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BostonTechGuy
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

VCP Book: Kindle or Hardcover?

Hello everyone,

I am finally going for my VCP.  I have been working in VMware since GSX days, time to just bite the bullet and get the cert.

Question on the books.  I am most likely going to get the "The Official VCP5 Cert Guide" by Bill Ferguson.  Should I get the Kindle or the Hardcover version.  Cost is only a factor if there are no major pluses or minuses to either.  I have had some Kindle technical books in the past and they were awful.  Has anyone passed the VCP 5 Cert with the Kindle version?

Side Note: is the the correct book to get for me?  I have been working in VMware for years.  Actively working in v5 and lots of PowerCLI.  However being a strong VMware Consultant and passing the tests are two different things (my old MSCE days will teach anyone that).

Also I will be most likely be taking the test before taking the course.  Is that possible?

Thanks,

Boston Tech Guy

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scott28tt
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Personally, I don't think buying a book is necessary. The key things are:

1. The exam blueprint - to guide you

2. The documentation - to read

3. The software - to play

The items in the exam are all set based on the objectives in the blueprint, validated against the documentation, and I found that some items could only be answered by having had hands-on experience of what was being asked.

Can you do the exam first? Yes. Have a look at this post on my blog though: http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/vcp-common-questions.html?m=0


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Although I am a VMware employee I contribute to VMware Communities voluntarily (ie. not in any official capacity)
VMware Training & Certification blog
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BostonTechGuy
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thank you for getting back to me on this.  I will review the blueprint that everyone is talking about.  Not sure what it is... yet Smiley Wink

The second two I have so that's all good.  Also its good to hear that the test has hands on questions.  That always killed me on the Microsoft side of the world, their answer vs real world.

Thanks,

Boston TechGuy

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scott28tt
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Well there's no actual hands-on during the exam, but you will get questions you can only really answer if you've experienced what's being asked about. You will still come across things in the exam that are not everyday real world situations, but having also done Microsoft exams in the past I'd suggest this exam is less "false".


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Although I am a VMware employee I contribute to VMware Communities voluntarily (ie. not in any official capacity)
VMware Training & Certification blog
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timevisser
Enthusiast
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I by no means is an expert at VCP or what to do.  My experience so far by studying for VCP is this.  I first took the course and with the recommendation of our instructor purchased the VCP5 study guide by Atkinson and The offical VCP5 guide by Ferguson.  I have also built a home lab.  I have also looked at train signal.  The company that my instructor teaches for highly recommends CramMaster and they guarantee you will pass if you can pass their exams with a score of 85%.  They even put a free voucher behind this.  I have not looked at their questions yet but will later.  With this all said, it comes down to what Scott continues to say in this community. 

1.  Blue Print

2.  Documentation

3. Practice with a home lab.

4. Check out his blog, VMware Training and Certification: VCP - Common Questions

So, what I am I using.

1.  Blue Print - reading all of the documents in the tools section

2. VCP-5 | - great job of putting everything in one place and referencing the documents for further reading.

3.  Home lab.  -  there are many labs out there to build from but all you really need to do is

4.  Register for your exam and put that date in stone and work back from it.  That will keep you focused.

5.  Leverage Youtube for videos on how things work if you want to see it visually or hear someone speaking about it.

Bottom line, do not make this more complicated than it is.  When I first started out in March I thought what Scott said was to basic and that I would need more.  Well, the further I have gotten into it and the more I know, his simplistic approach is spot on.  If you need a book, get one but you really do not need one with all due respect to the authors.

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