Braindumps

Pete123$$

I'm sorry, but can somebody explain what braindumps are. Are they like the practice questions at ****.com

Pete123$$

I guess they are since amazon showed up.. Sorry i just didn't know. How do people get away with this.

ghaouf

they say that they have a digital camera and take a snapshot of the exam
braindumps are illegal and who ever uses braindumps to pass the exam does not deserve to pass and if they catch you using braindumps your certifications gets taken away and you will be banned from taking any certification exam

There is an awful lot of talk about how illegal brain **** are—how they devalue the certification, how they lessen the respect for those who have spent the time working and studying for the actual certification. The idea is that someone could buy a series of questions from one of more than 250 “vendors,” which claim to have the “actual” test questions, and for a small fee could pass the exam on the first try. How in the world can the certification industry actually survive this onslaught of “paper” certified technicians?

First we need to define the term “brain ****.” This is the term to describe the transfer of test material to a written format, after completing the actual exam. There are more than 2,000 Web sites devoted to this type of study approach, and here’s what wrong with that. First, all certifications require the signing of an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), which strictly prohibits the reproduction of any and all testing material in any format whatsoever. Second, the brain **** on these Web sites have trouble, since more than 90 percent of the questions are incomplete, incoherent or just plain incorrect. I even found a Web site that had no answers; you had to do all the work. That seems a little redundant since this is why you are visiting the site in the first place—to find the answers.

Second, we have to look at the fact that brain ****, for the most part, are what people “think” they remember from the actual exam. If you have no idea whether the question was answered correctly, how can you possibly tell someone else the answer? Another thing to keep in mind is that since the inception of the brain ****, more and more companies have popped up selling certification exam material. They come in two flavors: software and study guides. Now we have to decide whether they are selling study material or simply the brain ****.

Let me start off by saying that while brain **** are illegal because they simply give you the answers to the test, all material used in the certification process is “technically” a brain **** if you think about it. What separates the winners (those that do not violate the NDA) from the losers (those that do) is the way the material is presented to the buying public. Companies like Sybex, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, Syngress, Que, Charles River Media, O’Reilly, Course Technology, Microsoft, Cisco Press, John Wiley, TotalRecallPublications, Sam’s and others have avoided the death trap of producing brain ****. They try to find industry experts to write books relating to the certification, thus allowing you the consumer to buy and study the material in depth.

People like Mike Meyers, Todd Lammle, Richard Deal, Stephen Bigelow, TCAT Houser, Mark Minasi and Trevor Kay are but a few of the “real” writers of certification study material. They spend literally hundreds of hours writing and rewriting manuscripts in hopes that what they finish with will, in fact, help those who are truly trying to pass the exam on the merits of studying and working in the field to gain experience. Companies like Transcender, Self Test Software, Prep Logic, Beach Front, Boson, Equizware, MeasureUp and Exam Essentials produce certification study applications that are worth using to “aid” in the study process, not to replace it. These companies do a great service to the IT community by producing exam materials that make the student work to gain the certification.

The companies listed simply produce products for each certification category. Are there any companies that produce study guides that are more than the actual exam? Yes, Certification Corner and BrainBuzz immediately come to mind. Both have an excellent reputation for producing high-quality PDFs used to help you study for the exam. Along those same lines come two other companies I found helpful in certification preparation. Brainbench.com (www.brainbench.com) and SkillDrill.com (www.skilldrill.com) require a payment for the use of their sites, but it is a small price to pay to have a chance at passing the certification and gaining employment.

We have all heard the horror stories about **** (aka ****) and CheetSheets.com (aka Cheet-Sheets.com) and how they found themselves locked in a battle that has led to closure and serious legal troubles. But wait; there are so many other companies, too many to list here, that produce study guides that have “actual” exam questions. So why not just use them and avoid the study time?

