the exam until you are relatively comfortable with all of the topics on that list.

5. The areas which are likely to be focused on most heavily. This is sometimes an easy question to answer. Again using Microsoft exams as an example, each broad area on the syllabus is given a percentage outlining how much of that topic is likely to appear on the exam. This can be of great benefit in determining the depth of understanding required for a given topic. You don't want to waste time over-studying (even though if you are a logical learner you are not likely to feel truly comfortable until you have over-studied). In some cases where this information is not given in the syllabus you may have to trawl discussion boards for persons who openly give their impression of the exam. I must stress here, that a good few of those posts may have real exam questions. Stay away from those posts, but listen willingly to the bloggers who have taken the exam and are out to share tips as to what works, what doesn't and what areas were most heavily exploited.

6. The number of questions on the exam. This again is usually readily available on the vendors' website. Most IT exams are between 40 and 70 questions so it is always helpful to find out ahead of time if you are facing a 20 question cakewalk or a 230 question monster.

7. The types of questions to be asked e.g. (Multiple choice, Click and Drag or Simulation) You may want to ensure you get practice with each question type you expect to face. Microsoft has a simulator on their site somewhere which lets you play around with the different questions types. Beware of simulator questions or those with multiple parts. Find out ahead of time if these are present because they can take inordinately long to complete and may drastically reduce your chances of success if you complete them incorrectly simply because you did not know how to answer them. I was told that if you get one of the simulation questions wrong on a Cisco exam, you have failed. I was also told that if you disconnect from a simulation question before you have finished, you can't go back. So know what it is you are getting into. In most cases the vendor's website or a quick browse of the discussion boards will reveal the question types you are likely to face.

I should add one quick note of explanation here. Normally, IT exams are actually administered at a testing center on computers. We delve deeper into this experience in chapter 4, Exam Day. In some cases however the test may be a practical or written test. You need to know all of this information waaaay ahead of time.

8. The expected experience level or difficulty level of the exam. This information can sometimes be discovered while exploring discussion boards or just by talking to persons who have taken or are planning to take the exam. It is always more challenging to figure this out but you can usually extrapolate a sense of how difficult an exam is from the prevailing attitude of those who have taken it.

9. The cost of the exam. The reason for this one is simple. Can you afford it? Yet there is one other less obvious advantage. If there is another exam, elective or option which can move you closer to this goal but which costs less, you may want to explore that other option.

10. The location where will you be sitting the exam. Go ahead of time and ask to see the testing room if you can. Familiarize yourself a little with the surroundings. Find out where the bathrooms are and use them. Every little bit you can do to calm your nerves on exam day may help improve your grade.

The majority of this information can usually be sourced from the vendor's website. The rest of it, such as the areas of heaviest focus, can usually be gleaned by looking at blog posts from persons sharing their experience after taking the exam. The difficulty level usually becomes apparent from paying careful attention to blog posts as well.

How do you find these posts? Well, head on over to Google, put in your exam code, the word "blog" and voila, you have a starting point. Unfortunately, if you search your exam code on Bing or Google, you are likely to come across some other results as well.

Many of these are designed to get you to jeopardize your certification from the very outset by convincing you to utilize illegal or unethical resources, both of which could result in your losing your certification permanently and being debarred from doing any certification exams in the future.

In the next chapter we take a careful look at these resources - what's safe and what's not.

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Chapter 3
Courses, Books and Practice Tests, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Finding good study resources is an art practiced by a precious few. Many times I encounter persons who have made bad choices and end up being lost in the exam room or worse, passing the exam with no actual knowledge of the topic.

How do you know what's good and what's not? In this chapter we explore the various types of study materials available and help you select the most appropriate.
By most appropriate we mean three things:

1. The resource fits with your learning style and is therefore more comfortable for you to use.

2. The resource has valid information and is not just a collection of questions and answers from the real exam.

3. The resource was provided by Shaun Archer or any of his associates (no…really)

"So Shaun, what choices do I have?" Well Tim, I’m glad you asked.

Books/E-Books - Most exams which have been available for at least three months will have some written book which is supposed to cover the exam's objectives. Assuming you are primarily visual, verbal, logical or any other learning type which can take advantage of the written word you should at least evaluate the book.

In order to evaluate a given book you will need:

- One suspiciously large duffel bag

- A keen eye for in-store cameras

- One copy of "The Shoplifters Guide to Sparsely Guarded Bookstores"

Seriously now, I don't advocate stealing or any other activities which may be frowned upon by law enforcement officials. My evaluation process for a book actually goes something like this:

1. Log in to Amazon.com and check what the reviewers say about the book.

2. Type the title of the book in Google and see what other independent reviewers have to say about the book

3. Look for sample chapters of the book available from one of the sites where it can be purchased and see if I like it.

4. Look to see if any of the bonuses available with the book appeal to me. (An mp3 version available with the print or pdf is a major positive for an auditory learner like me.)

