270 exam : some answer in BOLD

I will take the 270 in a 2 -3 weeks, I hope, it will be my second attempt, I
had noticed on the last 270 Exam that some of the answers were in "BOLD"
darker and more highlighted than other answers. Not the entire sentence but some key words. Just like they do in the "exam books".

As if this exam is not tough and tricky enough, I wanted to ask about these "bold"
answers, should I dismiss these "bolded" words as an attempt to mislead me, or
a key to the correct answer. I'm talking about the a,b,c,d answers, some are "bolded" others are not, I ran into about 7 or 8 of these type on the exam.

2nd question, If I eliminated two answers and were left with 2, does microsoft often
go out of its way to make the wrong answer seem "convincingly right"., and what do
you do, just pick one answer you think is right, and then ... mark the "other one" ?

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royal

My strategy is whatever I think is correct, I mark that as my answer and click Next.

skrpune

royal wrote: »

My strategy is whatever I think is correct, I mark that as my answer and click Next.

+1

Not sure why some answers or words would be in bold, but just go with your gut and pick what you feel is the best answer.

Big Jizay

+2

My strategy while taking a test is to go with my gut and pick the right answer. Don't second guess your answers too much. In my experience, that's when I picked the wrong answer.

Sie

susuandme wrote: »

As if this exam is not tough and tricky enough, I wanted to ask about these "bold"
answers, should I dismiss these "bolded" words as an attempt to mislead me, or
a key to the correct answer. I'm talking about the a,b,c,d answers, some are "bolded" others are not, I ran into about 7 or 8 of these type on the exam.

2nd question, If I eliminated two answers and were left with 2, does microsoft often
go out of its way to make the wrong answer seem "convincingly right"., and what do
you do, just pick one answer you think is right, and then ... mark the "other one" ?

I found the bold words just refered to acronyms such as Domain Name Space or DNS so I can safely say the 'boldness' has no relation to how correct the answer is.

As for answering the questions I like to work through each answer and ask myself what each would produce. Then I compare the result to what they are asking in the question.

IE:

How to you make a cake?

A: Mix salt and vinegar together and put on fired potatoes
B: Mix eggs, flour, butter and sugar together
C: Mix bricks and cement together

You know A would make chips and C would make a wall so you know they cant be right.

susuandme

thanks, these are some good techniques, I know there are some
statistics on "changing your answer" after you have marked it. But that
doesn't apply sometimes ...

For example in my last test, I think I change 1 or 2 answers afer reviewing my
quesions, and I did not pass the test.

My problem is "I READ MORE INTO THE QUESTION THAN IT IS ASKING" , This is what
some people do, they make the question more difficult or complex than it is. Sometimes
they even simplify the questions when there is more to it than it appears."

Sie

I very rarely change my answers, I tend to change them to the wrong thing because I think about it too much!!

The trick with Microsoft exams is to understand the questions, thats half the battle! They tend to be long paragraphs and you dont always need all the details.

My suggestions is to get some practice tests so you can get used to the questions and style of exams.

Others may disagree, this has been discussed before, but personally I prefer the Transcender Exams to the Measure Up exams I have tried.

Edit - Haha, just amused myself with the 'Go Advanced' button i just found on this new layout and was disappointed when the coffee machine didnt have one

skrpune

susuandme wrote: »

thanks, these are some good techniques, I know there are some
statistics on "changing your answer" after you have marked it. But that
doesn't apply sometimes ...

For example in my last test, I think I change 1 or 2 answers afer reviewing my
quesions, and I did not pass the test.

Who's to say that you didn't change those two answers from wrong to right resulting in a higher score, rather than the reverse? Statistics are just statistics and they don't always apply. Even if in 99% of cases xyz happens, there's still that 1% where a-w will happen.

susuandme wrote:

My problem is "I READ MORE INTO THE QUESTION THAN IT IS ASKING" , This is what
some people do, they make the question more difficult or complex than it is. Sometimes
they even simplify the questions when there is more to it than it appears."

This is a trap that a lot of people fall into. When standardized tests like this are involved, it's necessary to "dissect" some questions. Sort them into important info, kinda important and maybe relevant info, and totally unrelated info. Same goes for the answers - some can be dismissed entirely because they assume facts not stated or facts that cannot be assumed from the information given, others are the exact opposite of the correct answer, and still others are just flat out wrong & have nothing to do with the question being asked.

