Weird Server+ Exam Experience
I took the exam today. When I was roughly 2/3 through I was not so sure I would pass. I was thinking about how I was going log on here to blast Comptia for making a test that someone with 10+ years of relevant experience and who thoroughly studied could not pass. I was going to discourage others from even considering this certification.
At the 2/3 point in the test I clearly was not moving fast enough and was guessing on too many questions--although almost always after narrowing it down somewhat. I clearly was familiar with the material in question in a general sense but in many cases was surprised by the detail required.
I barely finished the test in time; however, I passed, not just barely as I had expected, but with an 876! (Passing: 750, Scale: 100-900)
That was the strangest testing experience of my entire life. I have something like 170 college credits and have taken roughly 13 cert tests.
Comptia says not all of the questions are part of the test. That's good because some seemed poorly written. That's also obvious because I certainly did not get 90+% of the questions correct. The books I used did not prepare me well to answer a number of the questions. I often found myself relying on the material from other certs and my 15 years as an IT generalist working for companies with fewer than 50 employees.
There were also many questions from the meat of the material that I studied.
In the discussions at the following links I explained my background and the resources I used to prepare.
http://www.techexams.net/forums/server/127562-how-prepard-am-i-server.html#post1118198
http://www.techexams.net/forums/server/129680-just-passed-server.html#post1118761
Since this test was so weird, I don't know what to recommend to others. I don't know how much of what I accomplished was due to studying the two text books and how much of it was due to my previous knowledge.
There certainly was plenty in the books that was not covered in the test, especially related to Linux and Powershell.
The books probably did not prepare me well enough for the questions related to VMs. Virtualization and Linux are my two weakest areas based on work experience and previous cert tests.
When I prepare for a cert test, I put together a few pages of notes that I will review in the hour before the test. I am surprised at how little of that material was in the test, in contrast to my previous experiences with cert tests. The exception was networking-related material.
I highly recommend that people study the A+ and Network+ material before taking this test.
Studying for one of the Microsoft server exams would also be quite helpful. I definitely relied on my previous experience and study of that material. After reviewing Comptia's Exam Objectives I think some of the questions related to MS Server were unfair.
In summary, I don't know what to say about this exam. It was a weird experience. I enjoyed studying for it but I am happy to be moving on to something else.
At the 2/3 point in the test I clearly was not moving fast enough and was guessing on too many questions--although almost always after narrowing it down somewhat. I clearly was familiar with the material in question in a general sense but in many cases was surprised by the detail required.
I barely finished the test in time; however, I passed, not just barely as I had expected, but with an 876! (Passing: 750, Scale: 100-900)
That was the strangest testing experience of my entire life. I have something like 170 college credits and have taken roughly 13 cert tests.
Comptia says not all of the questions are part of the test. That's good because some seemed poorly written. That's also obvious because I certainly did not get 90+% of the questions correct. The books I used did not prepare me well to answer a number of the questions. I often found myself relying on the material from other certs and my 15 years as an IT generalist working for companies with fewer than 50 employees.
There were also many questions from the meat of the material that I studied.
In the discussions at the following links I explained my background and the resources I used to prepare.
http://www.techexams.net/forums/server/127562-how-prepard-am-i-server.html#post1118198
http://www.techexams.net/forums/server/129680-just-passed-server.html#post1118761
Since this test was so weird, I don't know what to recommend to others. I don't know how much of what I accomplished was due to studying the two text books and how much of it was due to my previous knowledge.
There certainly was plenty in the books that was not covered in the test, especially related to Linux and Powershell.
The books probably did not prepare me well enough for the questions related to VMs. Virtualization and Linux are my two weakest areas based on work experience and previous cert tests.
When I prepare for a cert test, I put together a few pages of notes that I will review in the hour before the test. I am surprised at how little of that material was in the test, in contrast to my previous experiences with cert tests. The exception was networking-related material.
I highly recommend that people study the A+ and Network+ material before taking this test.
Studying for one of the Microsoft server exams would also be quite helpful. I definitely relied on my previous experience and study of that material. After reviewing Comptia's Exam Objectives I think some of the questions related to MS Server were unfair.
In summary, I don't know what to say about this exam. It was a weird experience. I enjoyed studying for it but I am happy to be moving on to something else.
Comments
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Kandinsky
Member Posts: 108 ■■■□□□□□□□
Let me be the first to congratulate you! Impressive score. I agree that the A+ and Network+ would both be good prerequisites before attempting Server+. Actually Security+ would also be a good prerequisite as I did encounter some security related questions as well. Like I said, when I took the exam two days before you did, my questions really seemed all over the place. I used 3 different study materials and I still encountered questions that I wasn't prepared for. Like you, I drew from my previous work experiences over the years and things I've picked up. A lot of times on some questions, I was able to eliminate two incorrect answers right away so I increased my odds to 50/50 on some questions that way. All the same, good job! -
scaredoftests
Mod Posts: 2,780 Mod
Every cert exam is strange and vague. LOL. However, congratulations to you!!!Never let your fear decide your fate.... -
mikey88
Member Posts: 495 ■■■■■■□□□□
I was in a similar position where I scored high 8xx but wasn't sure how I was doing until the end.Certs: CISSP, CySA+, Security+, Network+ and others | 2019 Goals: Cloud Sec/Scripting/Linux