No testing centers near me. What to do?

TurtleMouse

Hello all! Short background: I'll be moving to a remote location for work for a few years (or more), and the only Pearson Vue testing center is over a thousand miles away.

What is the best way to handle this? Anyone else been in this situation?

I'm about 50% finished with CCNP Switch, but there's no way I'll be able to finish Route and T-Shoot before I head out to the site. My certification goals for 2018 was CCNP R&S and CCDA.

Right now, my plan is:
1. Attend an online University (Unfortunately I cannot attend WGU)
2. Continue to Lab/Study CCNP topics + Python
3. Wait

My concern is that I would like to move up in the company eventually, but finding it hard to do if I don't have anything tangible to show for it. I know certs aren't everything, but they could help a great deal when trying to move around in the company.

Thanks for reading and look forward to any advice.

Welly_59

Will you have vacation time or regular days off?

Looks like your only choice will be to schedule exams and use your time off to plan accordingly. I'm not sure on the transport links where you are going but that sounds like a 2-3 hour flight from location to Pearson. No too extreme is it?

EANx

Most people in that situation get the occasional R&R trip. That might be the best time to schedule your exams.

thomas_

Not related to IT certs, but I read about a guy online that studied for a bunch of CLEP tests(15-20) and then took them over the course of 2-3 days when he was near a testing center. He just brushed up on the topics for each exam periodically while he studied for a new test to keep the exam topics fresh.

I'm guessing your best bet is going to be something like that. Try to get one dxam knocked out before you leave and then study for the lther two exams. When you have a chance to take the trip, fly back and take the exams. Rinse and repeat until you've passed all three exams.

Queue

Where is this place? I'm thinking of opening a testing center ($$$$$$$$).

For real though hope you pass on the first time! If you consider that the Cisco labs only have 2 locations most people have to travel for them. So it's not unheard of, but for lower exams it would probably not be worth the expense.

jibtech

Queue wrote: »

Where is this place? I'm thinking of opening a testing center ($$$$$$$$).

For real though hope you pass on the first time! If you consider that the Cisco labs only have 2 locations most people have to travel for them. So it's not unheard of, but for lower exams it would probably not be worth the expense.

It is possible there isn't enough demand to justify the testing center. Just sayin....

mbarrett

Given the reality of your situation, your only option is to plan your time off to coincide with your test schedule.
I haven't head that Cisco is on-board with that "remote proctor" deal where you sit in a room with a webcam. Probably not...

TurtleMouse

Welly_59 wrote: »

Will you have vacation time or regular days off?

Looks like your only choice will be to schedule exams and use your time off to plan accordingly. I'm not sure on the transport links where you are going but that sounds like a 2-3 hour flight from location to Pearson. No too extreme is it?

Yea there will be vacation days, but I'm not really into paying for a ~$600 plane ticket for a ~$300 test. There's a good chance of not passing these tests first try meaning multiple trips. It's really not feasible.

Most people in that situation get the occasional R&R trip. That might be the best time to schedule your exams.

I'll look into that, thanks!

Not related to IT certs, but I read about a guy online that studied for a bunch of CLEP tests(15-20) and then took them over the course of 2-3 days when he was near a testing center. He just brushed up on the topics for each exam periodically while he studied for a new test to keep the exam topics fresh.

I'm guessing your best bet is going to be something like that. Try to get one dxam knocked out before you leave and then study for the lther two exams. When you have a chance to take the trip, fly back and take the exams. Rinse and repeat until you've passed all three exams.

Yea this is probably the best idea. I am going to keep studying no matter what, so just brushing up on the minor details before testing sounds like a solid plan.

Where is this place? I'm thinking of opening a testing center ($$$$$$$$).

For real though hope you pass on the first time! If you consider that the Cisco labs only have 2 locations most people have to travel for them. So it's not unheard of, but for lower exams it would probably not be worth the expense.

It is possible there isn't enough demand to justify the testing center. Just sayin....

There most likely isn't much demand, and would have to be something to figure out once I get on site.

Given the reality of your situation, your only option is to plan your time off to coincide with your test schedule.
I haven't head that Cisco is on-board with that "remote proctor" deal where you sit in a room with a webcam. Probably not...

Unfortunately, albeit understandably, the case.


Edit:

Thanks to everyone, so far, for the advice! I'll look into testing on some paid time off and hopefully knocking out one of the tests before heading out on site.

joshuamurphy75

I usually get ready for 2 tests, then spend a weekend driving to the nearest test center that is open on the day I need.