VMWARE self-study question?

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Hi guys,

Does anyone know if you can self-study and do exams for any of the mainstream VMWARE qalifications?

I have looked through f.a.q. on their website
(VMware Certification)

and...

"Do I really need to attend a class to qualify for VCP4? Can't I just self study?
VCP4 certification requires coursework. We do not make any exceptions to the requirement."

...does this restriction only apply to VCP4?

Also, does anyone here actually have any VMWARE qualifications? If so, which ones?
Would you recommend them?

thanks
m

 

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You can self study to get yourself ready for the exam and course but you have to attend an official class in order to get certified. If you don't you can pass the exam but they won't give you the certification with attending the class.

 

Yep I think there are a few of us here who have vcp's of one order or another. I've got a vcp in esx 3.5 currently trying to scrabble money together to do the whats new course to upgrade it to vcp 4 then maybe the dca. I think the qualification is worth it (its one of the things recruiters ask me about the most).

As michael says there are no exceptions to doing the course, you can take the exam if you wish but you will not be entitled to call yourself a VCP if you do not do the course ( i guess vmware see it partially as a anti braindumping device, doesn't mean people wont braindump but the hefty pricetag of the course will help stop the BDers from getting the cert easily).

 

VCP4 is by far the most common VMware certification, and it does have the mandatory training requirement, there are no exceptions.

There are tens of thousands of VCPs around the world.

Scott.

 

Amen to that. And dozens of training providers getting very rich!

 

And thousands of VCPs earning a decent salary ;-)

 

It's not just VCP's ;)

 

Ha - touche! Though I'm not a VCP - sat the training course a couple of years ago but never bothered with the exam. Might do vSphere 5 when it comes out

 

Haha, I was merely emphasising that VCPs might earn a little more because it's not the simplest certification in the world to achieve ;-)

I've worked as a VCI for the last 5 years and yes myself and my employer (Global Knowledge, a VATC in the UK) have been very successful in business during that time, just like all VMware partners such as distributors, resellers, solution providers, etc.

Certification costs money, certification makes money, regardless of the vendor.

 

True, one the one hand I see it as a positive thing, VMware can ensure to a degree that the people doing there exams should have a level of competence.

The flip side is the level of cost, not everyone has companies paying for their training, and also the fact that training courses arent always great.

I did the VCP 3 course a couple of years ago, didnt end up doing the exam either, but I learned just as much, if not more from the sybex book (30 quid) than from the week long training, even though the guy doing the training was knowledgeable and answered the questions asked, in the economic state we are in, does that really make financial sense to impart the same information for up to 50 times the cost?

 

To be fair to VMware, their courses aren't the end of training when it comes to the VCP, it perhaps covers 85% of whats required, as far as content is concerned the instructors are following a curriculum that's designed to get the student part of the way to passing the exam, it's the students responsibility to ensure they have the required knowledge to pass the exam.

As far as costs go I agree with you that courses are expensive but that's why it pays to look around. I am actually midway through my VCP, I am doing it at a VMware Academy and I can tell you hand on heart that I didn't pay the £2.5k that most places are charging for it. Look around because there are deals to be had.

I think VMware have the right idea when it comes to requiring someone to go on an approved course because it's one way of ensuring that people doing the exams are actually qualified to do it rather than bding it, VMware are very hot on dumping, far more so than MS are.

 

Really!!?? Someone obviously forgot to tell my boss then when I did my mandatory course the trainer was rubbish and we kept questioning him on his statements, luckily there was also a QA assessor in with us for the duration who kept butting in and giving us the correct information.

 

I do think that IT courses are way overpriced but companies must pay them otherwise they would all be out of business. Personally I have found the price is more of a guideline and if you ask you usually get a heavy discount if your an individual. I got my VCP for a lot cheaper than the RRP. I also got a MS course for very cheap as well as they wanted bums on seats. In the end that course didn't go ahead as they didn't get enough people to attend but if you don't ask you don't get.

 

I really don't mind the price of the classroom based course but the company I was looking at done a online version at the same price I would have expected it to be much cheaper in comparison

 

Yes, I do think that VCP is more "valuable" to an individual than certifications that you can self-study for, but obviously I can't comment on any conversation you might have with you boss! I hope you voiced your opinion to your training provider.

 

Yes I think we all did, I still enjoyed the course though, by the time you've worked and studied on the technology most of the course material is a long distant memory anyway, so I still think its a good thing but unfortunatly accuracy of the content at our particular course was somewhat suspect!

 

I agree with you, the problem is that the course isn't meant to cover everything, that's why you are suggested to read the blueprint and additional documentation.

 

What you were saying about prices is correct. I'm getting my offical VCP course for £750. No, not from global knowledge!

 

I really enjoyed Install, Configure and Manage (VCP4.1, the cert I hold). I thought it was excellent.

I would very strongly recommend you review the documentation - it's very well-written so it helps you practically and the test questions are literally taken right out of them a lot of times.