Here's my general exam advice for those who are concerned about having enough time to finish:
If a question is troublesome or taking you too long to figure out, then mark it and move onto the next question. (I realize that questions are weighted differently, but there's no huge advantage to getting one very tough question right if you spend so much time on it that you don't get through 5/10/or more other questions and freak yourself out in the process.) Don't worry about how many questions you mark, just do a first run-through of all the questions and mark whatever question you're not sure of or those you are spending too much time on. Then go back through all the questions you've marked for review. If you've selected an answer, change it *only* if you can give yourself a reason to do so - otherwise, leave it as is and trust your first instinct, as it's usually right. LAST thing you do is work on those questions you are having real trouble with. Go through them one by one. Again, if it's taking too long, move onto the next one and put your focus on other questions rather than spending 5-10 minutes freaking out over one or two questions. And for the ones you just don't know..eliminate the clearly wrong answers and take your best educated guess.

susuandme

thanks thats great advice, I did remembe to mark questions for
review, because I did find after just reading the quesions once
that it was going to be 'one of the difficult one's" so I marked
it .. and moved on.

I also marked questins that I answered, but was not sure of ..
I was very guarded, in changing the answer I put down initially ..

thanks for that great advice..

susuandme

good advice, but also manyof the microsoft questions require " problem solving skills
, and some people do not have these "investigative" skills, It take great knowledge and skills to Unravel a mystery. And many of these questions are "cloaked " in mysterious scenarios which require assumptions, about facts not given. Many people do not have these skills, so microsoft is filtering out many people this way, they are lookig mainly for problem solving peope not people who just know where to click on a desktop or applet.

skrpune

susuandme wrote: »

good advice, but also manyof the microsoft questions require " problem solving skills
, and some people do not have these "investigative" skills, It take great knowledge and skills to Unravel a mystery. And many of these questions are "cloaked " in mysterious scenarios which require assumptions, about facts not given. Many people do not have these skills, so microsoft is filtering out many people this way, they are lookig mainly for problem solving peope not people who just know where to click on a desktop or applet.

Not to be captain obvious here, but I think that's the whole point of certification exams like this. They are designed to weed out folks who can't perform up to the level tested by the exam. In general, IT isn't a field for those with no or poor problem solving skills, or I guess I would in general call it "analytical skills." It's something that's inherently required in IT, and those without that skill (or those who aren't able to adequately develop that skill through discipline, practice, learning, experience, etc.) are probably not going to get too far.

In my opinion, good reading comprehension and good problem solving skills often go hand in hand - they both require a person to use the ol' noggin' to reason & analyze. You have to figure out what you can and can't assume with the facts given, and some of that comes from reasoning/comprehension/problem solving skills, and some of that comes from subject matter knowledge.

To truly knock exams like this & others out of the park, you have to have problem solving skills AND good reading comprehension AND the subject matter knowledge/experience to back it up, AND be able to apply them all together under the pressure of an exam. It's not rocket science and it's not something that comes naturally to everyone either. But if you have an aptitude for it and if you work hard, then it can be done.

royal

Agreed with skrpune. The tests are there to weed out the people who can't perform. And as I've said before, the exams after 70-270 are much more difficult in comparison. And even with that said, the exams are still only base level knowledge. There's much more to learn than what the exams test you on.

susuandme

yes I understand your point, the IT field is one of problem solving,
but probably in more career positions than others. The 270 tests
you on a broad range of topics, covered in other exams beneath it,
and above it.

When you are on a help desk position or other position, not related
to group policy or security templates, I don't know why msft tries
to defeat a lot of people so early on in the process with 270.

A real life situation on the job doesn't require you to solve 64 difficult
problem solving situations in 180 minutes .. I think there are many
people who have gotten discouraged and given up because of tests
like these which deliberately derail people from their goals .. but I'm
not going to give up, I'm not the best problem solving person in the
world, I found that out when I started this track, and so discipline,
perseverence, practice, doing, and experience, etc as you , are necessary
for achievement here ..

royal

susuandme wrote: »

but I'm
not going to give up, I'm not the best problem solving person in the
world, I found that out when I started this track, and so discipline,
perseverence, practice, doing, and experience, etc as you , are necessary
for achievement here ..

I like your attitude.