Sigh!!! Fail the VCP 410 exam

[Jamiestarr38]

Hello everyone.

I took the exam today and score a 290.. Just 10 freaking points away!!!  I thought I studied

well.  I studied for 2 weeks for 2 weeks..I have been working with the VMware product for 3 years.

The problem I am having is that I am unable to retain enough of the information studied so that

when I am presented with a question I have read, I draw a blank and just can't remember the answer.

I lost a couple of question on ports and the different vSphere editions. Wow this is so disheartening.

Going to reschedule the test for next Friday.  Any pointers on what you guys have done to remember

stuff like port assignment, vSphere editions, etc...

Thanks in advance....Gerald

[scott28tt]

Sorry to hear that you got so close, but didn't quite make it.

Even for someone experienced, 2 weeks isn't a lot of study time. I'm assuming that you were spending that time working through the objectives in the exam blueprint? Remember to prepare using the official vSphere 4 documentation too. Other than that, well you know what is expected now, so spend the time between now and your re-take to make sure you're ready.

Best of luck, Scott.

[EdWilts]

Jamiestarr38 wrote:

I took the exam today and score a 290.. Just 10 freaking points away!!! 

Any pointers on what you guys have done to remember stuff like port assignment, vSphere editions, etc...

For port assignments and editions, check out vreference.com.  There's a large PDF there full of handy reference information.  I printed mine at work on 11x17 paper and went over it a few times in the weeks leading up to the exam and then again at lunch before my 1pm exam.  There's a LOT of information crammed onto that double-sided sheet of information!

Good luck the second time!

[PatrickKremer]

I'll echo Ed's vReference suggestion - I studied it everywhere, I even had it posted up in my cube. I was able to visualize quite a few answers by "seeing" the reference card in my mind.

Another suggestion I have is test-taking strategy. I will race through the test as quickly as I can. If I know the answer within a few second, I answer it. If I have even a hint of doubt, I mark it to come back to on my second pass. This serves 2 purposes:

1) After my first pass, I get a boost of confidence because I've gotten quite a few correct. This usually calms my nerves down a bit.

2) I often find that as I'm answering other questions, the thought process triggers an answer for the ones I've skipped