Genuine exam software or a braindump? How to determine the difference

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I told you these yanks are weird

 

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To follow up on this post that I created a while ago, I read a thread by "drthtater" at Techexams.net that has a link to an online database of known braindump sites.

Here's what CertGuard has on file for www.certforums.co.uk

http://www.certguard.com/search.asp?Site=certforums.co.uk

Source:

1. "What makes a braindump?" thread at TechExams.net - http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25371
2. CertGuard - The Stronghold for Excellence in IT Certification and Exam Security - http://www.certguard.com/search.asp

 

When I was looking into studying for a career in IT, I almost bought some 'test exams' from TeastKing. However, something didn't seem right, and I didn't get them in the end. Thankfully.

If people use braindumps to get the certs, it just lowers the value and quality of the certs.

 

Just read the above posts with interest.

One thing I don't get about braindumping, apart from the cheating.
Chatting to a couple of guys in the canteen before the A+ O/S exam they mentioned how they had bought 700 practice questions from the net. I guess what those guys had bought were braindumps.

BUT, surely its easier to learn about the subject than to memorize 700+ questions, I know you have to memorize some stuff for the A+ but I you have read up on the subject you can make an educated guess at the answer to a tricky question.

If your that clever that you can remember all those questions, your smart enough to learn it in the first place!!


Edit: BTW I know one of the two guys did not pass.

 

Its true what sparky said, once you've done a test and then redo it, you are bound to remember a few answers to the questions, thus making the score inaccurate.

 

Interesting post Guys

Anyone got any opinions on Cramsessions I stumbled across their site about a month before I joined here in March and downloaded their quick exam guides. The guides dont tell you the questions and answers they are more like excerpts of full on usage guides.

 

cramsessions guides are only good if you know the material already or have an idea... these guides are just guide to reinforce the data back into your brain. i found these handy to have at work to quickly read on whilst on breaks/lunch rather than having the massive book all the time.
cramsessions is a good site, and do have good material. if you like questions, you can subscribe to their Qz of the Day, and they will email questions. IIRC its 3 or 4 questions per day and its free of charge aswell.

Hope this helps.

 

Unless you have an engine like Transcender. They have three or four sets of questions. You take set A first, set B second and so on. No overlap there.

 

Cramsession was once the premier site for certifications. Then when the moderators questioned the selling of the member list to spammers, and then got locked out of the site, it went downhill. The best people left the site years ago, and we have found sites like this to take its place.

I do not know who the authors are of the newer Cramsession study guides. The guides used to be written by some pretty good people, although they were often underpaid.

 

The thing that really saddens and maddens me about the braindump question is that my instructors in college recommend them! They do not see cheating on cert exams the same as if a student cheated on the exams the instructors give in class I guess. If college professors are recommending braindumps, what hope is there of cleaning up this business? Whatever happened to ethics and honesty?

 

I have had similar experiences.

A friend of mine sat his final ECDL exam the other day and the tutor sat next to him and told him the answers because they have to pass so many students to get the same funding again for the new term.

As with the certs I have had it from people that certs dont really matter unless its an MS cert, as for anything else tutors etc see them as lower than college IT courses.

I had a number of conversations with a college tutor about the A+, I have told her that I have learned more from the all in one exam guide 6th edition than i did when I did my GNVQ at college.

 

That's a pretty ignorant attitude.

 

Excellent Thread!!

Well Done Si

It's one of those subjects that will haunt us forever

I have often seen members who have just joined saying how easy the A+ or N+ is. Some are quite proud of cheating and will post the link of the BD website they used. Some are completely in the dark that what they have been using is a BD.

It's a shame although a fact of life that some people can't wait and go the slow way by learning a subject through self study or learning provider. They see the ADS on the TV and want the money now!

Despite some of the BD companies such as TestKing changing their ways, there will always be a market out there for BD software.

Why take long way around when you can take a short cut!!

I think the only time I have seen people get tripped up using BD's is when they are in the job and they can't even partition a HD or reformat it let alone work out how to switch one on!

 

Yes its an interesting thread. However I sometimes wonder if the IT profession is overly hard on itself.

I've lost count of the number of managers I've had that can't organize or chair a meeting, write a project plan, motivate staff, some couldn't even use word or email. The level of professionalism as a whole really needs to increase not just that of IT practitioners.

I read on average 12 IT books a year, plus forums, certs, conferences, coding at home etc

I'd be surprised if some of them had read even one management book in their career !

I've lost count of the overtime, rushed releases, and project failures that occured for purely managerial reasons. Remember knowledge of tech in itself is never enough.

One regular phrase the IT network guys used to use in a previous job was :-

"A lack of planning on your part does not, impart an emergency on my part."

 

Yep, that's pretty sad. And the students believe the instructors because the students rely on them for good, solid information... which the instructors are absolutely *not* providing.

 

It's far easier to memorize a bunch of trivia than it is to truly *understand* a topic. Which method do you think is "easier" and less time consuming... reading 700 questions, or reading a 1000 page book and doing labs and studying legit practice exam questions?

How about this example... who do you think will make a better tech: the braindumper who remembers, "If you see this graphic, the answer is EIGRP", or the legit studier who remembers, "EIGRP has a lower administrative distance than OSPF, so if both routing protocols are used in a network, the EIGRP link will be preferred"? Both will pass the test... but only one will be able to do the job in the real world.

 

And this is why (bringing up another old thread) pass rates are not a good indicator of whether a training center is a good one (or a legitimate one).

Then you've heard it from people who either aren't in IT, don't have a flourishing career in IT, or advanced in IT before certifications hit the scene (so they don't have a clue). Certifications *do* matter. That said, experience absolutely outshines certifications.

Yep... pretty sad, is it not?

 

Yep, that's the attitude most techs have, unfortunately. People are naturally lazy... if there's a shortcut that can be taken, most will try to take it.

It happens at all levels. Picture having to come into an advanced role at a company to undo the damage done by a supposed "advanced tech" who was certified, but didn't really know what they were doing. The difference between someone spouting BS and someone speaking with true understanding is amazingly apparent to those in the industry who share that true understanding.

 

I have seen where techs are too lazy to study even when supplied with all the kit and the MOC's paid for as well...they say they have too many tickets to process...only rarely true IMHO.

I once had a manager berate me for studying at work and getting sent on MOC's etc..then he was "educated" via BOFH-nesque principles [joking]
- ahem - he was educated that this is industry practice due to the demanding nature of the IT industry and retaining quality staff etc etc...

As for so called advanced techs yes I have seen that as well... a legal firm over here that shall remain nameless was ultimately on the receiving end of "expensive litigation reversals" due to the failings of a so-called "advanced tech".

Basically the lad BDed his way to an MCSA in a few months with zero industry knowledge and took over the running of his uncle's legal firm....ugly..as a good friend had to sort it out at consultants rates no less!

The thing to remember here is that legit techs can also come undone if they fail to manage their employer's expectactions or promise something they cannot deliver.