7/31/2001 -- This month I thought I would provide some tips on taking exams. These tips pretty much apply to any certification exam you may be interested in taking. I calculated the other day that I had taken over 90 certification exams since 1994. That averages to around one exam a month, so by now I've learned what works for me. Maybe these tips will help you too.

1. Go Ahead and Book It Now
I've watched some people who stuff around for months getting ready for each certification exam: Some of that time is spent in preparation, but much of it is spent procrastinating. I book the exam once I've decided to take it. This concentrates my mind on getting ready to take that exam. And there's nothing to lose: You have plenty of time to reschedule if your studies don't progress as fast as you expected.

2. Know the Deadline for Rescheduling Your Exam
As you come up to your scheduled exam date, you'll need to assess whether you really are ready. There's nothing wrong with taking more time if you need it, but you need to be sure of the deadline for rescheduling the exam. Typically, it will be sometime the business day before the exam (the testing center should tell you when you book the exam). If, on the day of the exam, you decide you need to reschedule, call your testing center directly to see whether they can accommodate you. Don't feel guilty about taking extra time to make sure you really are ready; even a few hours can make a difference.

3. Schedule Your Exam at Your Preferred Time
If you book your exam far enough in advance, you usually can get whatever time suits you and your study methods. My preferred time is 8 a.m. on Monday mornings. This typically allows me to study through the weekend, then take the exam and be ready at work around 9 or 9:30 am. When I was in the U.S., my local testing center was open on Sundays, so I used to like taking exams first thing on Sunday mornings. This is even better than Mondays, since before an exam I like to get up early (around 5 a.m.) and complete my revision. When I do this on Mondays, by the end of the day I find myself exhausted.

4. Use Your Exam Time Wisely
This tip is actually a composite of several nuggets of advice. First, don't get too bogged down on a question you don't know. If you're taking a regular-format test (e.g., non-adaptive), take note of the question number, and come back to it later. You never know -- you might see something elsewhere on the exam that will trigger your memory. Also, make sure you take the time to check every answer. Typically, I have found that in my rush to complete the exam I have misread a question and not answered the question as asked. So take the time to check every question and make sure of your answers.

5. Take One Exam at a Time
If you have a long distance to travel, this may not be an option for you. However, if distance isn't a factor, you'll probably be much better off preparing for one exam at a time. When I started out I did more than one exam in a sitting -- and quickly learned my lesson. This is particularly dangerous if you make an assessment that one exam is easier than the other. One time, I took the "easy" exam first, with the more complex exam to follow. However, in my haste I ended up failing the first exam. I did end up passing the second exam anyway, but you can be assured I was freaked out during that second exam and was very lucky I didn't end up failing both.

6. Learn from your Failures
We don't like to talk about it, but you may fail an exam. I have failed a few in my time, but usually it's because I completely underestimated the level of detail needed to pass. For example, I failed both my first Novell exam and my first Microsoft exam because I was under-prepared. This was not a mistake I repeated.

Try the following steps when you fail an exam:

• Write down all of the exam questions you can remember. More often than not you won't remember the questions themselves, but you will know what concepts the questions focused on.
  
• Go through these questions and concepts and research the answers. Given the large pool of questions vendors use nowadays, you won't get asked most of these questions again, but you will get a feel for the areas of the exam objectives you fell short in.
• Plan your exam preparation for the retake of the exam by focusing on the areas you were weak in last time around. Microsoft used to provide this feedback for each area of the exam objectives, but unfortunately it no longer does this. You will need to make this assessment yourself -- which, if you think about it, you will probably have a feel for. There will be some questions in the exam you knew without question were correct, but others you needed to guess from a couple of likely sounding options -- and possibly some areas where you didn't even understand what the question was asking.

Well, these are the tips that have worked for me in the past. What works for you? Share your tips by posting them below.