MALC re-take approaching <gulp>

tez3003

Hi, I flunked badly on MALC 3 months ago having taken 18 months to get through the lifecycle courses/exams (passed all but one first time). I had attended a MALC classroom course and done some pre-reading but I was really nervous on exam day (as was the whole class) and panicked on 2-3 questions. I got only 48% which was a real shock.

Three months on, and with too many materials to hand, I'm doing the following before my re-take comes up next month...

1/ Going through the syllabus (in that order) and referring to the core volumes, reading, making notes/mind maps etc (especially on parts 3 and 4 which were my weakest)
2/ Read case study several times, analyse it for SWOT, processes, strategy etc
3/ Do the test papers (refer to my online training again which I didn't do the first time) and carefully understand the rationales

My re-take is online at home so I'm hoping a calm environment, without the nervousness of a classroom, distractions and prepping more deeply this time might see me past the post.

Pre the re-take day, I will review my notes especially items I feel I don't know as well, review my case study notes and go for it...

Trucido

Good luck, you can do it!

Claire Agutter

Best of luck, I hope you are successful this time

csaha

Hi tez3003 - I am exactly on the same boat ... I am finding hard to study ...

Can you pls tell me which books are you reading now for the re-preparation ? I am little confused ...

Hi Claire - Pls suggest something to me ( being a super expert at this area ).

Thanks in advance to all

Claire Agutter

Hi csaha

If you've got access to the ITIL core volumes you can use those with your syllabus to do the recommended extra reading. You should also be getting some support from your training provider - what results did you get on the sample exams?

Claire

tez3003

Well, to avoid confusion (I had purchased some online materials, and had the book from the training course) but the mismatched order had me confused, so I printed out the syllabus and have been studying through each part of syllabus concentrating on my weak areas (fortunately, on the paper/classroom exam you get a breakdown of % by area but you don't seem to that in the online exam).

It's tomorrow and I'm bricking it....

Been doing so much analysis on case study, as I also think I didn't know that as well as I should've done last time.

Claire Agutter

Good luck! Hope it goes well

tez3003

Passed! I had convinced myself last couple of days that I couldn't do this, and if I failed this time that would be it, but I got through it. As I pressed the button to finish, I still thought I'd failed because I personally found the questions complex and challenging.

Some final thoughts...

Exam

* This is a tough exam - but cross-referencing requirements, scenario and case study knowledge does work
* Drawing grids on paper with the options and the choices, and other relevant factors helped me
* I have a feeling that overall answer choices (that look very "ITIL") and may be more relevant here as they might in intermediate's, and are probably used as distractors or 1 pointers here but because this one is across the lifecycle, generic high-level processes are relevant
* Very carefully read the question text, read it again, then again - you need to pick out specific items you're supposed to be concentrating on

Prep

* Know the case study like the back of your hand - I did mind maps, SWOT analysis, Pros and Cons, Highlighted where improvements should be made, knew the weaknesses
* I studied against the syllabus, in particular my weak areas which were (unsurprisingly integration, as it's across the lifecycle) and scored 80%/100% on the two areas I needed to improve on (both under 20% last time)
* I brushed up on some weak areas which I've always found a challenge, e.g. BRM and SLM, ChE vs. ChM and I revisited SS and CSI since they are very relevant
* Knowing where all the processes are and a reasonable idea of how they work together is obviously key - there are very few (if any) processes which don't relate to many others but it's knowing key ones

Time to enjoy a few beverages and let the mind rest....

Claire Agutter

Yay! Congratulations, that's great news

ItsmHarun

Best of Luck in your future endeavors