At this point it should be noted that not all writers and not all publishers are created equal. For example, any book by Mark Minasi is likely to be wordy, heavy on explanations (and pages) but full of laughs. If you like that sort of thing then he is your man.

On the other hand, I have found that books by a specific publisher/vendor who shall remain nameless could actually be used to replace silica gel as a method of removing moisture from the atmosphere. That's how dry they are. I have a logical learner buddy who thinks books by this particular publisher are great however so it really is up to you and your preference.

Whatever you do, don't settle for less. If you don't think a book is right for you, don't you dare buy it, even if it is the only book available for this exam. I have had too many experiences where I bought a book based on excellent reviews only to find myself unable to read the first five pages without falling asleep. Do your research and remember what you like.

One other option would be to buy a book on the technical topic covered in the exam even though it was not written specifically to help cover exam objectives. For example I used the books "Mastering NT Server 4.0" and "Mastering 2000 Server" as my main text books in preparing for my Microsoft NT exams and MCSE/SA 2000 exams. I remember the author informing the readers that these titles were not explicitly written to assist with any exam even though they may be helpful and they certainly were.

All of the suggestions made regarding books go for e-books. A quick analysis of the book using the four techniques listed above will give you an idea of whether this is a purchase you will want to make. E-books may carry the additional benefit of access to lab or rack time (For those of you who don't know what this means, I'll explain it shortly, so stay with me) or an easily downloadable audio version of the book. When you live in exotic locations like Barbados, where I live, it is also a major bonus to be able to download the book rather than wait 2 - 4 weeks for "expedited" delivery.

Practice Tests - First let me say that there are practice tests and there are "practice tests". In order to explain this properly I need to define a couple of common internet terms which you may or may not know. These are Braindumps and Proxy Testing.

Braindumps - In the past this referred to the practice of doing an exam and, upon leaving the legal jurisdiction of the examination center, writing just about every question you remember down on a piece of paper. This is called a brain dump of the exam. Back in 2000 people would post these dumps on discussion boards for friends, family and fun. It was only a matter of time before someone found a way to commercialize this insidious practice.

TestKing was the first major company as far as I know who got into it (and were prosecuted for it), followed now by many, many others. The idea is to market a braindump of the actual question pool from the exam, lovingly harvested by professional test takers, as a practice test. The would-be test vendor may also provide answers to each question and, if they want to give a semblance of professionalism, an explanation of why the correct answer is correct and the wrong answer is wrong.

Braindumps may be available with a testing engine which allows you to take the test on the computer, much like the real exam if it is computer based. Alternatively they may just be a PDF or some other text like document. "Is this legal?",you ask. The answer is no. It's not even ethical. When you take an exam they usually require you to click "I agree" to a legal Non-Disclosure-Agreement (NDA) which basically says that what happens in the exam room stays in the exam room. They may also make you agree that you have not used any materials whose use could be considered as cheating.

Bearing in mind that if you type the exam code for any IT exam in Google the first link is likely to be from the vendor's website and the next four are likely to be Braindump sites, (these folks know their marketing), how do you avoid accidentally or purposefully using these resources?
Here is my simple three step plan for avoiding braindumps:

1. If it says it has actual/real exam questions, offers a guarantee of passing the exam the first time around or uses the same description for every exam, it's probably a Braindump site.

2. The good folks at www.certguard.com have developed a Braindump search engine which allows you to test the legitimacy of a website marketing practice tests. They also maintain a list of websites for legitimate practice test vendors.

3. When still in doubt, just ask them. Most sites maintain live chat functionality or at least have an e-mail address. Send them a question. I have actually had one site tell me yes they are a Braindump site. So if they respond yes or they don't respond at all, then it is possible that you should avoid them.

Now I know there are some of you who are still not convinced that Braindumps are illegal, unethical or even plain old bad. But I challenge you to follow the steps outlined in this guide:

a. Find your style

b. Know your exam

c. Source your resources

d. Face your fear

e. Get your revenge

f. Celebrate your victory

NOTE:We are somewhere around "Source your resources"

Try it this way, just once, and if it is not more rewarding than learning the answers by heart only to fail because they added five new questions to the pool, feel free to resume your previous method of study.

Proxy Testing - These helpful individuals responsible for this "technique" take the Braindump methodology to the next level. They will, for a substantial fee of course, impersonate you in the corrupt testing center of their choice. They will take the exam in your name and voila, you are certified.

