Bigger accomplishment, lesser pleasure.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I just took the second half of my A+ exam and I passed. This is a good thing, and a good starting point for me to get other certifications. I was elated when I passed the first half, but todays experience left something to be desired. I described the first half of the test in my earlier thread

I elected to take the test in the second group for both extra study time, and a little feedback from the people exiting the test site about the test. You are allowed 90 minutes to take the test and the first two people were out of there in 15 minutes. One scored 898 out of 900 (the highest score seen at our facility) and the other scored a 893. We needed to get at least a 700, and everyone that came out was above 800. They said it was ten times easier than the previous test, which four people failed twice, and five failed the first time. Given the consensus that the second exam was far easier, and I passed the first time on the first one, I was pretty confident.

I started the test and right away got a few questions on topics that we had never covered, nor were in the review or sample testing materials I had studied with. Then there were more. There were several acronyms I had never seen before, and numerous questions regarding processes we hadn’t even come close to in class. I was positive that I had failed the test, so much so that I told the instructor as much, when I was filling out the survey at the end. He said he was confident that I would pass (the actual test was over, I just hadn’t received my score yet). I told him that my test was so hard that there was no way in hell that I got more than 60 or 70 percent of the questions right, 80 percent being needed to pass.

He said that I probably got a few “beta questions”, questions that are asked but do not count at all towards the final score. I thought it would be great if a few of those bastard questions didn’t count towards my score.

I hit the end exam button, and I got an 815/900! :eek: Not awesome, but much better than just a pass. It seems that my test was possibly 30 percent beta questions! The instructor said that he had seen one or two instances before of “beta tests” where there are a large number of betas.

I was so stressed that I was going to fail that I was in a pretty dour mood when it came time to see my score. When I saw I passed, I was more surprised than anything. It kind of took the joy out of getting the cert. I mean, I’m still happy about being certified, but I don’t have the perma-smile that I did after passing the first one. Maybe when I get the certificate in the mail I’ll get another boost. Those damn betas were really stressful. Thank goodness I never have to take that test again!

2

Well, I hope that my experience can help someone else in the future.

It’s not easy to take a test that kicks your ass, and then realize that even though you got the cert, it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

However, once I get in to a company that needs IT techs or help desk techs, I have one advantage that the other geeks don’t usually have.

I can talk to people.

When I talk to them, there is a level of understanding, and they feel that they can talk to me again without feeling judged. Some of the geeks I work with (their term, not mine) just ooze geekiness all over the place. Your standard office worker and the tech geek are… wait a minute.

I might need to address this issue at a later time. Perhaps when there isn’t any celebratory beer involved.

3

I get to take the Series 7 Securities exam relatively soon. It’s 70% to pass, there are two halves, 3 hours each and 125 questions each, and they DON’T round up.

That’s going to be a BUCKET of fun.

4

I’ve heard that the MCSE tests are a literal nightmare to take.

I’ll still never understand how some girl got a four year degree in IT, and still failed the essentials test twice.