Test Taking Strategies

Page 2 of 3     1 2 3

You should be able to obtain this information from the certification vendor, often directly through their Web site. If not, you can try general certification sites such as gocertify.com and cramsession.com. Look for exam blueprints, objectives, and in many cases, even practice questions online. It's also worthwhile to ask friends and colleagues about their testing experiences.

Combine your knowledge of the material with your research on the test format. Try to guess what questions you might encounter on the test and practice answering them. You can use commercially created practice exams, questions from a study guide, or make up your own.

Get plenty of sleep the night before the test. Do a last review, but don't study into the wee hours of the morning. The resulting exhaustion will work against you, and if you don't know the material by then, it's probably too late.

The Big Day

Once you're seated at the testing station, take a few minutes to quickly write down on the provided scratch pad anything you think you might forget during the test. This might be a formula for subnetting, a table of facts, a mnemonic or two, or something else. Before the actual exam begins you'll often be given an option to take a short tutorial explaining how the test works. If you've taken similar exams before, you can skip it, otherwise its worthwhile to complete.

As the test begins, read the directions carefully. Are you supposed to choose one answer, or all answers that apply? On computer administered tests single answer items are often indicated with radio buttons while multiple answer items have check boxes, but don't count on it.

If you can mark and return to questions (verify this for sure before you begin), answer all the easy questions first, marking all the others. Then go back and deal with the marked ones. This allows you to get more questions completed should you run out of time. Don't leave any questions blank. An unanswered question is usually counted as wrong.