Some thoughts a couple weeks after passing the exam ...
1) My opinion is that the exam is not that difficult. However, I have to mention that I have worked in the IT Service industry for probably 20 years. I've seen a lot of these items and they just made sense. The PMP and CSQE exams also helped to a minor degree as there was some overlap - not a lot, but some. I would think that most people, spending 4-8 hours per week on self-study (no classes or training) should be able to pass this in 1-2 months.
2) I felt pretty comfortable going into the exam. When I took the PMP, CSQE and Novell's CNA exams, I didn't think I would pass any of those although I did pass them all. Perhaps it was the confidence I received in getting through Brainbench earlier. Perhaps I'm just getting used to taking certification exams.
3) I really liked taking the Brainbench exam as a preliminary step. In addition to "priming" me for the exam, it identified a couple weak areas for me to look at.
Scoring 76.6% on the Brainbench exam equated to 70% on the ITIL exam. Purely unscientific mathematical analysis would therefore state that the minimum Brainbench score should be 3.26 to pass the ITIL exam at 60%. This is not a hard-and-fast rule or an absolute rule to succeed, but merely the correlation I had. One sample is not enough data, but it may give you a general idea on where you need to be.
4) Most of the exam questions related to where items fit into the ITIL processes. I didn't necessarily memorize these as much as I tried to understand and make logical sense of the processes. SD has a couple seemingly out of place processes, but the rest fall in line. You should also be sure to understand Deming's PDCA cycle, RACI and ITIL's DIKW information categories. That's Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Responsible-Accountable-Consulted-Informed (RACI) and Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom (DIKW).
5) I retook the free online Taruu exam a few days before the ITIL exam and once again scored 26/40 for 65%. I'm providing this as a baseline, not an absolute formula for success. On this sample exam, I felt that there were many questions with two right answers.
6) I've posted a number of times over the past 15 months that I was going to register for the exam. It wasn't until I finally registered that I re-focused my studies and got the job done. Having an actual target date was a big motivator and led me to conclude this effort. You can see that I've dropped out of studying for months at a time.
7) I tried getting a study partner to go through this with, but she dropped out after a couple weeks. Maybe next time I'll try to find 2-3 study partners.
8) I received my certificate in the mail a couple days ago. My mail person semi-folded it to get it into the mailbox and the lapel pin distressed the actual certificate as well. It's not too bad, just a bit "distressed". I scanned a copy so I'll always have a backup. Within one week of passing, I also updated my resume, sent an updated copy of my resume to my employer and updated my resume on monster.com
9) It would have been nice to have been able to talk to somebody about the exam, but I don't know anyone that's ITIL certified. I guess I could have contacted somebody on the LinkedIn or Google forums. Thinking back, I probably should have done this. Hopefully this blog will help to fill the void for some of you guys ...
I don't know if I'll pursue additional ITIL certifications in the future. I don't have any problems with it, I just may want to branch out a bit more. I've mentioned on my CSQE blog that I wanted to look at some technical certifications like Linux or Web. Maybe even security. Security knowledge would never hurt you. I will not invest time in Microsoft certifications as they are rendered useless every 3 years or so. That much I know for sure.
On the other hand, I'm starting to consider the possibility of having too many certifications. A lot of certs will make it look like that's all you do. There shouldn't be any issues in certain industries like education, healthcare and pharmaceuticals where certs are required to show competency. It seems to me that if hiring managers have the certifications themselves, then they tend to value them. Same story with a masters degree for IT people - if the hiring managers have them, then they are valuable, if not, then they really don't matter. I think I'll touch base with a couple Human Resources folks that I know to get their opinions on this.
If I come across any good ITIL-related information, I'll add some new posts in the future. I'll also add a link to the next cert I pursue ...
Good luck in your pursuit of ITIL Foundations. I hope this blog provided some value.
-- Dan
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Exam - Mission Accomplished.
I took and passed the exam this morning.
I arrived about 40 minutes early before my scheduled time. They took me right at that time and, after validating my 2 pieces of ID, allowed me to take the exam.
I was given a mylar sheet for notes and an erasable marker and that was it. This allows you to do a "brain dump" when you start the exam. No cell phones or electronic devices allowed in the room. You don't need to bring any pencil or paper.
