From: Simon Grace (SimonG@pcsystems.gr)
Date: Tue Nov 20 2007 - 07:10:55 ART
Hi Guys,
I've left this a few days before I wrote it as I needed to calm down.
Back in September I took my first lab exam. I used the Internetworking
expert labs and due to me not being quick enough and not leaving myself
enough time to work on the real tricky questions I just missed out.
Okay, no problems with that, I didn't deserve to pass and needed to up
my game a bit.
Without going into details that by knowing the stuff on the IE labs and
the various areas covered you should be okay in the lab. There were a
couple of new questions I'd not seen but that's to be expected. The lab
was of a fair level.
Okay, I got back on the study, got my speed up and basically hit it at
150%. I carried on with the IE labs but really nailed them, I also
checked out a lot of the things that came up here and lab'd stuff up
that I'd not seen before.
Went back last week, knowing that nothing is certain but knowing that my
skill level was much higher than the first time around and I only just
missed that.
I was blown away, firstly the exam was much, much harder than the first
one. I read through the exam and realised that a good proportion of the
questions I was seeing for the first time. Not to mention the way the
questions were asked. Once again without going into details it wasn't a
case of configure this it was put in such a way to make it as difficult
as possible to ask a question. Not just once, twice but once again, many
difficult questions. I couldn't help but feel that they had made the
exam so difficult that they were really trying to stop people from
passing. Going by the exam 2 months before and then this one, they was
absolutely no comparison, the second was just mind blowing.
Now, I'm no Einstein, but I did work very hard on this and I know my
stuff, but when the score report comes back I really can't help but feel
that something really isn't quite right, I feel like the goal posts have
been completely moved. Plus I know the stuff was working and I know
where I dropped points but the score report doesn't reflect that.
I got chatting to a guy after the exam who'd had the same lab. He'd also
sat one a couple of months before and had been studying about the same
amount of time and talking to him I get the idea that he too knows his
subject. We both agreed fully that it was just on another plane and
couldn't understand how two exams could be so different in expected
level of knowledge.
So, I'm writing this not in a lets go on a burn and pillage rampage but
rather has anyone else had similar experiences, do you feel a bit let
down by the fact that there appears to be no standard level for the
exam. I'm trying to speak with our Cisco guys here to see what can be
done. Obviously Cisco own it and do with it what they want but I don't
like to be treated unfairly and will try and do whatever is in my power
to get things sorted. The price of the exam including flights etc isn't
cheap and we deserve a level playing field.
Please unicast me, no need to go into details but more on the lines of
found the exam to be fair or totally different levels, whatever you feel
relevant.
Oh well, I'm gonna take a few weeks off, think about things and then I
suppose get back into it.
I wish you guys who are going to take the exam all the luck and don't
worry, if you get something on the lines of the first one you are
getting a fair crack of the whip.
Cheers,
Simon.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Dec 01 2007 - 06:37:30 ART