Failed exam :(

Discussion in 'MCDST' started by Toby3Home, Mar 4, 2010.

  1. Toby3Home

    Toby3Home New Member

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    Well I just sat my exam today after many hours of studying.

    I do my course online with SeekLearning.

    I have been getting around 90% every time I sat their prep-test, what more can I do?

    Feeling very disheartened now as I have paid a lot of money, I got a "package deal" of 7 certifications, MCDST, A+, CCNA, MCSE, CCNP, SECURITY+ and LINUX. This is my very first exam of the lot (not to mention my first exam in 23yrs). I went there thinking I had overstudied, apparently not.

    Toby3
     
  2. Asterix

    Asterix Megabyte Poster

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    A+????????????
     
  3. Toby3Home

    Toby3Home New Member

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    CompTIA A+
     
  4. beaumontdvd

    beaumontdvd Kilobyte Poster

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    What training material did you use?
     
    Certifications: 070-271, 070-272, (MCDST)Level 1,2,3 NVQ
    WIP: 070-270, A+, N+, S+,MCDST 7 Upgrade
  5. dmarsh
    Honorary Member 500 Likes Award

    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    Let me get this right you have not taken one exam, but you signed up to a package requiring years of experience and study and 12+ exams ?????? :blink
     
  6. PPD2387

    PPD2387 Byte Poster

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    That's an awful lot of exams Toby - I don't think anyone on here would undertake that all in one go! However, just because you have failed one doesn't necessarily mean that you are going to fail all of them. Like dmarsh though, I have to stress that exams alone are not enough - if you are going for certs like MCSE and CCNP you need the experience to back them up.

    It does beg the question of the integrity of the training provider you are working with (allowing students to take on such a massive work load) and I suspect the 'deal' you got on the package was not such good value for money when you compare it to the costs of self studying.

    Also, the fact that they have offered you A+ and MCDST along side MCSE and CCNP says to me that either the company has no grasp of the levels of experience required for these certs or that they do not care about tailoring a package to the needs/requirements of their customers and are simply out to make money.........I suspect it's the latter!
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2010
  7. Toby3Home

    Toby3Home New Member

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    Yes I did signup for the lot as it came as a package, was only really intending to do MCDST, A+ & MCSE if I could. The rest I wasn't too worried about. To do those courses (material and books24x7) with a provider it would cost around the same as what I paid.

    I cannot do classes as I am a stay-at-home-mother who fixes PC's for friends, neighbours, family (which keeps me busy, lol). I study better on my own than in class situation anyhow, always have.

    Im only really sitting them to put certs on the wall, thats about it to be honest. At this point in my life (38yrs old) Im not intending on going out into the workforce to "work my way up" a ladder of some sort.

    In hindsight yes I could have self-studied, but I don't regret it. I have a mentor ringing me tomorrow with suggestions and advice. I have also read many forums (previous to starting course) and this afternoon and see that many read Microsoft Press & Sybex which I have access to on 24x7 so I will look through that.

    I think the key where I went wrong was only really reading course content and sitting prep-tests. From tomorrow I shall pick myself up off the ground and start again, this time reading more content from 24x7 etc.

    Thanks all :)
     
  8. Josiahb

    Josiahb Gigabyte Poster

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    A+, N+, MCDST and stop.... MCSE is if your spending your days designing and building windows server based networks (which I'm guessing your friends, neighbours and family don't have much requirement for).

    The Cisco courses are for people who are spending there days working on Cisco kit (which again I'm guessing your not) and are therefore entirely inappropriate.

    However much you've paid for this package deal I'm sorry to say its probably a lot more than you would have spent if you'd have jsut bought the training material and booked the exams yourself.
     
    Certifications: A+, Network+, MCDST, ACA – Mac Integration 10.10
  9. j1mgg

    j1mgg Kilobyte Poster

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    Keep your head up and get back to the book and do some study.

    I do think you may have wasted some money but that is up to you. The A+ is a difficult exam i found due to most of it being theory but you just have to keep at it and maybe look at getting some practice exams from else where.
     
    Certifications: Comptia A+, ITIL V3 Foundation, MCDST, 70-270, 70-290
    WIP: 70-291, security+ and SSCP
  10. SimonD
    Honorary Member

    SimonD Terabyte Poster

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    Sorry to say but I believe you have wasted your money, the Cisco courses alone require years of experience.

    Let me put it this way.

    A+ is an entry level exam that should be fairly straight forward for someone who "fixes PC's for friends, neighbours, family", this is something that should be bread and butter to someone who fixes pcs alot.

    The MCDST is more along the lines of someone who works 1st\2nd line support work and is as much about customer relationships as it is about fixing their problems.