Not only is this wrong, it's really expensive. The last pricing I saw ranged from 1500 USD to 3000 USD per exam. If you are THAT desperate to pass, you have nothing to lose by trying the method outlined in this guide. At least it's cheaper.

And finally, last but not least, I would like to leave you with a link to the recent webcast (April 2010) entitled "Exam Forensics and What Microsoft is Doing to Catch the Cheaters" There are some pretty cool facts there including reference to an exam ban for an entire country which was instituted.

Legitimate Practice Tests - I don't endorse any particular practice test vendor, (unless of course I have a test in which case I wholeheartedly endorse that one), but you can get a list of the most popular vendors from www.certguard.com. You may also want to search for some on Google yourself. Sometimes smaller, less popular vendors have better material so don't discount them just because they don't have a big name.

Online Courses - These usually consist of either an audio recording of a trainer with PowerPoint-like slides/demonstrations much like most webcasts or, if you are lucky/pay more money, some video of the actual trainer. This content may or may not be downloadable to your computer. I usually go for downloadable courses if they are available. I don't do well in lecture type environments so Online courses tend to bore the skin off of me. They do however speak to both visual and auditory learners, at least in theory. They may also have some text to help the verbal learners but they may leave the kinesthetic and social learner wanting more.
My advice:

- Try the course if possible before you buy. There are sometimes time-limited free trials available.

- Always opt for a course which gives you access to downloadable content so you can use it offline.

- Where possible, select a course which provides access to lab time or demo environments

- Some online courses provide access to expert mentors or trainers to help you in the tough areas. They may also hold you accountable to a study schedule. These are preferred.

- Courses which are being taught live online are always best as you get the attention of a live tutor.

Simulators/Lab Time - How do you prove an exam candidate really knows his stuff? Why provide him with a reasonable facsimile of the product he is supposed to know and ask him to complete some basic task, of course (shrug, I’m surprised you didn't think of that). Cisco has successfully integrated simulations into many of their exams including the entry level ones. Microsoft has tried and recanted but they are bound to try again once they work out the kinks. So it would be wise for you to get your hands on the actual product or something very much like it before trying any exam. This is almost a must for kinesthetic learners and tends to help just about any learner type round out their knowledge.
There are some options when it comes to methods of accessing the product (aren't they ALWAYS options - sigh):

Buy Lab Time - This is a fairly recent development where folks will happily set up a lab with the equipment and software you need to practice on and grant you remote access to those products for a limited time for a fee. I have never been able to successfully use these services but I hear they work pretty well and are handy when you can't afford the equipment required to practice your chosen art or craft.

Use Free Virtual Labs - Microsoft, Cisco and a number of other vendors have graciously created some online virtual labs. These give you access to simulations of their products or versions with a limited feature set in a controlled environment. They then walk you through a set of steps which will lead you to the completion of a specific task. In many cases the environments are pretty realistic and give you a good idea of what working with the product would be like. These are usually free. Microsoft's virtual labs can currently be accessed at http://www.microsoft.com/events/vlabs/default.mspx.

Download Demo Software - Just about every software vendor worth their weight in salt (the bigger the vendor, the higher the sodium intake and the greater your chances of getting a heart attack while using product), has some time or feature limited demo of their software you can make use of if you have appropriate hardware to run it. I encourage this as I heartily support most free methods of learning. Install it, break it, fix it (if you can) and generally get the hang of it. Kinesthetic learners will have a ball here but just about everyone can benefit from this experience.

Simulation Software - When your exam focuses on hardware devices as most Cisco devices do, you can sometimes take advantage of software simulators which allow you to, in the case of simulators for CCNA/CCNP, simulate devices, networks and relatively accurate network interactions.

Alternatively, some clever folks have devised hardware emulators which run on your computer/virtual machine. With the aid of the operating system usually used on the router/switch or whatever you wish to emulate , the software can accurately create a virtual device (router, switch, etc) allowing you to use any command the real hardware can handle.

I prefer the freedom that emulators bring in terms of commands and price, but they are generally difficult to configure and if you don't have access to the relevant operating system they are of no help to you. Simulators usually have a price tag attached but are much easier to set up and work with.

I don't usually suggest stuff (unless it's mine of course) but allow me to digress a moment specifically for this item. Dynamips is a free and popular but quirky emulator for Cisco routers and is available at this site. (http://www.ipflow.utc.fr/index.php/Cisco_7200_Simulator). It also forms the core of the new GNS3 network simulator (also free) available at this site. (http://www.gns3.net). This is an incredible find for those working on Cisco certification because, once you have the relevant IOSes you can accurately model and test a huge assortment of networks. Take a look at it.

