Certification Exam Skills 101: Test Taking Tricks & Tips
Sometimes, knowing how to take a test can be just as important as the material tested. Maximize your score with these techniques from instructor and practice exam author James Michael Stewart.
by James Michael Stewart
1/8/2003 -- Taking tests can be a nerve-racking experience. Many of you have to take some sort of test on a regular basis. Some of these exams are for certifications, some are to maintain certifications, some are to complete training courses, and some are to fulfill job requirements. No matter what the ultimate purpose of an exam, there are always skills and procedures you can learn to improve your scores.
I've taken dozens certification exams and written thousands of practice tests for various certification topics. In my experience I've found that knowing how to take tests is often just as important as knowing the material being tested. In this article I share with you some of my personal testing habits as well as time-testing techniques that will hopefully aid you in improving your score on any exam.
Studying: The First Step
The first way to maximize your potential on an exam is to sufficiently prepare for it. Yes, this means you should study for your exams. I realize this is not a novel concept, but you'd be amazed by the number of people who tell me they rarely study for exams the first time they take them. What disturbs me most about this approach is that many of these people are going into an exam with the expectation that they will fail and need to take it again. Exams are expensive and, at least in my case, all too often have to be funded out of my back pocket. When my dollar is in question, I want to make the best effort to pass the first time.
So how should one go about studying for a certification exam? The first step on my list is to obtain the official objective list or study guide for the exam. This document should outline the major topics and issues that will be covered. I use this document to select reading, research and study materials. This will include books, online resources, articles, study guides, flash cards, practice exams and lab work. Next, I divide up the material to be studied into reasonable sized blocks that can be accomplished or completed in a single study session sitting. I like studying in two to three hour blocks. This maximizes my attention span without pushing me to far towards mental exhaustion. Next, I schedule out the study blocks over the time I have available between now and the examination day. I try to limit the number of study blocks to two per day.
While studying I create my crib sheet -- a collection of details from the study materials that I think are important but which I'm not sure I will remember easily without intense review and memorization. My crib sheets include short facts, keywords, tables, charts, drawings, etc. The ultimate purpose of my crib sheet is to help me memorize items that I can write down once I've sat down at the testing location. As I complete my studies, I fine-tune the crib sheet to include just the essential details that I want to ensure I get straight or remember exactly. As an aid to memorizing the crib sheet, I recopy it several times until I'm able to write it out in totality without looking back at a previous copy. I perform this task one last time before going into the exam, then the first action I take once the exam starts is to write out my crib sheet on the provided scratch paper or blank area of the testing booklet.
I usually reserve the last one or two study block time periods for review and self-assessment. My review typically consists of reviewing the objective list for the exam and reviewing the issues and materials for each item from memory. If I can't remember the information, I return to my resources and read the material again.
Next, I use practice exams to test my retention of the knowledge. I may take one or several practice exams until I'm confident I know the material.
Selecting practice exams can be a challenge. First, take all the free or "value added" exams you can get your hands on. A quick Internet search will often turn up numerous free practice exams for most IT related exams (Editor's Note: CertCities.com has a pre-made list of free practice exams available on the Internet here.). Many study books include CDs with practice exams. When it comes to purchasing practice exams, keep in mind that you get what you pay for. The more you spend, the more likely you will get a large test bank of questions that are closely associated with the real exam. However, don't go too far overboard in purchasing practice exams, since once you complete the exam they will become another item on your shelf collecting dust.
Taking the Exam
O.K, so now that you've properly studied for an exam and you have your crib sheet ready, it's time to get your test taking skills in order. Test taking skills rely primarily on your directed effort to manage your time, pay attention, and watch out for those all-too-common traps.
Time management is always important when taking exams. In most situations you are granted a specific time period within which to take an exam. I've found that most vendors give you more than enough time to complete their exams. However, some are purposely too long for the length of time provided. In any case, the better you can manage your time when answering questions, the better you'll do overall.
The first aspect of managing your time is knowing whether you must answer questions in forced sequential order or if you can skip around within the exam. Controlled view exams that don't allow you to return to previous questions require one type of time management and attack method, while exams that allow you to return to previous questions need another.
