Re: IBM Certification Testing

Eh Hem!

Gentlemen.  I think you a judging an entire program by a single
scene.  I will grant you that test is a) a bit old and b) not written
to current standards c) there is little study material (being generous
there) and d) some of the questions lean more toward 'tricky' than
testing knowledge.

There are many tests (I think this is one of them) that are due for
refreshing due in large part simply because of change in the material
(OS/400 versions etc) They cannot all be re-written at once nor even
every year. If you have not written at least one of these tests then
you can not appreciate all that goes into each of them. 

As each test is being re-written there are newer standards that they
are held to, not the least of which are 1) A complete diagnostic test
that has the same number of questions over the same material as the
real test and 2) Greatly expanded information on where to study for
each area should you not pass or wish to learn on weaker area's.  In
addition, let me assure you from personal experience that 'trick'
questions, or questions that are based on 'picky' details are no
longer tolerated in the exams, nor are intentianally humorous or
blatantly wrong answers. (What is security level R2D2 for example!?)

As for what is covered in each test, the information covered is
gathered from surveys sent to people such as those on this list.  It
is not created by a handfull of people in a room in a cold northern
state.  If the outline suggests that a system administrator needs to
know security but the surveys say that nobody ever does security then
little or no security information will be included!  The tests attempt
to cover as close to real world situations as possible.

Unfortunately some of the older tests were written by a previous
generation of test writers.  I don't know what rules they had to
follow, or who they had write them.  I have taken several of these
older tests myself and while I must agree with some of the comments
made, please don't junk the entire program because of one tired test.

I have said this before, and it is still true:

 If you have any CONSTRUCTIVE comments about any test or testing in
general I will be certain to forward them to responsible and
Responsive persons within IBM Certification.  And please do NOT ask
what questions you got wrong or what the correct answers are! (That
didn't even work for Me!)

 - Larry Bolhuis

IBM Certified Specialist:
 AS/400 Client Access
 AS/400 Solution Sales V4R2
 AS/400 Professional Network Admin - Network/MultiSystems Environment
 AS/400 Business Intelligence Technical SOlutions V4R2
IBM Certitied Expert:
 AS/400 Tehnical Solutions V4R4
 AS/400 e-business V4R2
  .
  .
  .



Art Baker wrote:
> 
> Mike,
>         Great note! I looked at going to Las Vegas a couple of times to take
> that same test. I missed it because of the work load here. Now I'm glad I
> did miss it.
> Art
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Shaw [mailto:mshaw@ncal.verio.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 1999 8:46 AM
> To: MIDRANGE-L Listserv
> Cc: dheller@us.ibm.com; alucas@us.ibm.com
> Subject: IBM Certification Testing
> Importance: High
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> Last week I attended the AS/400 Technical Conference in Las Vegas.  One of
> the reasons I chose to attend the conference was to take the Professional
> Systems Administrator certification exam.  The good news for me is that I
> did take it and  passed the exam.  The bad news is that the exam is a hoax!
> 
> I do support the concept and process of certification to demonstrate a level
> of competency.  It is a valuable tool to assess skills that you may need to
> bring in or to measure yourself against your peers.
> 
> SoapBoxMode(*ON)
> 
> I was very disappointed in the process.  The exam did not test my ability to
> manage an AS/400(s) in a large environment, it tested my ability to know
> when I needed to call a marketing person to buy more hardware!!!!  Is that
> what we are being certified to do???  I think not, knowing when you need
> more is a very small part.  Knowing how to manage what you have and get the
> most from it day-in and day-out is the bigger challenge and the exam does
> not test you in the accepted practices to do that.
> 
> The other complaint that I have is that someone breathing good ol' pure air
> does not think in the terms the certification exam is written in.  Not only
> did the exam *fail* to test my skill level from 20 years experience in the
> IBM midrange arena, they managed to find every a-- backward way there way
> known to man to ask a simple question.  Make me sweat bullets over knowing
> the AS/400, not in asking simple questions with trickery.
> 
> Preparation material to take the exam is non-existent for the Professional
> System Administrator certification.  Outside of a web page with bullet
> points of broad areas that you need to know, there is nothing!  There is not
> even a pre-test that you can take to assess where you are and what you need
> to persue to improve.  I was told by an IBM'er in the Certification Lab to
> take the Associate System Administrator exam, it was representative....I
> took the pre-test in 21 minutes and scored a passing grade...Tell me  that
> is representative!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> To get an idea of what the Professional System Administrator exam was like,
> I took it at a $75.00 cost just to see what I was getting into and how to
> improve.  I missed a passing grade by 2 percent, taking it cold turkey.  You
> should not have to do that.  There should be a representative pre-test
> available for you to take and assess where you are in the learning process.
> 
> I hope that someone in IBM sees this and chooses to do something about it.
> Where we are now in the certification process for a Professional System
> Administrator is poor at best.  I have a much higher expectation (and I hope
> that all of you do too) for a product that has IBM's name on it.
> 
> SoapBoxMode(*OFF)
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Mike Shaw
> Senior AS/400 Tech Support
> IBM Certified Professional System Administrator (I know when to call a
> marketing rep)
> Santa Rosa, CA
> 

-- 
Larry Bolhuis         | What do you want to reload today?
Arbor Solutions, Inc  | 
(616) 451-2500        | Two rules to success in life:
lbolhui@ibm.net       | 1. Never tell people everything you know.
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