One final note on simulations. Some learners may find themselves with a fully configured test environment and ask "Now what?" I have a few suggestions for that learner.

- Go back to the syllabus and try completing the tasks outlined there.

- Check the site for the simulator. Usually other users would have posted information on lab scenarios they would have found helpful in preparing for a given exam.

- Try searching online for the exam code in conjunction with the name of the simulator. You may again find users with valuable suggestions on what configurations you should experiment with for this exam.

Classroom Training - For the purposes of this book I have divided IT classroom training into two broad categories: Regular classroom training and boot camp training. We explore both below.

Regular training usually entails a standard course with a syllabus and objectives which the trainer must meet. It may run anywhere from a half day to six weeks and will be conducted during regular working hours or after hours depending on what the arrangement is with the training entity. (I guess you could do it before hours too like a gym membership but most people are not early morning learners - shrug go figure). The course objective may be preparation for a specific exam but this is not always the case. Competence in a product or a specific aspect of a product may also be the goal. As such, the exam fee may be a part of the course cost.

Boot camp training is "a whole 'nother ballgame" as my mother would say. With boot camp training the goal is almost always to take an exam at the end of the course. These courses are usually highly accelerated versions of standard courses. As a result they are significantly more intense. They are usually constructed to accommodate learners who have very busy schedules and can only afford to be away from work for a week or a few days. The training is often conducted in a boarding school-like environment where the students live on or close to the training room and have access to labs and practice tests for the full duration of the program. Meals and other amenities are usually provided allowing the learner to focus completely on their course of study.

This is not for everyone but if you are quick to grasp points and think you can benefit from being totally immersed in the material for a week or so, go for it. If you are dealing with some crisis or other emotional distractions, don't do it now. If you don't like feeling rushed, don't do it EVER.

Product Help Files and Documentation - In my ever present quest for free learning material, I have stumbled on to a few rare gems of exquisite beauty. Help Files are one such gem. My method of studying for Microsoft exams in specific usually includes searching the internet for each unknown term in each section of the syllabus until I understand them all. I have discovered that there are some terms and processes for which it is almost impossible to find a description on the internet. In fact you could be searching for an hour before you find one truly relevant lead which informs you of what this term used to be called or how the rest of the non-Microsoft world refers to this term. Then finding the description is easy.

That hour or hours could be reduced to mere minutes if you begin your search in the help files for the product. I have discovered that even if no one else uses those terms, the writers of the help files do. You may even find syllabus items which use the exact phrases used in sections of the help files or product documentation.

One more note on this. The internet also provides an incredible body of documentation on every subject imaginable. If you don't have the money to afford books, practice tests and or other resources, once you have access to the internet, you can probably, with a little diligence, find 98% of all the information you need. With a lot of diligence you can find it all. Searching for information is a subject dear to my heart. I thoroughly enjoy it. But that is me and it may not be you.

So in summary, there are plenty of ways to get your knowledge. Choose the methods which best suit your learning style and your budget, but be careful, especially when it comes to practice tests. You don't want to risk being banned for life just so some criminal can get richer.

~~*~~

Chapter 4
Taking the Exam - What To Expect and How To Prepare

So you have studied, you have taken your practice tests, you have done your practice labs and you are ready to take that hairy green-eyed monster by the horns and show him (or her) who's boss…or are you?

At this point I need to depart a little from the primarily factual nature of this guide and ask you to do some more introspection. In specific I need you to ask yourself a very simple question. What happens, if you fail? That question is not rhetorical; I want you to honestly consider the consequences of failing this exam. Ask yourself, within rational boundaries, what is the worst that can happen if I fail this exam?

You may also ask yourself at this point, "what is this guy's problem?". I understand that thinking about failure is hardly a good motivational strategy but what I am trying to do is to get you to make a discovery. I mean, assuming some crazed IT Trainer is not holding your family at gunpoint and threatening to slay them all in a gory bloodbath if you fail the A+ exam, the consequences of failure...aren't all that bad.

I will make a statement now for which I have no empirical evidence other than my observation of hundreds of students. Folks fear failure, even though the consequences may not be all that bad. Even if the security of your job depends on you passing a given IT exam, guess what, in most cases you can take the exam again in 24 hours or at the most a week later which is plenty of time. So what are you afraid of? You could have passed that exam and moved on to the next one long before the HR department gets wind of the first failure.

You are going in there to show that slimy rogue who is in charge and even if you prove that you are not currently in charge, guess what, now you have seen what the exam questions look like and you can go back in ready to wreak true havoc next time. My next chapter goes into detail on how to make the exam pay for his (or her) insolence the second time around but for now, we will focus on your first attempt.