First, you are cheating yourself. While it may be easier to know the questions than to have to study, you are doing a huge disservice to yourself and the certification obtained. Second, and far more important, is the employment you are trying to get. Most employers can distinguish a real technician from a “paper” one in a heartbeat. If you somehow manage to get past the interview and actually get the job, the challenge of performing the tasks related to the certification will be self-evident to those who spent the time learning the material and trying to understand the concepts—the latter make excellent technicians. Those who spend a few hours memorizing the answers just to pass might very well spend an eternity looking for the company they can fool.

So what certifications are worth getting? According to a report I read there are 150 applicants for every 75 jobs, a 2-to-1 ratio. What will separate those who know the material well from those who only passed an exam? In my opinion, employers are looking for more and more from the employee, so diversity may be the key. Also, I see more and more jobs requiring candidates qualified on Oracle, SQL and .NET. I also see more and more ads for people with more than five years of experience and the following certifications: A+, Network+, Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and Linux credentials. I also think that wireless networking and security are quickly becoming the certifications to obtain. The Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA) from Planet3 Wireless and the Security+ from CompTIA are two of the newest certifications in these areas. Also, Cisco, Check Point and SANS GIAC are major players in the security certification game.

Finally, let me say that as a free-lance reviewer and technical trainer, I have spent more than 14 years working toward one certification or another. I am no longer amazed at what I see and hear from people throughout this industry. I was wide-eyed over a decade ago and since then have had to work very hard to get what I have or will get. I think it is high time we recognize those who do the same. It is time to stop trying to get certified only by memorization and get certified the old-fashioned way—by earning it.

Mike Woznicki has more than 14 years of experience in the IT industry, holding positions such as network analyst, network administrator, IT manager and certified technical trainer. Woznicki was the technical editor for the TotalRecallPublications Security+ series of books and is authoring books on i-Net+ and Server+.

Jamesf

they can't just go on ur computer and search that u use braindumps, that's just wrong as just useing braindumps. I don't just knock on ur door and say hey man! can I search ur computer to c that u used braindumps? DUH U would say hell no

ghaouf

that is true
using braindumps is like using pirated software
not alot get caught but when you get caught you will be sorry
also it is wrong and illegal

kevin99

It puzzles me when I read the angry messages that are posted whenever the topic of brain **** is mentioned. Yet, these messages are written by the same people who see no problem with gathering all the practice questions they can find, including those on this very site. There is no difference! Your odds are slim anyway of seeing the same question on the actual exam as you see on any braindump, because the test is adaptive and the question pool is always changing. And even if you do see one, chances are high that you've already seen the question (or a variation of it) on a "practice" test somewhere else in your travels anyway. Brain **** are little different from practice questions. They help you to gauge your readiness and knowledge, and prepare you for what you are expected to know. The whole point is to know the answer to the question. Whether that answer comes from a text book, a practice question or a brain **** makes no difference. If you know it, you know it.

Webmaster

Did you have too... Except the first two sentences, your post is just another excuse to justify the use of braindumps. I'm not judging anyone, at least I try, and you can discuss the topic braindumps as much as you like (in this topic), and only the posts that promote a BD site or similar will be edited or removed, and I will explain why, and after that I'm leaving this discussion (ok, maybe later I will post my favorite excuses to use braindumps I ever heard )

It is not about knowing an answer, it is not even about passing a multiple choice test... it is all about learning skills and you won't learn any skills from brain **** nor from PDF guides selling actual questions. In the same way that you didn't learn skills using a **** sheet when you were in school.

Your odds are slim anyway of seeing the same question on the actual exam as you see on any braindump, because the test is adaptive and the question pool is always changing.

You are wrong about this, chances are huge. It is very simple to get every current question of any exam from the web, some free, some not. Why would you want to know the question you will get on an exam? (retorical, please do not answer to this question, the answer can only be obivous )

Yet, these messages are written by the same people who see no problem with gathering all the practice questions they can find, including those on this very site. There is no difference!

I'm sorry to hear you don't see the difference between cheating using stolen property and preparing/reviewing/checking-checking-if-you-are-ready using my hard work...

