Greetings all!
I have recently passed 3V0-643 exam and got my VCAP6-NV certification. It took me some months to prepare and some nerves to pass so here is my advice to those that may follow.
First of all, keep in mind, that the exam is glitchy. And don't just take my word for it, this is something that I heard from Pearson VUE tech support person. And yes, I've had my share of technical problems with this exam too. Luckily Pearson VUE support (with Vmware Learning assistance, as I understood) managed to solve them. All in all I feel satisfied as I actually did pass. But it took me ~1.5-2 additional hours on site. Hours full of nerves, uncertainty and headache progressing from slight and just annoying to quite strong and troubling.
I won't tell all the story behind, what problems we faced etc, I'll just give some piece advice:
- Pick the Certification Center that is big, modern, reliable and in a location where you can expect excellent Internet connection. This is vital to get exam environment running smoothly and be responsive, as the exam requires far more bandwidth than usual QA-type exams. Wouldn't hurt to call your Certification facility of choice prior to booking with them. Ask if they had a candidate take and pass this exact exam with them before and were there any problems.
- Don't hesitate and don't wait if you face problems or something doesn't seem right during the exam. Remember, this is your money (well, maybe your employer's, and he expects a result from you), your time and your effort, so you are in charge of defending your interest. So don't waste time, notify Certification Center administration of any problems at once. Don't agree to compromises, be firm at what you want - and you want to take an exam in a time that is defined for it. Remember, CC, Pearson and VMware have all the tools to fix everything and let you do your job.
- And as it always is: read the blueprint. Read every Objective listed under exam topics and know how to do that. Use HOL to your advantage. If you complete a task but something in the NSX environment is not working as you expected, don't try to fix it at once - move to the next task, don't waste time, you might need it later to complete more simple and straight-forward tasks. Like, I MEAN it. Don't. Because you will face it. And you will want to. Don't! You can always go back, and at times previous task even starts to look more clear after you come to the later tasks.
- Oh, and the last one: remember, 3V0-643 is not so difficult as you might expect it to be. Yes, it's scary - but not terrifying