I suggest however that you put the thought of failure as a problem out of your mind. If you need to put aside enough money to take the exam a second time as insurance, go right ahead, but remember that failing the exam just means you will pass with a much higher grade next time if you see it for what it is; an opportunity to improve.
Ok, enough on that score. Let's talk a little about the exams themselves.

Registering for the Exam

Before I get right in to this topic, let me take a few seconds to define some specific terms I will need to use again and again in this section. When I refer to the vendor, I mean the company who offers the certification like Microsoft or Cisco. By "exam" provider I mean the company that offers the exam on behalf of the vendor like Vue and Prometric. The testing center is the company who is authorized by the exam provider to host exams for that provider. (Whew…I'm glad that's cleared up.)

There are two major players in the I.T. certification test provider industry - Pearson Vue and Prometric, who actually administer tests for most of the IT world at the time of this writing.
The steps required to register for an exam are as follows:

a. Find out which testing provider administers the test you intend to take. In most cases you can figure this out by going to the vendors (CompTIA, Microsoft etc) website. It should be pretty obvious after a few minutes of searching which provider handles their exams.

b. Find the testing center where you intend to take the exam. On each provider's website (www.prometric.com or www.vue.com) there is a section for test takers. That would be you. In that section you should select I.T. as your category. This then displays a list of vendors. Select the appropriate vendor (Microsoft, CWNP, CIW etc). At that point with a little reading you should be able to find a link of some sort which allows you to "Locate a Test Center". Click there and away you go.

A word of advice however; call the test center and check to ensure that the time you want to book is actually available. It may be displayed as available on the providers' website, but alas, it may not be so in reality, so call ahead.

c. Next you will want to click on a link which says "Schedule an Appointment" or "Schedule a Test". Either way it is likely to begin with the word Schedule and not likely to have the word "Diaspora" anywhere in the text.

d. At this point I will assume you know the exam code for the test you wish to tackle, you have some appropriate method of payment and you know when and where you want to take the test. Armed with that information you can easily complete the rest of the required forms. If you have any exam discount vouchers which you got with your training package you will need the codes from these at this point as well.

And in those four easy steps, you have registered for your exam. You should get an e-mail within a day or so confirming your registration and offering some words of advice. Read it! Make sure it states the correct date, time and location for your exam. Most importantly, ensure that they got your name right. If anything is amiss, raise a red flag with the test provider immediately so that you can avoid forfeiting the testing fee.

Both providers have some pretty strict restrictions surrounding cancelling tests and the like. Those restrictions are all likely to be stated in that e-mail I mentioned you should read.

Another word of advice; these sites do not always agree with professional grade firewalls as to what constitutes good security. I have had issues before where the registration process hung when I was behind a firewall and would not continue. To the untrained eye it might appear that the registration site was not working. However after connecting to a nearby wireless network I realized that the firewall at that location was actually obstructing the process. If you encounter this unexplained blockages in the registration process, and you have not already submitted your payment information, try registering from another location. If you have already submitted your payment information, contact the exam provider whose site you are on and let them know. They usually respond fairly quickly and are relatively helpful.
Other types of Registration

While Vue and Prometric handle exam administration for many of the major players, other exams require a different registration and testing procedure. This is usually done to maintain the integrity of the examination and the respect accorded to the resulting certification. You will quickly realize in the IT world that the exam integrity is directly related to perceived exam or certification value, in that the more difficult it is to cheat on an exam, the higher the value placed on that exam.

An example of this would be the CCIE Lab exams which are held at specific testing centers and must be scheduled with those centers and paid for at least 90 days ahead of time. Another example would be the CISSP exams which are held only at specific times in the year and at specific locations. You must register on their website (www.isc2.org) via a form and handle your own travel and accommodations to get to the testing center in time for the exam. The Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) certification also has a stringent set of requirements and a huge price tag, which must all be covered prior to your stepping before the review board. (The last hurdle in the test is that you have to handle a grueling interview process by a review board who grill you to see if you know your stuff). Generally speaking, however, the test registration process follows a path much like what has been already outlined for Prometric and Vue.

T'was the Night Before Testing
T'was the night before testing and all through the house,
The student was pacing and irking the spouse.
No seriously, in this section we quickly cover what to do on the night before your test.

SLEEP!

Again seriously, if you really plan to give this thing your best shot, ideally you should put the book down, turn off the computer and get some sleep. If you are like me however, you may have waited until the night before to cover the last two chapters. That's ok too I guess, but ideally, you should get some sleep.

Exam Day
Ok, the Big Day. Here is the basic list of do's and don'ts.

