Earlier information indicated that the pass rate on an ITIL V3 Foundation exam was at approximately 95%.
Too good to be true I guess.
[Web site here]
Per EXIN, one of the test centers, here is their 2008 pass rate based on the language version of the exam:
ITIL® V3 Foundation (ITV3F) (V3)
84% ITIL® V3 Foundation (ITV3F) (V3) English
85% ITIL® V3 Foundation (ITV3F) (V3) German
78% ITIL® V3 Foundation (ITV3F) (V3) French
67% ITIL® V3 Foundation (ITV3F) (V3) Spanish
70% ITIL® V3 Foundation (ITV3F) (V3) Spanish (Latin America)
86% ITIL® V3 Foundation (ITV3F) (V3) Japanese
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
ITIL on Brainbench - PASS
OK, so I finally did something constructive. Something tangible.
I just passed the Brainbench exam on ITIL concepts. My score was 3.19 of 5, or roughly 64%. Candidly, although I passed, this is not good enough to move ahead without further study.
Although the use of reference material is permitted, I did not use any. The reason I did not use reference material is that when I take the actual ITIL V3 Foundations exam, I will not be able to use reference material and I wanted this exam to give me a better idea on where I'm really at.
There were many diagrams (Perhaps 30%-40%) with questions asking you what they were or what is the missing process. All questions were multiple choice. There are 40 questions and you have 3 minutes to answer each question. I did not run into any time constraints.
There was also one calculation required, so I quickly opened an excel spreadsheet to perform the calculation.
I am still planning to take the actual ITIL V3 Foundations exam. I can focus on the "weak areas" indicated below to improve the chances of success.
Here is the "PASS" message displayed on the screen after the exam. Based on the data from the brainbench website, my actual percentile is 57% out of 298 completed tests:
Thank you for taking the Brainbench ITIL Concepts assessment.
Congratulations! You passed with a score of 3.19. You have now earned a Brainbench certification in ITIL Concepts, which is valid for 3 years from today's date.
Individual Test Results - Actionable Data Just For You
Test: ITIL Concepts
Date: 29-Dec-2009
Score: 3.19
Weights: 100% ITIL Concepts
Elapsed time: 22 min 34 sec
ITIL Concepts
Score: 3.19
Percentile: Scored higher than 50% of previous examinees
Demonstrates a solid understanding of core concepts within this topic. Appears capable of working on most projects in this area with moderate assistance. May require some initial assistance with advanced concepts, however.
Strong Areas
* Problem Management
* Change Management
Weak Areas
* Incident Management & Service Desk
* Capacity Management
* Service Level Management
I just passed the Brainbench exam on ITIL concepts. My score was 3.19 of 5, or roughly 64%. Candidly, although I passed, this is not good enough to move ahead without further study.
Although the use of reference material is permitted, I did not use any. The reason I did not use reference material is that when I take the actual ITIL V3 Foundations exam, I will not be able to use reference material and I wanted this exam to give me a better idea on where I'm really at.
There were many diagrams (Perhaps 30%-40%) with questions asking you what they were or what is the missing process. All questions were multiple choice. There are 40 questions and you have 3 minutes to answer each question. I did not run into any time constraints.
There was also one calculation required, so I quickly opened an excel spreadsheet to perform the calculation.
I am still planning to take the actual ITIL V3 Foundations exam. I can focus on the "weak areas" indicated below to improve the chances of success.
Here is the "PASS" message displayed on the screen after the exam. Based on the data from the brainbench website, my actual percentile is 57% out of 298 completed tests:
Thank you for taking the Brainbench ITIL Concepts assessment.
Congratulations! You passed with a score of 3.19. You have now earned a Brainbench certification in ITIL Concepts, which is valid for 3 years from today's date.
Individual Test Results - Actionable Data Just For You
Test: ITIL Concepts
Date: 29-Dec-2009
Score: 3.19
Weights: 100% ITIL Concepts
Elapsed time: 22 min 34 sec
ITIL Concepts
Score: 3.19
Percentile: Scored higher than 50% of previous examinees
Demonstrates a solid understanding of core concepts within this topic. Appears capable of working on most projects in this area with moderate assistance. May require some initial assistance with advanced concepts, however.
Strong Areas
* Problem Management
* Change Management
Weak Areas
* Incident Management & Service Desk
* Capacity Management
* Service Level Management
Monday, December 28, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Free Webinars?
I just received notification of some free ITIL webinars.
I don't know how good they are, but there are a lot there and may be worth investigating.
http://www.brighttalk.com/summit/itilversion3
I don't know how good they are, but there are a lot there and may be worth investigating.
http://www.brighttalk.com/summit/itilversion3