On the real exam you will probably find a varation of a question you took in our, or any, available practice exams. But a small difference can make a completely different question. If it was the case that every question was a simple as: "What is the maximum cable length of a 10Base2 cable segment?" a. 100 b. 185 c. 500 d. 2000 one might agree it doesn't matter where you get the info from, as long as you know the cable lengths right...? Wrong. You can get this kind of info from any book or cram even. It would not justify that you take a peek at the actual questions before you take the exam. You would already know they would ask about 10Base2 cable lengths and not fiber optics... meaning that the actual exam you eventually take doesn't mean that much as it should; you are devaluating your own certification. The case is that that are people working very hard to create original questions which you have to read and understand (typically incorrect answers as well) to answer them correctly. Remembering that it was the long answer or answer b or the answer with word xxxx and yyyy in it does not test your skills. I've worked with dosens of people, some of them used braindumps (always as "supplemental material") and others just wanted to know everything, grasp all the exam objectives piece by piece, those using braindumps will often schedule the exam very quickly and pass with almost perfect scores(as soon as they don't find any new braindump questions typically...) those that want to learn and know the material so they can perform well on the job may even re-schedule the exam, they are nervous (" do I know enough, did I cover enough, should I read another RFC" ) eventually they pass, some barely, some also almost perfect scores..., some may even fail, pick up the books again and eventuall pass. During the time this particular scenario took place, I was working as a project leader... who do you think ended up in my team when we needed to expand the network again with new servers, lans etc? (again retorical...)

Please note, that I'm not saying or even implying that people who used braindumps cannot perform on the job or don't have skills.

Not to forget you sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before you take an exam. You should take that seriously... (the world might end up in chaos if you don't )

And last but not least: the questions you see on the test are copyright protected and are intillectual property of the vendor/company. Posting braindumps, displaying them on a website, selling them is an illegal/criminal activity.

kevin99

Webmaster, thanks for the feedback. I'm new to the site and a great fan of it, and like everyone else I'm simply trying to acquire as much knowledge as I can before exam time comes. Having read many of the postings on this site, particularly in the discussions on braindumps, I expected some lively response. In my own defence, (and now I wish I had mentioned this in my original message) I don't use braindumps, although I have seen them of course. And it is precisely because I have seen them that I have come to the same conclusion that others before me have... they're inaccurate, unuseful and therefore don't help. But my point was more a philosophical one; insofar as that within the grand scheme of learning to be a qualified tech, you need to know a great many details, and sometimes you can be fooled into thinking you really know a topic.... until you see a practice question on it to which you don't know the answer. Then you realize it's time to hit the books again. (This has happened to me several times). Perhaps naively, my thinking came from the theory that any question is helpful if it illuminates a weak area in your knowledge, no matter what the source. I do have to admit, however, that I never really thought about it in the way you describe; that it's the taking and distributing of another's intellectual property. I suppose if I worked for CompTia and I was the guy writing the questions, I would feel the same way. So, point taken, Webmaster. I've learned the errors of my ways!

Cross

Webmaster is totally correct and how he stands. If you were to get your hands on whichever braindump material. You may certainly pass, yet what happens when you are questioned during a job interview? Are you going to say, oh i'm sorry that was not one of the questions on the exam.

Braindumps are made for a laugh and a quick cop-out

bellboy

i admit that when i was looking for sources on the internet for my a+ exams, that i did visit and i did download **** sites. at the time i just wasn't able to find the resources i wanted.

i read some through, but to me, it was much easier just to read my books and learn my stuff rather than memorise hundreds of questions. which is what the original plan was anyway.

in the end i did find what i was looking for. it was i.t. exam forums. i have joined several over the years, and my membership has lapsed on some - but the help i have received from them has been great.

ghaouf

when you use braindumps you are cheating your self and when you get your certification it would be worthless, because no body hires cheaters
that is what i feal about braindumps

Webmaster

bellboy wrote:

in the end i did find what i was looking for. it was i.t. exam forums.