1. DO get to the exam/testing center at least an hour early - In fact you may want to go there a few days before so you know where it is and can work out an appropriate route. The last thing you want to do is be late.

2. DO adhere to any and all regulations stipulated by the testing center administrators, within reason. If they suggest that a strip search is mandatory and proceed to don slightly yellowed plastic gloves you may want to find the nearest law enforcement agency. Ordinarily however, they do require you to empty your pockets and some prohibit eating and drinking in the exam rooms. You may also be issued with an erasable whiteboard of sorts and a dry erase marker. The idea is you are supposed to be able to take notes during the exam but those notes are not allowed to leave with you.

3. DON'T cheat - Even if it seems like no one is watching you, I think it is required that all exam rooms have cameras installed and if you followed all the advice in this book up to this point, you don't need to cheat to pass anyhow.

4. DON'T worry about it. As we said before, failure is not a problem once you can handle the consequences (which are usually not all that bad) and even if you fail you can take vengeance in a few days anyhow so no sweat. Don't fear failure. It’s just another teaching tool like geese and yoghurt.

5. DO empty your bladder and optionally your bowels before you go into the exam room. If you are like me, once you start a task like this, you hate the idea of getting up to go to the bathroom. Furthermore some of this exam software can be downright flaky, so while your exam may remain paused during your potty break, it may not resume afterwards so my advice: Get all those tasks completed ahead of time.

So what SHOULD you expect when you go to the testing center? My experience says every center actually differs a little and it would be best that you call or visit ahead of time, explain that this is your first test (if it is) or at least your first test with them and ask them what you need to bring and what to expect. Barring that your best bet is to follow the stipulations on the email sent to you by the testing provider.

My final piece of advice is based on what I do when I settle down in front of the computer to begin an exam. This is my own ritual. Find what works for you but have a ritual.
I usually:

1. Take a deep breath and calm myself as much as possible

2. Pray that I pass. (For those of you who are interested, my prayer goes something like this: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for my sins, PLEASE help me to pass this exam, PLEASE , PLEASE, for Christ's sake Amen.)

3. Write down any formula, acronyms or drawings I have developed to help jog my memory on the erasable board or pad provided.

4. Click to begin the exam.

5. Fill out any questionnaire there may be at the beginning honestly.

6. Skip the optional tutorial showing the different question types (I didn't come there to learn about question types). If you feel it would be beneficial for you, then by all means, feel free to go through the tutorial. There is usually no time penalty associated with the tutorial.

7. Click the first question and away I go.

During the Exam

In this section we examine the different types of questions you may face on an IT exam and some strategies which may help you answer them faster and with more confidence. If you do a practice test or two you have already probably figured these things out but I will share them anyway.
Multiple Choice Questions

Usually these questions require you to choose one of four or so possible responses. It may be one of six or seven but it is more commonly four. These tend to be the easiest type of question to get correct because you know the answer is one of those four choices. If you remember the following tips you can improve your chances of success significantly.

1. Read the question and all four answers thoroughly ONCE and IMMEDIATELY click the one which you think is correct. Experience has shown me that with multiple choice questions, your first impression is often the right one.

2. Read the question and answers again. Most multiple choice questions have two answers which are obviously not correct to anyone who knows the product on which the test is based - eliminate these from your choices.

3. The remaining two answers are usually similar and may only differ in one small point which qualifies one as correct and one as incorrect. Find that difference - then you know what knowledge the question really requires. Base your selection of the correct answer on that difference. (Bad grammar and non-existent or unfamiliar phrases usually indicate that answer is incorrect.

4. If an answer has an unfamiliar phrase or term which is similar to another valid term used in this particular product, don't assume it is correct just because you have never heard it before. Try to focus on the answers which are within your realm of understanding, even if they don't seem to make sense.

5. DON'T DOUBT YOURSELF - The first answer you select is usually the correct one.

6. If none of the answers make sense, mark the question and move on if this is possible. Come back to it at the end of the test and read the question and answers again. Often, other answers or questions may offer some clue for questions which you might have marked earlier.

Marking Questions

I pause here for a brief discussion on marking questions. Most IT based computer exams present their questions sequentially, so question two follows question one etc. Each of these questions usually occupies one screen. So you must move on from the current screen to answer the next question.

Some exams allow you to mark questions whose answers you are unsure about by clicking a check box. You can then review these marked questions at the end of the exam. Use this feature to your advantage and avoid wasting undue time on individual questions. If you can't figure it out in a minute or so, mark it and move on.

It should be noted that some exams, like those for Cisco certification, don't have this feature. Each answer is final and you cannot return to previous questions to adjust your answers.