Before you walk into the test center, visit the vendor's Web site or read an exam review and find out whether you can skip around or not. If you can't, find out the approximate number of questions (most vendors will provide this) and the time limit, then calculate the average time granted to you per question by dividing the time allotted by the number of questions. Then, as you progress through the exam, watch your time per question. Obviously, some questions will consume more time, others less, but be aware of the average. Every five questions or so, do a quick check. If you are running behind, try to speed up a bit. If you are ahead, be sure you are not rushing.
For exams that allow you to return to previous questions, you can employ a more comprehensive time management technique. On every exam, some questions are harder while others are easier. You can take advantage of this on non-controlled exams by answering the easy questions first, then going back and spending your remaining time tackling tougher items. Following is my technique for doing this.
On your scratch paper or within the blank area on your test booklet, write the words "hard" and "guess" so you can create columns of question numbers below them. As you work through the exam, answer those questions that you know the answer immediately after reading the question. If you have to read a question more than twice to figure out what it is asking or to begin pondering the correct answer, write its question number in the hard column and move on. After you've gone through the entire exam once, count up the number of questions in the hard column and check your time. Calculate the maximum amount of time you can spend per hard question. Then attack each of these questions in order. Spend up to but no more than the time per question you just calculated on each one. If you answer the question, mark it off from the hard column. If you can't answer the question, move it to the guess column.
If wrong answers are not counted against you, then use the last few minutes of your testing period to make an educated guess for each question number listed in the guess column. An educated guess means you attempt to eliminate any obviously incorrect answers then select on of the remaining possible answers. At this point you are simply trying to provide an answer for each question, you've already spent all the time you can on pondering the issues.
If wrong answers count against you, take one last look at each question listed in the guess column just to make sure you can't think of answer before ending the exam.
This time-management technique can help ensure you get the maximum points possible. But don't stop there. There are many other things you can do to help ensure you get the best possible score.
For example, if you are working from a test booklet instead of from a computer-based exam, use the test booklet to its fullest extent. Write in the booklet. Underline key words, write notes, draw diagrams, mark out incorrect answers, circle your selected answer for each question, etc.
No matter what type of test you're taking or how much time you have, be sure to take sufficient time to understand what the question is asking. While this sounds obvious, all to often we assume things that are not actually mention in exam questions. Just because you see a keyword or phrase that triggers and idea in your mind, it doesn't mean that the question is asking about that idea. The trigger could just be a distraction. Read each question thoroughly and completely.
Another key to spotting trick questions is to pay close attention to the use of negatives, double negatives, universals, and specific terms. These provide you with essential clues as to what the question is really after.
Be sure to also watch for the use of these terms in the answer selections. After you make an answer choice from the listed selections, re-read the question to make sure your selection makes sense and is relevant to the question being asked.
Once you are sure you know what the question is asking and you don't immediately know the correct answer, seek to eliminate all incorrect answers. If you can identify and eliminate the distracters, then the correct answer will become more obvious.
If you are unable to satisfactorily locate the correct answer and unable to eliminate all distracters, then you need to select the best answer from the remaining selections. This may be a task of selecting the best answer from amongst several correct answers, or it may be selecting the least incorrect answer from amongst several poor answers.
When examining answer selections, look for general versus specific terms, supersets versus subsets, and child and parent relationships between the answer selections. If you can perceive these relationships, you may be able to pinpoint the correct answer easier.
If you've answered every question and still have some time, use it to review your work. The intensity, stress, and complexity of test taking makes it easy to make simple mistakes. Make sure you've selected or marked the answer you intended on all questions. Be sure you've not skipped questions or improperly transposed your answers.
A Little Goes A Long Way…
Sure, some fo these techiques may seem simple, they truly can make a difference. With a little time management, a planned attach scheme, self control and even some patience, your test-taking stills will help you maximize your potential on any exam. 
Questions? Comments? Tips of your own to share? Post 'em below!
James Michael Stewart is a writer and trainer focusing on Windows NT/2000/XP/.NET, security, and certification. He has contributed to over 50 books and numerous print publications and online communities. He develops certification courseware and is a regular instructor at Networld+Interop. Michael holds the following certifications: CISSP, TICSA, CIW SA, CCNA, MCSE NT & W2K, and iNet+. You can reach Michael by e-mail at
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