I agree, it is important to discuss and understand concepts, not just a question or answer.

drkat

I guess I'm neutral on this subject. I've met guys who study a book and take a test and cant fix a sandwich. I however have also met guys who say they brain dumped their tests and are the best techs I've ever met. The issue here I think is the value you put on certifications. The guys who go out and get 10+ certs (forgive me for saying so) are collectors. You cant possibly be an "expert" in all of those certifications with real world experience in all of the topics. Therefore most of the folks I run into with 1000 certifications are all paper <insert vendor cert here>

The guys that used brain **** to achieve their certification needed to do so because the "cert" was seen by corporate as a credential although you may know the material but be terrible with tests or maybe don't know how to answer it the "vendor" way. I myself have this problem - I know what to do but am I answering it "per the vendor" = test anxiety and procrastination

Like I said I'm 50/50 on this - some guys have the experience and just need a cert to be recognized or some have no experience and need certs to be recognized - I'd say if you're @ 0% knowledge then study and learn and process the information. If you're 5+ years in the game and are gainfully employed but not going anywhere due to lack of cert - well it's up to them how they wanna do it; I'm not going to judge.

The value of a certification is only that which corporations/individuals put on it

Hypntick

kevin99 wrote: »

The whole point is to know the answer to the question. Whether that answer comes from a text book, a practice question or a brain **** makes no difference. If you know it, you know it.

The main thing i'm going to point out is this, when taking a Cisco test, you need to be able to successfully subnet a block of addresses. The **** will most certainly tell you the answer, but now how you arrived at the answer. Then you land that big job interview as a network tech and one of the interview questions they ask you is "What is the last valid host on the subnetwork 172.25.240.0 255.255.240.0?" (pulled from subnettingquestions.com) the **** will not prepare you to answer this question. I know from doing a few interviews that they don't care if you ask for paper and draw the sucker out, all they want to know is do you understand the process and why it's necessary.

There are a variety of things just like my example that will pop up in an interview, or during the course of a job, that while you may not know the answer immediately, having worked through your certs and training you'll know how to find the answer or jumping off point. Being on the other side in an interview, you can spot these people a mile away. Once that happens the $150 you spent on a voucher, plus what you may have spent on a ****, is completely wasted and you build up a reputation in the local community (hiring managers do talk to eachother oddly enough).

cyberguypr

Whoah! This thread is rising from the ashes.

earweed

A lot of good points here.
One of the main reasons that braindumps are still in existence (and profitable) is that some industries place an emphasis on their employees being certified in A LOT of areas and sometimes place an unreasonable time limit on getting the certs. I've even heard of cases where an employer has supplied the braindump material to employees.
I've never personally used **** but know quite a few people who have. As to using a ton of practice questions to help in either gaging your knowledge or just as an exercise in which to better "learn" how to arrive at the correct answers this is not cheating (which using braindumps is) and I have found that using practice test questions does help most people to pass exams.

Webmaster

cyberguypr wrote: »

Whoah! This thread is rising from the ashes.

It's the zombie horse, just won't stay dead and buried. It was actually a **** spammer who dug it up. One thing did change in 8 years: I learned to spell "rhetorical"

pham0329

Personally, I think that if you get beat out of a position by someone who dumped the exam, then credit to them for being able to pass the technical interview. If someone was able to fake their knowledge in a technical interview, and still beat you for the position, you really have no one else to blame but yourself.

Just because someone dumped an exam doesn't mean they're clueless or doesn't know what they're talking about. I think people get too worked up, focusing on the "you dumped the exam" part, rather than what the person actually knows.

Turgon

pham0329 wrote: »

Personally, I think that if you get beat out of a position by someone who dumped the exam, then credit to them for being able to pass the technical interview. If someone was able to fake their knowledge in a technical interview, and still beat you for the position, you really have no one else to blame but yourself.