You will want to know whether your exam allows marking of questions ahead of time so that you can develop a strategy. If you cannot mark or revisit questions, you should spend as little time as possible on questions whose answer you definitely know, and a little more time on questions whose answers are less obvious.
Choose All That Apply

This question type is much like the Multiple Choice question, but in this case, you are allowed to select more than one answer. As I understand it, if you select one of the incorrect answers the entire question is recorded as incorrect.

The trick with these questions is to try to determine how many answers they require. In some cases this is openly stated. In others you can deduce this by looking at the answers themselves. Some of them may be mutually exclusive.
For example if a question asks "Which of these are Prime Numbers?"?

a. 1 and 2

b. 1, 2 and 3

c. 3 and 4

d. 5

The true goal here is to find the most correct answer. Selections A and B cannot be used together because they overlap. Selections B and C also overlap but C is incorrect outright. It is likely they want more than one item so your choices rest with either some combination of items A and D OR B and D

While this technique may seem a little esoteric, it can help you to narrow down the possible options and give you a decided edge.
Simulation Questions

These deserve special attention. In Cisco exams it is the common belief that if you fail the simulations, you fail the exam. Get to understand how your vendor's simulations work.

With Cisco and Microsoft simulations you usually have a list of tasks which must be completed before you close the simulation window. When you close that window and move on to the next question it is expected that all of the required tasks have been completed and the item is finished. With Cisco exams it is a common but almost always "fatal" mistake to close the simulator window after completing the first task but not the others. Once you have moved on to the next question in this case the question is graded and you cannot return to it. For this reason take your time with simulator questions and read all questions, answers, instructions and pop-ups carefully.
Questions with Exhibits

Some questions have associated drawings which are displayed by clicking on a link which opens up the picture or drawing in a new window. You can usually easily toggle back and forth between windows to answer the question or view the exhibit. Normally closing the exhibit will not end the question and it can be accessed again as long as the "Click Here for Exhibit" button is still available.
Click and Drag Questions

In these questions you are given a list of steps or components. These must be arranged in the correct order or in the correct locations in a display section on the screen in order to satisfy the requirements outlined in the question.

You should note that in most cases all options are not to be used so this also incorporates some elements of the Choose All that Apply question. These questions should be treated with respect as they can be difficult. Take your time here. I don't know if you get awarded points for partially correct answers so ensure you nail these questions where possible. These are almost definitely questions that you should mark and review, if that is an option, unless you are absolutely sure of your answer.

And now a few general tips from someone who has taken more than a score of these exams.
PANIC

There may come a point during the exam where you have just marked about four questions in rapid succession. You have no clue what the answers could be and you begin to lose heart. Your palms get sweaty and you start to panic mildly.

This intra-exam panic, (How do you like that one, "intra-exam panic", you can always tell a highly paid individual, they have an important sounding term for everything - I WISH! - My wife thinks this line is "cheesy" by the way, but I'm leaving it in anyhow) can be seriously detrimental to your chances of success. It will slow you down, make you second guess yourself and generally get in your way.
Stop, Breathe, Re-Focus and get going. Remember failure is only a problem if you make it one.

Complete the Exam
Whatever you do, try to finish all the questions. If you realize you only have half an hour left and you have only completed seven out of forty questions, time to step up your game. You see, as I understand it, the questions which are not completed are marked as incorrect. So you lose points for every question you don't complete. Therefore, if you are going to get it wrong anyway, it's much better to at least try all the questions (at least then you have a chance of getting them right).

At the end of the exam when your review period is over they usually provide you with an opportunity to comment on questions or provide feedback. This can usually be skipped quickly if you desire.

After a brief pause, suspiciously long enough to hold a reasonable drum roll, you are greeted with one of two notifications. One starts with Congratulations and one…does not.

Finally you may be presented with a score report indicating how you did in each broad section of the syllabus evaluated and your overall grade. The exam is over. Leave the testing center and collect your belongings on the way out. The next two chapters look at what to do if you fail and, when you pass.

~~*~~

Chapter 5
So You Failed Eh…

How could you let yourself do that you worthless piece of…. Please note, you should not treat yourself like this nor should you allow anyone else to disrespect you in this manner.

Yes you feel bad. Perhaps you are embarrassed and maybe even a little angry with yourself (and possibly even with the writer of this book) but I want to draw something to your attention.

You have just completed an exam which you failed fairly. A number of persons cannot comfortably say so. They may have passed but they know that it was not by honest and fair means. Others don't yet have the courage to go where you have gone and, most importantly, you are alive to try again and that is just what I suggest you do.

