Failed the LCFS

It's about time I took the test after purchasing the voucher for only $50 nearly a year ago. I just took the exam, and I must say I'm not pleased with the exam experience. Yes, the exam is difficult, but the delivery format is atrocious. I spent the first 30 minutes, retyping the commands I previously typed, because it won't let me for some reasons. I was going to rage-quit the exam until I learned the hard way that the console I was working in was not properly stretched to full-screen. I wish the proctor said something about it. It took me a while to figure out that I have to refresh my console to get it to work normally.I didn't complete the exam due to a task that asked me to do something which actually backfired, and I couldn't retrieve the root privilege again. The proctor couldn't help. I was not even half done with the exam. This is my first full practical exam.Without violating the NDA, I have to say you need to know your stuff. Checking manpage for every "not your everyday command" won't cut it due to the time constraint. I'm glad I'm automatically eligible for a free retake. I don't know if I will have the time to do the retake as my voucher expires next month. I just hope that Red Hat exam delivery is a lot better. I'm considering going to the classroom to take the Red Hat exam in the future just to avoid any problems.I hope more Linux Foundation examinees come forward and have something to add here as I'm eager to hear what you have to share.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

diggitle

It's off topic but I miss western NY: Erie, and Niagara Counties.

wish there were more jobs.

cyberguypr

I set my exam up for late June but forfeited it as I studied absolutely nothing and had to finish the MSISA. Oh well!

varelg

What made you take a Linux Foundation exam in the first place?

eSenpai

cyberguypr wrote: »

I set my exam up for late June but forfeited it as I studied absolutely nothing and had to finish the MSISA. Oh well!

I am thinking HARD about doing the same. Other things to worry about between now and the rapidly approaching expiration date. Since I got them for less than the cost of dinner and since they are still so new & unrecognized; it won't hurt to let it lapse. But I do have a little more time to see if I can work it in...not going to fret too much more about it though.

DoubleNNs

varelg wrote: »

What made you take a Linux Foundation exam in the first place?

Last summer, when the LFCS was 1st introduced, they offered vouchers for the exam at an introductory rate of $50 and allowed you up to a year to use the vouchers.

varelg

DoubleNNs wrote: »

Last summer, when the LFCS was 1st introduced, they offered vouchers for the exam at an introductory rate of $50 and allowed you up to a year to use the vouchers.

I see. And do you feel you improved on your Linux sysadmin skills while preparing for the exam? Also, can you pinpoint where exactly did things go wrong apart from technical difficulties? To yourself, you don't have to elaborate details here.
What's their full price for the exam? For whatever money it is full price, execution of the exam looks shabby.
I took a Red Hat exam in the form of classroom exam and had a knowledgeable proctor on side in case things go awry, but nothing went wrong. Everything worked as expected.

The IT

I failed the LFCS too, is it hard? no. Easy? absolutly not. It's tricky and "weird".
I failed for two reasons:
1- Time management (which is always the case in most exams fail)
2- Exam still not mature as Redhat which reflect on how the questions are formulated.

Remedymp

The IT wrote: »

I failed the LFCS too, is it hard? no. Easy? absolutly not. It's tricky and "weird".
I failed for two reasons:
1- Time management (which is always the case in most exams fail)
2- Exam still not mature as Redhat which reflect on how the questions are formulated.

You already have RHCE, so what did you use to study for the LFCS?

The IT

Remedymp wrote: »

You already have RHCE, so what did you use to study for the LFCS?

That's the problem: I did not study for it, I get the $50 deal and I get am email that will expire soon, so I took it with no preparation. I almost passed.

hiddenknight821

It's hard for me to come back here and make another fail post. I feel a bit humiliated and discouraged. I just received the result last Saturday. I had to wait three days after taking it last Wednesday. I was very close this time. Although I felt much better taking it this time. I experienced no technical difficulty this time. First time I failed, I got 25% and I needed 74% to pass. The last attempt was at 71%. I swear I had it this time. I Don't get me wrong, but I'm convinced this one of their hidden agenda not to let me pass on their $50 exam and try to force me to pay for the full $300 to get a pass. The resource I used is Tecmint.com, and I was able to recall the type of questions I had the first time, so I sharpened up on those areas. This will be my last time as I do not plan to invest in LFCS cert until it replaces CompTIA Linux+. I plan to take the RHCSA sometime late next year, hopefully.

asummers

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

It's hard for me to come back here and make another fail post. I feel a bit humiliated and discouraged.

Whilst I don't necessarily think that they are failing you because of a conspiracy - I do respect the fact that you posted the above. You handled the first disappointment well and increased your mark considerably - I am sure you will do the same this time should you elect to continue with this cert.

Personally I would suggest switching to RHSCA as I think they are more respected especially when you are paying real money

-jdtx-

Sorry to resurrect this threat, but it "spoke to me" (while I was searching for "retake lfcs").
I actually failed the LFCS pretty recently and I'm already taking it again in about 14 hours. I failed with 73% out of 74. I don't remember everything I had trouble with, but I took note of a good handful of things to improve on. Assuming the exam I take is not changed from the last one, I would think I'll be able to more than make up that 1% this time.

My exam experience was pretty good though. I had only one minor tech issue, where I had to refresh the session or something. Other than that, I had some things I wasn't as ready for as I should have been and wasted way too much time failing to (very quickly) find what I was looking for in man pages. I finished with exactly one minute left, it was pretty intense. I did like it though and I can see why people hold practical tests in such higher regard than multiple choice. It's a challenge, but feels like a more meaningful one than just memorizing a ton of random obscure things.

I can't wait to get this behind me and get my resume updated (like I intended to do last time). I also have the LFCE scheduled in less than a month and ..I think I'll have to push that back. Definitely not ready right now and don't think I'll be in the next few weeks.

fuz1on

I also got the $50 voucher a year ago and have the LFCE scheduled for 11/6. Hopefully, I'll be able to squeak by somehow...

-jdtx-

So I did my LFCS retake and feel pretty good about it. Still didn't get everything, still did at least one stupid mistake and still skipped a few things. But all in all I feel like I rolled over it well enough. I should get the score by the end of the week, but I expect one much more favorable than last time. It will be nice to put it behind me so I can move on to the next properly.

fuz1on

jdtx - *crossing my fingers* for you

varelg

Failed with 73% and threshold is 74%, looks kind of slanted to me. Although I may be wrong. I will be sitting this exam soon, I bought discounted voucher as well (that included their training material and a free re-take). It looks like this exam's objectives are a subset of RHCSA. I hope for no nitpicking for the sake of being a difficult exam and for no ambiguosly worded questions.

-jdtx-

Got results tonight. Passed with 84%.
Now updating resume / profiles.

varelg

Awesome! Congratulations! Are you going to go for their Engineer exam? They just announced they will toughen up their Sys Admin exam by expanding objectives of that exam, starting February 2nd.

-jdtx-

Yeah, LFCE is paid for and scheduled (for Oct 27) ..though I intend to reschedule and push it back a bit.

fuz1on

-jdtx- wrote: »

Passed with 84%. Now updating resume / profiles.

Congrats! Great score! I think that's the best part - updating your resume/profiles ie. LinkedIn