EXAM STRATEGY: Brainbench

Brainbench provides certification tests on different technology and business skills.

I really consider them to be more of a "competency exam" rather than a "certification".

They have an exam available for ITIL concepts that I thought would be worthwhile to try out as a preliminary step to see how ready I am. [Brainbench link to the ITIL Concepts exam]

The cost of an exam is $49 and a re-take is $29. Additionally, you can subscribe to unlimited tests and retests for one year for $200. A hardcopy certificate will cost you $14.99, but is not required.

Methinks it will at least get the ITIL keyword on my resume, should I pass, so I'm going to try it out.

Unrelated to ITIL, it could be worthwhile to go to their site, under Individual Certification, and do a search on "free", as they have a number of other exams that temporarily have no charge.

Good things about brainbench:
1) Easy to access the exam from any PC with internet connectivity.
2) Allows the use of reference material (but don't waste too much time looking things up!)
3) Low cost
4) Upon completion, it will identify weak areas for you to focus on
5) The Brainbench site indicates that many employers use their service.
6) Since the exam is online, there is no need to pre-register. You can take it whenever you like.
7) If you re-take the exam, only your highest score is used.
8) If successful, allows the use of the ITIL credential on your resume

Not-so-good things about brainbench:
1) You are on the honor system for not using anyone to help you. This is not a bad thing for most people, however, some employers will consider that the "possibility" exists to cheat on an exam. As such, the perceived value can be diminished. I still believe that it is considerably better than nothing.
2) There are no means of skipping over a question and returning later. You need to answer the question at that time.
3) You are not given feedback on which questions you answered incorrectly. This is not unusual for certification exams.

Here is a 2000 article about brainbench on InformationWeek.