    The SECURITY+ is a step on from the A+ and N+ certs, it's pretty much common sense and as long as you understand the fundementals of Security (encryption\cryptography, virus, security etc) then you should pass this fairly easily, if you don't have any idea on the different types of encryption\cryptography etc then you will struggle.

    The MCSE is aimed at the engineer (2nd\3rd line) who has had in excess of 18 months experience in workstation and server environments, this is not something someone new to the whole Certification path should be doing.


    The CCNA is not even the entry level Cisco cert, it's something that is undertaken by engineers who use Cisco equipment on a daily basis, there are a number of different CCNA exam paths that you would also need to decide on. Not something to be taken lightly, especially if you don't use the equipment regularly.

    Finally the CCNP is the Professional level certification from Cisco, it currently requires 4 exams to pass (soon to be 3), this is a much more thorough exam and certification path and I would probably say it's on par with the MCITP:EA with regards to technical knowledge requirements, this is definitely not something taken by someone with no prior experience.

    I would definitely strongly suggest speaking to the provider and telling them you think you have been mis-sold this package, if you can't go out to work then why waste the money on the certs? Do an OU course and get a degree instead?
     
    Certifications: CNA | CNE | CCNA | MCP | MCP+I | MCSE NT4 | MCSA 2003 | Security+ | MCSA:S 2003 | MCSE:S 2003 | MCTS:SCCM 2007 | MCTS:Win 7 | MCITP:EDA7 | MCITP:SA | MCITP:EA | MCTS:Hyper-V | VCP 4 | ITIL v3 Foundation | VCP 5 DCV | VCP 5 Cloud | VCP6 NV | VCP6 DCV | VCAP 5.5 DCA
  11. Toby3Home

    Toby3Home New Member

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    I will be speaking to provider today hopefully. I will look into possibly trying to get a partial refund, Im not hopeful though.

    Thanks SimonD, that's exactly what I was wanting to know, a blow-by-blow account of what each would be required for.
     
  12. Unemployed Diogenes

    Unemployed Diogenes Nibble Poster

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    Wow, a woman of my age who is very interested in the technical aspects of Information Technology!!
    Are you single and where do you live???






    (j/k :biggrin)
     
    Certifications: A+, Bachelor IT
    WIP: CCNA
  13. Toby3Home

    Toby3Home New Member

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    lol, yep, Im a geek, love all aspects of computing and software.

    Happily married for 14yrs so far, well most of it happily anyways, hehe.
     
  14. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Sorry to hear that you were oversold a bunch of certifications that did not match up well with your experience level. It is clear that the training provider was interested only in how much money they could soak you for. :(

    You will get - and have gotten - some wonderful advice on these forums. Like the others, I would recommend pursuing only the A+, Network+, and MCDST, and no further until you have built up some real-world experience. And I would also recommend that you start looking for an entry-level IT job as soon as possible - don't wait until AFTER you get certified. Although certification can help make you look more attractive to employers, it is typically not required for entry-level jobs.

    Welcome to the forums!
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!
  15. danielno8

    danielno8 Gigabyte Poster

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    don't think she plans on using any of this in the real world.
     
    Certifications: CCENT, CCNA
    WIP: CCNP
  16. nugget
    Honorary Member

    nugget Junior toady

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    You also need the hands on experience. Try setting up a couple of virtual machines to mess around with.
     
    Certifications: A+ | Network+ | Security+ | MCP (270,271,272,290,620) | MCDST | MCTS:Vista
    WIP: MCSA, 70-622,680,685
  17. Unemployed Diogenes

    Unemployed Diogenes Nibble Poster

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    Doing CCNA with packet tracer is fun if you like networking.
    They say you needs hands-on experience, but that's not true in my opinion. It learns you good the theoretical principles of TCP/IP, internet and networking...
    When you read and do the practices of CCNA Companion Guide you don't need to do N+.
     
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2010
    Certifications: A+, Bachelor IT
    WIP: CCNA
  18. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    ah, you are correct. So there's really no reason for her to ever go beyond the A+, Network+, and MCDST/MCTS.
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!
  19. Unemployed Diogenes

    Unemployed Diogenes Nibble Poster

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    Maybe she is interested in the technology??? There are other things in life than work and money, BosonMichael...
    Some like to watching soccer whole day, others like to drink beers whole day and there are also others who like to get certifications lol
     
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2010
    Certifications: A+, Bachelor IT
    WIP: CCNA
  20. Josiahb

    Josiahb Gigabyte Poster

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    Very true BUT certification is there to validate knowledge, if I was looking to do something to improve my IT knowledge 'for fun' I'd look at part time college courses or maybe something with the OU. I certainly wouldn't be looking at the CCNA or any advanced certifications.
     
    Certifications: A+, Network+, MCDST, ACA – Mac Integration 10.10

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