VCP4 Second Chance

azjag

Got this in an email today. Felt like sharing with everybody.

VCP4 Second Chance
Waiting for a second chance? Now you’ve got one – for free!
VMware Certified Professional Free Second Chance

The VMware Certified Professional on vSphere™ 4.0 (VCP4) is one of the most sought-after certifications in the industry. It recognizes individuals that have the education and experience to install, manage and deploy VMware vSphere 4 – and be an instant value-add to any organization.
Free Second Chance to get VCP4 Certified

The VCP4 exam isn’t easy, but it’s worth it when you pass. VMware Education and Pearson VUE are here to help you earn the recognition you deserve. For a limited time, we are giving you a free second chance at the VCP4 exam when you register for a full-priced exam by following the steps below.
Register for your Free Second Chance. It’s Easy.

* Register to take the VCP4 exam at a Pearson VUE test center for the full price (no discounts apply) using the promotion code: VCPTAKE1.

* If you fail your first exam, simply schedule your “second chance” exam with the promotion code “VCPTAKE2” and it’s free! Please note that this discount will only be valid on retakes of exams that were initially scheduled using the “VCPTAKE1” promotion code and must be taken before July 31, 2011.

Register today to take advantage of your second chance. If you have questions about the VCP exam course requirements, please visit VMware Certification.

Terms & Conditions

The code, VCPTAKE1, is required in the initial exam registration process to establish eligibility for the free retake exam. The second code, VCPUP2, is required in order for the second exam to be free. You must sit for and take both exams between now and July 31, 2011. Offer valid for the VMware Certified Professional on vSphere™ 4 (VCP4) exam only (exam code – VCP410). Only one (1) offer per person. Standard VMware retake policy rules apply.

QHalo

That's hot, thanks for the post!

Essendon

That's indeed hot, thanks!

jmritenour

Bleh, wish I would've had this one about 5 months ago. Still, good to see VMWare doing this - the VCP is one of the hardest IT exams I've ever sat for.

jibbajabba

jmritenour wrote: »

Bleh, wish I would've had this one about 5 months ago. Still, good to see VMWare doing this - the VCP is one of the hardest IT exams I've ever sat for.

Agree - made me proud passing them - different to any Microshaft exams I passed - couldn't care less

JDMurray

It's a nice deal, but it makes me think there has been a sustained decline in people attending VMware's training/certification classes. That why Microsoft came out with its second-shot promo years ago. I wonder if that's the case with VMware too.

azjag

JDMurray wrote: »

It's a nice deal, but it makes me think there has been a sustained decline in people attending VMware's training/certification classes. That why Microsoft came out with its second-shot promo years ago. I wonder if that's the case with VMware too.

Getting companies (or motivated individuals) to foot the bill for a $2-$3k class just so the attendee can be "officially" certified is a hard sell. That and I think that the difficulty of the test plays a major factor as well.

I offered to foot the bill for the class in exchange for not having to take vacation time to attend the class. In the end I was the only person in my department to attend training last year they paid for the class as well. I'm of the opinion that I will not allow my employer hold me back from learning something I am interested in.

JDMurray

azjag wrote: »

Getting companies (or motivated individuals) to foot the bill for a $2-$3k class just so the attendee can be "officially" certified is a hard sell. That and I think that the difficulty of the test plays a major factor as well.

I agree that there's more than a bit of "sticker shock" there. But that considered, has SANS ever needed to make a second-shot offer? Then again, The SANS Institute doesn't have shareholders to keep happy.

MentholMoose

The exam is $175, which is a small amount of the total cost of the cert, so it's not going to convince more people to take the training. If they offered a discount on the training itself, then probably more people would take it, but a second shot that may or may not be used won't help much.

VMware might be trying to get more people who have taken the training to take the VCP exam. It's an expensive exam, and while many companies will send employees to training, less will pay for the cert, so there may be people who only do the training and skip the cert.

scott28tt

I can certainly say that the UK market for authorised VMware training is still showing a good rate of growth overall and I know the growth target my employer has for 2011, although we know we will outperform the market

jibbajabba

MentholMoose wrote: »

The exam is $175, which is a small amount of the total cost of the cert,

I was thinking that .. if people already paid close to $3k then a second attempt (chargeable) seems a no brainer.

JDMurray

The offer of the second-shot would be to entice people to spend the $3K in the first place. Many people may not want to spend the money for the training until they feel they are close to having a chance of passing the exam. (I would be in this category).

azjag

JDMurray wrote: »

The offer of the second-shot would be to entice people to spend the $3K in the first place. Many people may not want to spend the money for the training until they feel they are close to having a chance of passing the exam. (I would be in this category).

My biggest issue with the requirement to take a VMware class is the only class that comes close to preparing you to attempt the certification is the vSphere boot-camp. Which is 5x9hr days. The Install, configure and manage class, which I took, is not considered enough to prepare you to take the certification. I realize that by requiring an official class to become a VCP is a way for VMware to ensure a minimum level of knowledge. It is misleading though.

jibbajabba

azjag wrote: »

My biggest issue with the requirement to take a VMware class is the only class that comes close to preparing you to attempt the certification is the vSphere boot-camp. Which is 5x9hr days. The Install, configure and manage class, which I took, is not considered enough to prepare you to take the certification. I realize that by requiring an official class to become a VCP is a way for VMware to ensure a minimum level of knowledge. It is misleading though.

The course is not enough by a long shot ... I obviously can't give any specific about the exams but there are questions which you can only answer if you worked with ESX for a while.

The 3.x exam was harder than the 4.x in that matter I think .. I had some stupid questions which were clearly meant to test your "experience" with the product rather than the technical understanding ...

Its like an exam where they ask you what colour the folder button in Outlook 2010 has ... Only way to find out is having it installed, working with it and even looked at it and noticed it once ..

tgfndotcom

This was a pride cert for me also, my company paid for the class for me and i was able to get VCP 3 certified from my knowledge and having the class complete. VCP 4 i had to rush train myself inorder to get the cert before the end of the year... that was a challenge.

2nd shot is a good thing, i am guessing after spending 3k for the class, if you have to fork out $175 over and over for the test that may discourage some.

jibbajabba

tgfndotcom wrote: »

This was a pride cert for me also, my company paid for the class for me and i was able to get VCP 3 certified from my knowledge and having the class complete. VCP 4 i had to rush train myself inorder to get the cert before the end of the year... that was a challenge.

2nd shot is a good thing, i am guessing after spending 3k for the class, if you have to fork out $175 over and over for the test that may discourage some.

To be honest though, if you have to do that over and over then you have to change the way you study ...