Below I have outlined what I call the strategy of revenge. Here is where you prepare like the hero of an old kung-fu movie, and return to destroy the man who slew your master and defeated you. Follow the steps below and you have a good chance of totally decimating the exam the second time around.

1. During the first exam, if you realize without a doubt that you have under prepared, begin making mental notes of all the concepts you see which are totally foreign to you. It is one thing if an unfamiliar term shows up in an answer. You may be able to safely ignore it. If it shows up in a question however you are supposed to know what that term, phrase or concept is. Note those items in your mind.

2. The moment you see that failure notice come up, give yourself a few seconds to grieve then try to recall all of the questions you saw with unfamiliar content. Also note in your mind what areas were stressed on this exam.

3. Once you get clear of the testing center, scribble down all of those unfamiliar concepts, terms and phrases on a piece of paper. Also include the areas you believe were stressed most during the exam.

As soon as you can, grab a copy of the syllabus and try to identify the individual items where you think you were weakest. The score report may also present some of this information, but it may be limited in its usefulness as it only displays your score for each broad topic and does not provide specifics and/or recommendations.

4. If you can, either schedule a new exam date for a week or so later, or at least set in your mind and on your calendar a date in the near future (within a two week period) when you will take the exam again.

5. Take your notes, terms concepts and syllabus and immerse yourself in the areas where you were weak. Find out what those terms mean. Use that small feature of the software you did not try because you figured it was not on the exam. Cover all of the exposed areas.

6. Then ensure you are completely comfortable with the concepts which were tested most heavily on the exam. If there were any answers which had unfamiliar terms, now is the time to familiarize yourself with them. If you were almost sure about a given question now is the time to consolidate that knowledge.

You have the advantage now. You have seen some of the questions. You know how they are phrased, what topics are stressed and your areas of weakness. Victory is within your grasp.

Again, it is highly recommended, but not required, that you sleep the night before the exam. But in this case, if you desire, you can be reviewing terms and questions all the way to the testing center. (This assumes you are not driving and/or do not usually get car sick in which case…just enjoy the drive).

The difference here is you know exactly what you are up against this time and you are ready.

With all of this excitement I need to add one disclaimer here. Most of these exams are based on a pool of questions, so it is likely you will not see all of the questions you saw the first time around. In fact you may not see any of those questions, but the point is now you know the kinds of questions they use, the areas the examiners stress and your own areas of weakness. Make this attempt count.

I honestly expect that you would have passed at the end of this attempt but in the unlikely event that you do fail, it might be a good idea to re-evaluate your learning style and training materials and take another shot at it once you have re-studied. Perhaps the materials you selected did not contain adequate information or you are not assimilating that information. Having passed however, the final chapter is a salute to your achievement.
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Chapter 6
CONGRATULATIONS - Lets party! (at least for a little bit)

You passed, I knew you could. Give me a minute to collect on all the bets I made to that effect (I don't actually gamble by the way, I've heard it destroys families and people).

So what now? Well, it is likely that within a few weeks to a few months depending on the certification vendor, where you live in the world and the time of year you will get a small cardboard package in the mail containing, at least, your certificate.

Some cert vendors may incorporate other cool stuff including, wallet cards, huge unattractive lapel pins and T-shirts (hooray for CIW). You should also receive a complimentary welcome e-mail lauding your achievements and outlining the rules for the use of your new designation. Pay attention to these, as incorrect use of the certification logo or other privileges you have been accorded could result in your de-certification (yes there is such a thing) and perhaps have legal ramifications.

The next step would be to plan your next certification. Most certifications expire after two or three years so you will want to be sure of what you need to do to keep current and prepare to reach the next level of certification. Usually, passing an upper level certification automatically qualifies you as current on lower level certs. In some cases keeping your certification may only require you to prove your continued involvement in the industry. Ensure you know what is required to keep your certification current.

Well we have come to the end of your journey. You have passed and are satisfied with the information you have gained in this book. As I insinuate in the preceding paragraph, don't stop here. In I.T. there are always new challenges to face, technologies to be mastered and new exams to be taken. So thanks for your attention. Now it's time to put this book down and get to work.

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THE END

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About the Author

Shaun Archer BSc, MCSA, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP, MCT, CCNP, ECCE, MCIWD, CIW CI, Sec+, i-Net+ is an IT Solutions Architect and trainer living on the little Caribbean island of Barbados. In the last 10 years he has passed over 25 IT exams and successfully delivered a slew of IT courses including MCSE, Security + and Certified Internet Webmaster. Aside from the real world experience he has gained as an architect, Shaun attributes his success to his faith in God and the love of his family. He is the husband of one wife and father of three children whom he loves dearly.