Schools Of Thought On IT Certifications⌗

Throughout my career, I have encountered 2 schools of thought when it comes to the value of IT certifications.

The first school of thought is that IT certifications are worthless. I generally find the workers who adhere to this school of thought to be in the IT industry for multiple decades. Many of whom can recall the days when the clock speed of CPUs needed to be adjusted. Their experience is far more valuable than whatever a certification can provide for they are the ones who are essentially writing the standards of the IT industry.

The second school of thought is that IT certifications are valuable. Many IT people swear by the certifications. However, they often caution that IT certifications are only a good way to get a foot in the door on their respective technologies and experience is far more important. I agree mostly with this school of thought because the people typically in this crowd do not have the decades of IT experience that the people in the first crowd have. I believe for the first 20 years in the IT career certifications are important. After that, the amount of experience far exceeds what certifications provide so long as the individual has been exposing themselves to different IT environments.

I do not have 20 years of professional IT experience and so I believe IT certification still hold value to me as a professional. Additionally, I find certifications to allow me to see what technologies I like in a relatively low risk way. If I don’t like the technology then I can just let the certification lapse.

Method To Study For IT Certifications⌗

With so many IT certifications to choose from it can be overwhelming to choose which ones to pursue and how to study for them. No matter the certification, I have a general framework that I utilize to study for and obtain IT certifications.

Devoting Time To Study⌗

Generally, I devote 40 minutes a day to studying an IT certification. This time is divided into 2 different blocks. 1 30 minute block, I devote to studying for the IT certification I want to obtain first. 1 10 minute block is devoted to studying for the IT certification I want to obtain after I get the first one. Once I obtain the first certification, I move up the second IT certification session to the 30 minute block and choose a new IT certification for the 10 minute block. This allows me to focus mostly on a single certification at a time and prime myself for another certification.

I use a habit tracking app to track my study sessions. I found TickTick to be my app of choice for this. However, anything works for tracking. Not breaking the streak keeps me going. Limiting the amount of time I study per day keeps me from burning out and being stressed out. I find studying IT certifications to be a marathon not a sprint. I also find the IT certification to be more useful to me on a professional level when I am studying at a slower pace. This allows my brain to remember the material instead of hastily cramming for an IT certification exam. This provides me with more confidence on the material when taking on new projects at work or in interviews.

How I Study⌗

When first starting to study for an IT certification, I would search for content on the subject matter such as a video lecture series that encompasses the exam objectives. I find a search on reddit is a good place to find sources for quality study materials. I would then go through that material once to give myself a bird’s eye view of the subject matter.

Practice Exams⌗

Once I have completed consuming the study materials, I would search for practice exams for that particular IT certification. Platforms such as Udemy often have great deals for both video lectures and practice exams for specific IT certifications. Once I have the practice exams, I would continually take them and then review the answers. This review process is at first slow going as I use this time to start taking notes on items I catch myself guessing on or are incorrect on. I use Obsidian for my notes for its ability to link notes.

I continue to take the practice exams until I consistently hit above 80%. Once I consistently hit 80%, I find its time to schedule the IT certification about 2 - 3 weeks out. After that I keep working on the practice exams until I score 90% or better for 5 attempts. At this point, the areas that I have trouble with are apparent. I continue to review, refine my notes, and continue taking practice exams up to the day the exam is scheduled. There is no cramming and spending more hours the day before the exam either.

[!note] It is important when reviewing the practice exams to NOT memorize the answers but to understand the reasoning behind the answer.

Devoting Time To Building⌗

I have the same set up for time that I devote to building IT things. Most of the time this is reserved for home lab projects. However, I also use these blocks of time to complete labs and to apply what I have learned in studying to some real world projects.

I generally devote more of my building time blocks to the IT certifications as they come up to the scheduled exam date. By this point, I have completed the study material and am closing in on that 90% score over the last 5 practice exams.

Building out some IT items using the technologies for the certification allow me to fully understand the material and identify any shortcomings in my knowledge. I find it also provides a change of pace from the monotony of practice exams allowing me to maintain my motivation and to avoid burning out on the subject material.

The Day Before The Exam⌗

Overall, I keep to the same activities as before. However, I make one change and that is to preview the space I will be taking the exam. My normal place of study with dual monitors is not conducive as a place to take the actual exam. Most certifications do not allow dual monitors and for the areas around the desk to be clear. So I usually will end up using either the kitchen table or my spouse’s office with one monitor (if an external monitor is allowed.)

I generally also perform my studying and build times at this location to let myself see if the spot will work for the certification. Finally I ensure the device I will be using to take the exam is up to date in an effort to avoid the dreaded restart while taking an exam.

The Exam⌗

The Day of The Exam⌗

About 2 hours prior to the exam, I will start setting up the space I will be taking the exam at. I ensure everything is within the guidelines. This often includes:

  • Cleaning up the space to ensure there are no other electronics other than the test taking device.
  • Closing any open applications on the device I will be taking the exam on.
  • Ensuring the proper identification required for the check-in process is within arms reach.
  • Testing the test taking software as well during this time to ensure the software is working as intended. If I come across any weirdness while testing the software, I will restart the device as well.

As far as cramming for the test goes, I will only spend about 10 minutes studying material and will only focus on subject matter I still get wrong in the practice exams. At this point, I typically spent close to 60 days studying the material so I believe cramming large amounts of material at this point will not help.

[!note] I count all of the exam set up and the taking of the exam as time for both my study and build habits. Essentially and ironically making the exam day, a cheat day.

About 15 minutes prior to the exam time, I will log into the testing software, and begin the check in process (if the emails for the exam state more time is needed to check in, I will go by that amount of time). After the check-in process, its usually straight to taking the exam.

Usually after the exam is submitted, I find out if I passed or not. So far I’ve passed every exam on the first try using the above methods. Sometimes, an exam will not give the exact score until 24 - 48 hours after the test submission.

If the certification is presented immediately after successfully passing the exam, I will post an announcement on Linked-In and update my profile to include the certification.

Finally, I generally get a couple treats for myself. This often some fast food or a restaurant for me followed by an extended video gaming session. I find rewarding myself is a good motivator to keep working on gaining certifications.

The Day After The Exam⌗

I generally use this day to update my resume and any other social media with the certification. The main thing, is moving the second certification from the 10 minute blocks to the 30 minute blocks. I also begin the 10 minute blocks for a 3rd certification that I will begin the process of studying and building for. And so the cycle continues.