Bad day at the test center

jay47

I went to take the Cisco 642-825 ISCW exam today.I was well prepared and ready to go.There was a new staffmember at the testcenter i talked to.The one that have signed me inn before was not there.Then the problems started.I showed up 15minutes before the test starts as it says in the rules."You have to come back.You are to early" she said.I do not know about the others here but i have somewhat of a ritual when i take an exam.I always sing a special song before the test(Before i enter the building of course)and i always bring three things.A bottle of water,a bottle of energydrink(gatorade)and a few nicotin chewing gums since i am a smoker.The chewing gums are packed like some pills are,with a thin aluminum foil that you push them thru.Today i was denied taking this small see thru packet with me because of the noise the extraction of one cheewing gum would make.I have checked this afternoon and a click of a mouse and not to say writing on the keyboard makes a lot more noise.I realy felt she had it in for me from the start.Extremly rude all the way.The company also gave me one price before i took my test and another after.(260$ before and 334$after).They had forgotten the VAT they said.For private customers in Norway the law says that VAT must be included in the pricing.I also talked to a guy there that said i should not do both Cisco and MS exams.Do one or the other he said.I find that to be total bull.I find them to blend into eachother rather nicely.This was a guy who only works with MS though.I sped thru the test with fire in my eyes due to the dissruption of my routines and to my surprise i passed.Next time i will use a different test centre.Now....of to beerland and a few strong ones in the comfort of my server/bed/study/lab/happy room.Sorry for any bad spelling.Best regards from Norway.

networker050184

Well, you got out of there with a pass which is the end goal!

I'd definitely look into a new test center if I were you also.

Forsaken_GA

jay47 wrote: »

I always sing a special song before the test(Before i enter the building of course)

Hey, that's not a bad idea. I think I'll start singing 'C is for Cookie' on my way into the test center!

rcoop

Congratulations on your pass, and that stinks about your routine being screwed up... as I too have my own little routine just before I sit my exams, just so I can relax myself and open my mind... which would stink if I couldn't keep my routine.

Best of luck,
--RCoop

Forsaken_GA

I'm something of a creature of habit, so I'm kind of surprised I don't have any routines before I take an exam. About the only things I do are make sure I get plenty of rest before, and load myself up with enough nicotine that I don't start jonesing during the exam

phantasm

Congrats on the pass. I recently moved and have to find a new test center. From what I'm being told everyone does weekday only testing over here, which sucks because I just started a new job and can't any time off.

jscimeca715

I'm not one for sweating the small stuff, but it would probably be a good idea to contact Cisco regarding your testing experience there. Not to get anyone in trouble, but to let them know that your experience was less than satisfactory. With the quality of exams that Cisco creates, I'm sure that they would be interested in trying to improve the quality of the exam environment. Congratulations on your pass.

mikej412

Congratulations!

I hope your visit to beerland was better than your testing experience!

LBC90805

To avoid confusion in the future about your gum. Just put a few pieces in your sock just incase they deny you the pack you want to carry in!

networker050184

LBC90805 wrote: »

To avoid confusion in the future about your gum. Just put a few pieces in your sock just incase they deny you the pack you want to carry in!

I think the last thing you want in the exam room is to be on tape sneaking something out of your sock! "Sure it was just gum buddy...."

nielpeel

Some testing centres are better than others, just like you'll find better restaurants and better car workshops.

I used to go to a Pearson testing centre that only had two computers for testing, crammed into a small room under the staircase right next to the front door. The building was old so the stairs were creaking all the time as people thumped up and down them, the door was always slamming, and the staff seemed to like shouting at the top of their voices right outside the test room door.

Then when this Pearson centre stopped offering MS exams I found that there was a prometric centre less than half a mile from my house - but they were only interested in booking an exam for me if I paid them the £1000+ they charged to undertake training for the exam.

Finally I found a very professional Prometric centre about 20 miles away - nice facilities, air conditioning, good staff. I've done my last three tests there - once you find a good centre it makes the whole exam process less stressful.

arwes

The facility in my town does Pearson and Prometric. It's pretty funny...they book the Pearson stuff in the AM and Prometric in the PM. I asked the lady why I was able to take the 70-270 in the AM but I had to take the 70-290 in the PM. Then I remembered that was before MS dumped Pearson. Oh well, at least I can do some last minute cramming at work! When I took the 70-270 the place had a network outage for about 10 minutes while I was about 15 questions into the exam. Thankfully everything went much smoother today, but I gave them an earful about that when it happened. Definitely gets you out of your mindset.

jay47

nielpeel wrote: »

Some testing centres are better than others, just like you'll find better restaurants and better car workshops.

I used to go to a Pearson testing centre that only had two computers for testing, crammed into a small room under the staircase right next to the front door. The building was old so the stairs were creaking all the time as people thumped up and down them, the door was always slamming, and the staff seemed to like shouting at the top of their voices right outside the test room door.

Then when this Pearson centre stopped offering MS exams I found that there was a prometric centre less than half a mile from my house - but they were only interested in booking an exam for me if I paid them the £1000+ they charged to undertake training for the exam.

Finally I found a very professional Prometric centre about 20 miles away - nice facilities, air conditioning, good staff. I've done my last three tests there - once you find a good centre it makes the whole exam process less stressful.

As far as i know the testcenters are not allowed to charge you for the 1000£.They are obligated to provide tests to everyone.Report them to Prometric.

jay47

phantasm wrote: »

Congrats on the pass. I recently moved and have to find a new test center. From what I'm being told everyone does weekday only testing over here, which sucks because I just started a new job and can't any time off.

If you are here in Norway the testcenters are only open on weekdays.Some centers offers evening testing.It is a difference in what they say and what they do though.

jay47

mikej412 wrote: »

Congratulations!

I hope your visit to beerland was better than your testing experience!

Thank you.The land of confusion is always fun.

jibbajabba

LBC90805 wrote: »

To avoid confusion in the future about your gum. Just put a few pieces in your sock just incase they deny you the pack you want to carry in!

lol - yea that doesn't look weird at all

I would just take a couple of gums out of the packaging and put them on the table I am working at.