Just because someone dumped an exam doesn't mean they're clueless or doesn't know what they're talking about. I think people get too worked up, focusing on the "you dumped the exam" part, rather than what the person actually knows.

I think people do get too worked up about **** to be honest. They are here to stay. It is down to the individual to decide if they want to study for exams or take a peek at what they may actually well be tested upon. I have attended many technical interviews and I have to say that some of them it made little difference if you studied hard for your tests or simply crammed a ****. It came down to handling yourself on the day and you either had the background or insights or remembered your stuff or you didn't. I have studied more than most and I can remember one interview where I simply got something mixed up about OSPF and BGP because I had not thought theoretical aspects for a while. It happens.

I have never used **** and never will, neither do I condone them. I have worked alongside very capable professionals, CCIE's no less who routinely **** the written exam every two years to recertify. What I will say is that dumping exams doesn't bring you closer to being able to actually handle complex technical requirements in the field that require your intervention. Studying for exams patiently and passing exams without them might.

MAC_Addy

Turgon wrote: »

Studying for exams patiently and passing exams without them might.

That's some sound advice there.

I have never used them and definitely will never go and look for them. Though, I can see where some people want to take a sneak peak of what's to come. But then again, if you're looking you're definitely devaluing yourself.

If you go out there, download them, study them and pass, you won't get any self accomplishment feelings. When you go out there, study your butt off and pass the exam, you're on top of the world!

Especially if you're taking something like CCNA, CCNP or even CCIE... Would you want someone managing your network that has braindumped their way through their certs? I think not. I want someone who's studied the information, absorbed it and conquered it.

Now - if you've taken the A+, network+ or any other cert and you're not passing them - time to move on to a different career buddy, it's not for you.

pham0329

MAC_Addy wrote: »

Especially if you're taking something like CCNA, CCNP or even CCIE... Would you want someone managing your network that has braindumped their way through their certs? I think not. I want someone who's studied the information, absorbed it and conquered it.

This is what I was referring to in my previous post. I'm not trying to single you out, but people only focus on the part where the person **** the exam, rather than what that person actually knows. If someone dumped the exam, but they have proven they can handle complex networks, would I let them manage the network? Sure, why not?

Tackle

MAC_Addy wrote: »

Now - if you've taken the A+, network+ or any other cert and you're not passing them - time to move on to a different career buddy, it's not for you.

That's not very fair to say. People fail these every day. Granted they are entry level, you have to start somewhere.

Psoasman

pham0329 wrote: »

Personally, I think that if you get beat out of a position by someone who dumped the exam, then credit to them for being able to pass the technical interview. If someone was able to fake their knowledge in a technical interview, and still beat you for the position, you really have no one else to blame but yourself.

That person who faked their knowledge during the interview will sooner or later be found out for the fraud they are. They will have to fix an emergency problem and won't know where to even start.
I agree that someone may choose to **** the exam and they may actually know the material. It's still cheating, no matter how anybody rationalizes it.

networker050184

pham0329 wrote: »

This is what I was referring to in my previous post. I'm not trying to single you out, but people only focus on the part where the person **** the exam, rather than what that person actually knows. If someone dumped the exam, but they have proven they can handle complex networks, would I let them manage the network? Sure, why not?

Intergrity. If they lie and **** why would you want them working for you?

pham0329

This is probably my last post on the subject because I can see where this thread is going, but I'm a little curious, if you found out that your Sr Network Engineer, or the guy working for you has dumped the CCIE/CCNP/CCNA, would you fire him or treat him differently?

Bl8ckr0uter

The SR Network Engineer here braindumps. My IT Manager encourages him (and everyone else). He knows his stuff but to him, a cert is just a piece of paper. I think that it is wishful thinking for people to say that every braindumper is going to get "caught" in a situation they cannot get out of. Not everyone who braindumps is brain dead. I don't brain **** but honestly if you are an idiot it doesn't matter if you braindumped the exam or used transcender and the same goes for if you are skilled.

networker050184

pham0329 wrote: »

This is probably my last post on the subject because I can see where this thread is going, but I'm a little curious, if you found out that your Sr Network Engineer, or the guy working for you has dumped the CCIE/CCNP/CCNA, would you fire him or treat him differently?

