Third time's not a charm

So after another three weeks of study I took the 70-410 a third time and actually did worse.

In addition to the study methods I covered in my previous post I dove further into doing hands-on lab work, using a combination of Keith Mayer's Technet blogs and the 70-410 training guide.

It completely baffles me how I could actually get a worse score than the first two times.

Has this happened to anyone else? If so, how did you overcome it?

TBH, not sure I want to keep using my current study/learning techniques only to fail the test again. I'm getting that much closer to my 5th attempt, which means I would have to wait a year to take it again. That isn't going to fly with my job.

Is there anyone that actually shelled out for the classes? What I'm doing currently just isn't working.

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Comments

Ginger9997

Where do you think your struggling mate? whats the paper your getting after the exam saying in terms of weakness? What score did you get?

Can i ask what study techniques you've used so far?

wallpaper_01

This might sound strange, but you don't think you're subconsciously remembering the wrong answers you chose in the test and choosing them again?

When I was doing the Boson exams after a few times I was remembering my answers so easily and just auto choosing them without thinking, but they showed you the correct answers and this test doesn't so maybe you keep choosing the same answers without realising?!

Crazy theory, but how else can you get worse after more studying?!

practicinghuman

Ginger9997 wrote: »

Where do you think your struggling mate? whats the paper your getting after the exam saying in terms of weakness? What score did you get?

Can i ask what study techniques you've used so far?

First and second time I got 630. Third time I got 577.
First time my area of weakness was Hyper-V and Core networking, and I did pretty well in Group Policy and Active Directory.
Second time it was reverse... I was weak in Group Policy and Active Directory but did well in Hyper-V and Core networking.
Third time I was all over the board, below 60% in every category.

I outlined my study techniques in my previous post here, but more specifically I would run the practice tests then bone up on the areas where I consistently missed questions. I then would take those same areas to my lab setup and work with those areas on the servers so I could get hands-on experience with them.

wallpaper_01 wrote: »

This might sound strange, but you don't think you're subconsciously remembering the wrong answers you chose in the test and choosing them again?

When I was doing the Boson exams after a few times I was remembering my answers so easily and just auto choosing them without thinking, but they showed you the correct answers and this test doesn't so maybe you keep choosing the same answers without realising?!

I suppose that may be a possibility. Since they don't tell you which answers you get right or wrong I would use the test results' recommendation of which area to focus on. I seriously think what will benefit me the most is a very thorough approach to lab work. I am very much a hands-on, have to do it by rout and practice. Memorizing and regurgitating info is something I can do, but it doesn't stick in my long-term memory the way practical experience does.

Theegg911

Sorry to hear about this. I always recommend people use training videos. I find having it visually shown to me is how I learn best. And when you get those questions where you have to click something in a picture, having a visual reference is what helps. Does your job have a CBT Nuggets subscription? I think if you did a 1 month subscription on your own: https://www.cbtnuggets.com/shoppingcart/it-monthly

At this point, it may be worth $100 to have a better chance at the exam. If I was in your place and going on my 4th try, I would be trying to exhaust any and all resources.

pjd007

Theegg911 wrote: »

Sorry to hear about this. I always recommend people use training videos. I find having it visually shown to me is how I learn best. And when you get those questions where you have to click something in a picture, having a visual reference is what helps. Does your job have a CBT Nuggets subscription? I think if you did a 1 month subscription on your own: https://www.cbtnuggets.com/shoppingcart/it-monthly

At this point, it may be worth $100 to have a better chance at the exam. If I was in your place and going on my 4th try, I would be trying to exhaust any and all resources.

CBT Nuggets can be found for free if you look in the usual places !

Theegg911

ehh....idk if that is frowned upon when mentioning it on here. (Yes it can be found for free but some people may have moral values to not do that!)

pjd007

Theegg911 wrote: »

ehh....idk if that is frowned upon when mentioning it on here. (Yes it can be found for free but some people may have moral values to not do that!)

And some people have no choice because they can't afford 99$ per month !

AlexCross

practicinghuman wrote: »

First and second time I got 630. Third time I got 577.
First time my area of weakness was Hyper-V and Core networking, and I did pretty well in Group Policy and Active Directory.
Second time it was reverse... I was weak in Group Policy and Active Directory but did well in Hyper-V and Core networking.
Third time I was all over the board, below 60% in every category.

To get a little bit better at Hyper-V you could watch the first few videos or so on MVA. There are a bunch others that may help you as well.
Server Virtualization with Hyper-V & System Center Training - Microsoft Virtual Academy

It's for a different exam, but sometimes you have to make your own resources.

When you watch the videos, pause them and take notes. You can also download the slides, but more importantly writing it down will help the most.

Download the guidelines off Microsoft's site and fill it in. Use it as an outline. I try to do it from memory, but I will look things up if I get stumped.
Exam 70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012

Keep at it. You will get it eventually! Good luck