There is 1 hour and 15 minutes allowed to complete the 40 question exam and I finished in 32 minutes. There is a timer on the top of the screen showing you which question you are on and how much time is left on the exam.
The exam allows you to mark questions for follow-up. When I finished all the questions, a summary page came up showing me which questions I marked and which ones I didn't answer. I marked about 7-8 for follow-up because in the second pass many questions somehow become clearer.
There were many questions on where each process or activity fits within the core processes.
I felt that the book I used to study with [here] was not too beneficial to me personally. I would recommend another source of study material.
My score was 70 and 65 was needed to pass. I should have taken this a year ago when I was studying harder. After almost a year off, I studied for the past 1.5 - 2 weeks.
Well, on to the next cert.
I arrived about 40 minutes early before my scheduled time. They took me right at that time and, after validating my 2 pieces of ID, allowed me to take the exam.
I was given a mylar sheet for notes and an erasable marker and that was it. This allows you to do a "brain dump" when you start the exam. No cell phones or electronic devices allowed in the room. You don't need to bring any pencil or paper.
There is 1 hour and 15 minutes allowed to complete the 40 question exam and I finished in 32 minutes. There is a timer on the top of the screen showing you which question you are on and how much time is left on the exam.
The exam allows you to mark questions for follow-up. When I finished all the questions, a summary page came up showing me which questions I marked and which ones I didn't answer. I marked about 7-8 for follow-up because in the second pass many questions somehow become clearer.
There were many questions on where each process or activity fits within the core processes.
I felt that the book I used to study with [here] was not too beneficial to me personally. I would recommend another source of study material.
My score was 70 and 65 was needed to pass. I should have taken this a year ago when I was studying harder. After almost a year off, I studied for the past 1.5 - 2 weeks.
Well, on to the next cert.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Status
Progress!
Taking (and passing) the Brainbench ITIL Concepts exam this last week has provided me with some motivation and renewed enthusiasm.
Since the exam, I've done the following activities:
- Printed the free flashcards (posted here) and completed a cursory review of them.
- Reviewed some PROCESS material in one of the posted free study guides.
- Studied some Continuous Service Improvement CSI material
- Retook the Brainbench exam with the following improved results:
ITIL Concepts
Score: 3.83
Percentile: Scored higher than 96% of previous examinees
Demonstrates a clear understanding of many advanced concepts within this topic. Appears capable of mentoring others on most projects in this area.
Strong Areas
• Problem Management
• Incident Management & Service Desk
• Capacity Management
• Service Level Management
• IT Service Continuity Management
Weak Areas
• Availability Management
I've also (finally) scheduled the EXIN exam.
That was painful. The registration process appeared to "hang" a couple times and I was unable to print a receipt of my payment. I did receive email notification that I had registered, so I'll check with the testing center to verify everything is good. I'll also visit the testing center prior to the exam to ensure that I know EXACTLY where to go and to evaluate if any road construction would cause delays.
After all these months, I'm finally going to take the exam.
Finally.
Taking (and passing) the Brainbench ITIL Concepts exam this last week has provided me with some motivation and renewed enthusiasm.
Since the exam, I've done the following activities:
- Printed the free flashcards (posted here) and completed a cursory review of them.
- Reviewed some PROCESS material in one of the posted free study guides.
- Studied some Continuous Service Improvement CSI material
- Retook the Brainbench exam with the following improved results:
ITIL Concepts
Score: 3.83
Percentile: Scored higher than 96% of previous examinees
Demonstrates a clear understanding of many advanced concepts within this topic. Appears capable of mentoring others on most projects in this area.
Strong Areas
• Problem Management
• Incident Management & Service Desk
• Capacity Management
• Service Level Management
• IT Service Continuity Management
Weak Areas
• Availability Management
I've also (finally) scheduled the EXIN exam.
That was painful. The registration process appeared to "hang" a couple times and I was unable to print a receipt of my payment. I did receive email notification that I had registered, so I'll check with the testing center to verify everything is good. I'll also visit the testing center prior to the exam to ensure that I know EXACTLY where to go and to evaluate if any road construction would cause delays.
After all these months, I'm finally going to take the exam.
Finally.