No, I probably wouldn't fire him, but I would no longer trust anything the guy says. No integrity, takes the easy way out, lies. So it would definitely be a strike against him.

What is he gonna be doing on your network that hes not telling you about? Is he going to go the extra mile to make sure things are done right rather than the easy way? Its indicative of someones personality for sure.

demonfurbie

every interview ive been on for anything IT related was mostly hands on in a lab after about 15 min of talking they always walked me to a system/virtual lab/switch and asked me to do something.

apr911

drkat wrote: »

I guess I'm neutral on this subject. I've met guys who study a book and take a test and cant fix a sandwich. I however have also met guys who say they brain dumped their tests and are the best techs I've ever met. The issue here I think is the value you put on certifications. The guys who go out and get 10+ certs (forgive me for saying so) are collectors. You cant possibly be an "expert" in all of those certifications with real world experience in all of the topics. Therefore most of the folks I run into with 1000 certifications are all paper <insert vendor cert here>

Turgon wrote: »

I have never used **** and never will, neither do I condone them. I have worked alongside very capable professionals, CCIE's no less who routinely **** the written exam every two years to recertify. What I will say is that dumping exams doesn't bring you closer to being able to actually handle complex technical requirements in the field that require your intervention. Studying for exams patiently and passing exams without them might.

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

The SR Network Engineer here braindumps. My IT Manager encourages him (and everyone else). He knows his stuff but to him, a cert is just a piece of paper. I think that it is wishful thinking for people to say that every braindumper is going to get "caught" in a situation they cannot get out of. Not everyone who braindumps is brain dead. I don't brain **** but honestly if you are an idiot it doesn't matter if you braindumped the exam or used transcender and the same goes for if you are skilled.

+1 to all 3 of these points. I too have known people that studied, crammed or did whatever short of using a brain **** to pass the test and yet they couldnt answer simple questions to save their life. Meanwhile, Ive known some who have brain dumped and can explain a technology inside and out.

Most of the people I know who have brain dumped were brain dumping exams to upgrade (MCSE->MCITP:EA) or renew (CCNP, CCIE, etc) their certs. They already have the requisite knowledge they just dont have time to game the exam.

And lets be honest, thats all anyone ever does... Game the exam. I have yet to sit a technical certification where I was presented a real world scenario with a real world solution. Every vendor has a bias towards their own solution and the way the technology is supposed to work (according to the standard or the vendor) is rarely the way it actually does.

For example,

You can clear both phases of a vpn tunnel on a Cisco ASA using the command "clear crypto isakmp sa PeerAddress"

It works, it will tear down both phases of the tunnel but it shouldnt work. According to the RFC's for VPN tunnels, phase 2 of a tunnel should be able to survive the teardown of phase 1 however, the way Cisco implements the tunnel on the ASA, tearing down phase 1 causes phase 2 to be torn down too...


The blurring of the line between vendor technologies also pushes people to use brain ****. Take for example the MCITP Server Administrator exam 70-646. To reach the MCITP SA level, there is no OS exam required and the exam itself is titled "SERVER ADMINISTRATOR." Yet, when I took my 70-646 exam, there was questions about administering Windows 7 technologies. Granted, the questions were in relation to how you enable interoperability between different technologies. However, if I had only studied Server 2008, I had very little desktop or Win7 experience and I hadnt taken enough certifications to know how to reasonably deduce an answer I didnt know, I wouldnt have had a clue on the answer.

