Study for your test and you won’t need to guess – Part 2: Studying outside the MOC

Part 1: Add a little ‘Class’ to your studies

This is the second of a three part posting on some of the suggestions that I have on how to prepare for taking a certification test. It is intended for those who are new to the IT environment as well as those that have been in the line of fire for a while and may need to start the certification process or upgrade the certifications that they already have.

If you are an experienced IT professional then the courseware and information that you get from sitting a class might be all that you need to prepare for the test. Also, if you have experience with an earlier version of the product then there are usually upgrade classes so you can get the information that you need without sitting through base information that you already have.

If however you are new to the particular technology, a class might not be enough. When I was studying for my NT exams, I noticed questions on the practice test covered information that I had never seen before (as exam questions are prone to do). The classes that I took prepared me to do the job, but what I really needed was some help in all of the extra material that Microsoft was going to ask me about, but was not covered in the class; that’s when I found study guides. Where the class prepares you to do the tasks associated to the job you will eventually do, the study guides are designed to help you pass the exam. My favorite guide that I use to study comes from Sybex Publishing (no they did not give me a kick back to mention them, but I still like the books). I think what helped me the most is how they have the information presented; lots of tables (good for memorization), scenarios that describe how the technologies can be used (how things work) and the authors seem to have a sense of humor (important because this is not the most readable on the face of the Earth). The study guides normally have a lot of review questions at the end of the chapters that can also be used to see how well the information is sticking with you.

Whether you invest in study guides (or borrow them from your local library) or strictly use the curriculum from the vendor, you need to be looking for specific items as you are reading through the material. First off, if the publisher puts something into a table, you better know that table. This is most prevalent in some of the non-vendor specific exams from CompTIA, where you are learning a lot of the basic building blocks of IT (how far can a 100BaseT cable transmit data, what chip goes with what socket and such), but can even show up in Microsoft courseware when they are pointing out the Default settings for a product, or the minimum requirements that the machine must have to install software. Know what’s in the Tables!

Many study guides will also have happy little icons in the margins showing you what will be important for the exam. Make a table of your own to put information so marked so that you can study from your notes instead of having to scan through the book to find this important information. Another device that I have seen students use for memorization is flash cards for their notes. I know that it sounds like elementary school stuff, but it really helps you get the knowledge into your short-term memory. Whenever you have a few minutes of time you need to be reviewing your notes and flash cards.

Final installment – Practice makes perfect