Service Transition study advice

tez3003

Hi, I am undertaking the ST course (classroom) and exam next month. I flunked SOA a few months back with 60%. I've been doing dome reading of the core volume for ST but wondered what other study techniques would help? I started compiling some flash cards but a colleague says you need to learn concepts not recall facts. I've read on this forum to crests mind maps from referring to the course syllabus. All advice welcomed...

Claire Agutter

Hi tez3003, one good thing about the ITIL intermediates is they all require the same exam technique (complex multiple choice). Even though you didn't get the result you wanted for SOA, you'll have learnt techniques to eliminate answers that will help you for ST. Getting as much exam practice as possible is very useful. Ask your training provider if they will give you access to the RCV sample exams as well - they're not exactly the same as ST but cover many similar areas so will help you there. And creating mindmaps and flash cards using the syllabus is also great advice - it will quickly highlight any weak areas. The ST principles are key and underpin many other areas so make sure you know them inside out. Good luck! Claire

tez3003

The exam was tough, much harder than the sample papers (guess the live real one also adds to the experience). About three of the scenarios and answer choices I thought were a little wooly and I was unsure as I left the exam if I'd passed but I knew I'd done better than SOA.

Passed with 36/40 (90%) and obviously very pleased. My preparation was so much better (flashcard creation/revision using the revision guide), pre-reading of core volume, read some background materials on ST. The other significant change was settling on an exam technique and I had decided (unlike last time) not to go back and check my answers.

Also helpful was the trainer did not put us through a mock the morning of the real test, which I think kept us fresh for the real thing. Plus on the sample papers, we only attempted the questions on each evening that we'd just covered on the training days so you didn't have the downer of wasting effort on attempting questions and failing because you hadn't yet covered the material. Add to the fact trainer talked over the subject with the class using real-life examples then went through the slides, rather than just milling through the slides kept us interested and engaged. I've fed this back to the provider as that format worked brilliantly for me.

now onto CSI and most likely the rest of the lifecycle track. SOA can rot for the moment....