Top Fail-Proof Tips For IT Cert Preparation

Valuable preparation strategies to help IT pros get ready for and  pass certification examinations.

Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked on dozens of IT certification books and have edited perhaps as many as two hundred more. Every single one of those titles revolved around one or more IT certification exams, because passing one or more such exams is invariably the ticket that must be punched to earn such credentials.

Along the way, I’ve picked up some valuable preparation strategies to help candidates not only get ready for, but also to pass certification exams. Here they are, in order of appropriate application from just getting started on a topic or exam, to just before you head off to the testing center to strut your stuff (or take your chances, as they case may be).

1. Gather Your Materials

I just recently wrote another article here entitled “Successful Certification Self-Study Materials,” wherein I recount what kinds of study materials and exam prep resources are worth considering and purchasing to get exam preparation underway. Check this out, research your options, and make your selections. I’m strongly in favor of purchasing one or more of the following items during this step of the exam prep process:

• Exam information, objectives, and so forth: The best place to start your adventure is to visit the exam sponsor’s Web site, with particular emphasis on information and guidance relevant to the exam(s) that interest you. In particular, you’ll want to obtain exam objectives, look for reading lists, preparation advice, and any other information they provide to tell you about and help you get ready for your exam.
• Study Guide: a long detailed in-depth book that teaches all the necessary background to get ready for your chosen exam(s). If you don’t already know the subject matter well, buy one to use as a reference even if you don’t need to read it cover to cover.
• Exam Cram: a short, focused book that covers topics, problems, and scenarios related to the exam, and provides pointers and tips for dealing with exam questions and coverage. Buy one if you can get one for your chosen exam.
• Practice Tests: a series of three or more full question banks for the certification exam(s) you’re pursuing. Buy two sets because you’ll want to use them for readiness assessment, interim assessment, and pre-exam tune-ups and last-minute gap analysis and remedy.
• Flash Cards: buy some pre-fab cards, look around online for existing free sets, or make your own. One way or another, these will come in handy for drilling and practice.
• Online or Instructor-Led Training: If your budget permits, taking a class is a great way to start the prep process, and also to gain access to a lab for hands-on practice and learning, and a qualified instructor to answer your questions and help you over any rough spots you might encounter.
• Study Groups, User Forums, and More: Online or in the real world you can find all kinds of groups, organizations, and like-minded people and websites to help you learn from others who are prepping for or who’ve taken the exams that interest you. Find the good ones, and make the most of them as you work through the other steps.

Be sure to use the final item in the preceding list to obtain guidance on who provides the best-of-breed study guides, exam crams, practice tests, and so forth, to help you select and acquire the materials you’ll need to prepare for your exam. Why spend your hard-earned cash on anything else?

Ed Tittel is a 30-year-plus veteran of the computing industry, who’s worked as a programmer, a technical manager, a classroom instructor, a network consultant and a technical evangelist for companies that include Burroughs, Schlumberger, Novell, IBM/Tivoli and NetQoS. He has written and blogged for numerous publications, including Tom's Hardware, and is the author of over 140 computing books with a special emphasis on information security, Web markup languages and development tools, and Windows operating systems.