Cisco also has this problem. When I started studying for my CCNP:security, I was going to take the SECURE exam first because the exam description by Cisco makes it sound like a more advanced form of the IINS CCNA:security exam. I ended up taking 2 months off by which point I was more into Firewalls and VPNs than routing and switching so I opted to do FIREWALL and VPN first as the knowledge was fresher. Im glad I did as SECURE turned out to be a hodge-podge of questions relating to FIREWALL, VPN, IDS and IINS and if I had taken the exam first and managed to pass (something which I doubt greatly), I doubt it would have been with as high of a score as I managed to achieve.

In the end, forgoing the legal entanglements and the ethics questions of using something you know to be illegal, cheating, whatever, I think it ultimately it comes down to how you use the brain ****. If you use the **** just to pass the exam and get the cert are you any better for it? No. On the other hand, if you use the **** to study and learn that which you dont understand is it that much different from using other study practice exams?

The value of braindumps all depends on how they are used and using them as a straight up **** I dont think is effective. While I have never used a braindump in preparation for an exam, I did recently download and run through the Cisco SECURE exam after I had passed with a score in the 900's. I went through the questions and a good 30-40% of the "answers" were different than how I answered the question yet I still got a mid-to-high 900 score.

Would I have passed if I had studied just the brain ****? almost certainly no. On the other hand, if I used the brain ****, ignored the selected "answers" and researched each question on my own, I would have passed and probably learned quite a bit in the process. And by research I mean actually find the vendor documentation for the technology and where the answer to the question is answered in it.

I have found, at least for cisco, the questions are lifted straight from the documentation or cisco press book, granted you dont know which statements or facts might appear on the exam but if you read the book or the documentation, you have seen every question on the exam even if you dont know it.

apr911

networker050184 wrote: »

No, I probably wouldn't fire him, but I would no longer trust anything the guy says. No integrity, takes the easy way out, lies. So it would definitely be a strike against him.

What is he gonna be doing on your network that hes not telling you about? Is he going to go the extra mile to make sure things are done right rather than the easy way? Its indicative of someones personality for sure.

I have to disagree that its indicative of someone's personality. There is already a great deal of difficulty, especially for those in IT, in establishing lines between work/professional life and home life. Family commitments and work pressures (especially jobs that pressure employees to cert up without allowing adequate WORK time to study) get in the way of the best of intentions. When work starts pressing to have X cert by Y date, whats a person to do really? Or when you suddenly find yourself or a significant other without a job and you still need to provide for your family but to get a new job or to get the promotion with greater pay, you need to get certified because the business requires it, what are you going to do?

Life is a balancing act of priorities. Food on the table is number 1 and if putting food on the table is threatened because I dont have a certification and if I dont get the certification by a date where I couldnt reasonably study for the exam, you better believe that my priorities are going to shift, my current personal convictions and any other objections I may have against brain dumping are going straight out the window.

Also, if you believe everyone has 100% integrity, always does things the right way, not the easy way and never lies, you are fooling yourself. Ask yourself right now, "In my adult life (we'll exclude childhood) Have I ever lied? No matter how small?" "Have I always been 100% honest and upfront about the issue?" "Have I always broken down the entire system and built it back up when a patchwork of fixes will do?"

I be the answer to all of those is No.

House likes to say "It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what."


And I think its true. If I found out my senior engineer dumped his exams, I dont think I would treat him any differently. I say this for several reasons:

1. By the time the senior engineer and I have a close enough relationship that he would be willing to share with me that he dumped his exams, I am likely to have a large body of past and present work showing that it doesnt matter.

2. Initially, I treat everyone with the same level of distrust upon hiring. Until you have proven yourself capable of driving, I am not going to handover the keys to the car as it were. On the off chance that somebody told me early in their employment that they dumped the exams, their work might face more scrutiny as a result but it wouldnt significantly change my view.

networker050184

Of course no one is 100% honest all the time, I'm not that nieve. Someone who cheats their way to their qualifications and then lies about it in order to further their carrer isn't trustworthy IMO. Talk about how hard it is and the tests are unfair all you want, but the bottom line is I don't want liers and cheaters working for me and I doubt anyone else really does thats worth working for.