ITIL V3 Foundations tomorrow and I do not feel prepared but have no choice!

I work in Desktop Support and my job is making me, my co-worker, my “helpdesk manager” and the director of IT get certified in ITIL V3 Foundations. I guess this is a department goal that comes from pretty high up and is becoming more common these days for companies IT departments to have. At first I am thinking of cool a chance to get a free cert until I tried to take the provided online training course. Wow was it dry, and honestly I never got though the entire thing before the course expired so I have been relying on my own study materials which may be for the best. Here is what I have been primarily using…

CBT Nuggets
Transcender Practice Tests
A book called the Art of Service “Exam Prep Study Guide, How to pass on your first try”
Some other practice tests that I found in the back of various books on ITIL V3

Now it has been a while since I got a cert or studied for a test for that matter, but I remember I put a lot of time into studying Network+ and it paid off big as I scored an 800/900. I used similar materials as well, the CBT Videos, Transcender tests plus a Sybex and an Exam Cram book. Now for the ITIL test I feel like I have the right materials, for me the videos and practice tests really help the most, with books the info just do not sink in but I still like to read short ones as a review of everything. But my problem with ITIL is god the material is so dry! Sure I can relate to incident management, change management, SLA’s, ect. As I deal with stuff like that everyday but I have not been able to get though all of the CBT videos yet (do not have the time) I have been scoring between a 55 and 65% on the transcender tests, which does not make me feel good! With my A+, Net+ and while studying for other tests I have been interested in the material so studying it came easy and I always scored high on the practice tests (above an 80%).

I cannot get the exam pushed back any further as I already did that once and then I had to go out of town for 5 days to attend a funeral for my someone girlfriends family so I pretty much had to time to focus or study then. My co-worker did pass the exam already, but just barely with a 67%, two more wrong and he would have failed, and he finished all but two of the CBT videos and was scoring higher on the transcenders. Pretty much I feel like I am screwed but I have no choice and have to take it, at this point there is not much I can do because take practice tests over and over and hope I just make it over the mark.

I have heard the test is not very hard and the bar isn't set very high but I have also heard it is not exactly easy either and I hate the wording of the questions on some of the practice questions so the real exam may be even worse who knows. If anyone who has passed could comment on their experience and how many study hours they put in to pass, ect. that would be great!

Thanks

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eMeS

Matt_Smi wrote: »

I work in Desktop Support and my job is making me, my co-worker, my “helpdesk manager” and the director of IT get certified in ITIL V3 Foundations. I guess this is a department goal that comes from pretty high up and is becoming more common these days for companies IT departments to have these days. At first I am thinking of cool a chance to get a free cert until I tried to take the provided online training course. Wow was it dry, and honestly I never got though the entire thing before the course expired so I have been relying on my own study materials which may be for the best. Here is what I have been primarily using…

CBT Nuggets
Transcender Practice Tests
A book called the Art of Service “Exam Prep Study Guide, How to pass on your first try”
Some other practice tests that I found in the back of various books on ITIL V3

Now it has been a while since I got a cert or studied for a test for that matter, but I remember I put a lot of time into studying Network+ and it paid off big as I scored an 800/900. I used similar materials as well, the CBT Videos, Transcender tests plus a Sybex and an Exam Cram book. Now for the ITIL test I feel like I have the right materials, for me the videos and practice tests really help the most, with books the info just do not sink in but I still like to read short ones as a review of everything. But my problem with ITIL is god the material is so dry! Sure I can relate to incident management, change management, SLA’s, ect. As I deal with stuff like that everyday but I have not been able to get though all of the CBT videos yet (do not have the time) I have been scoring between a 55 and 65% on the transcender tests, which does not make me feel good! With my A+, Net+ and while studying for other tests I have been interested in the material so studying it came easy and I always scored high on the practice tests (above an 80%).

I cannot get the exam pushed back any further as I already did that once and then I had to go out of town for 5 days to attend a funeral for my someone girlfriends family so I pretty much had to time to focus or study then. My co-worker did pass the exam already, but just barely with a 67%, two more wrong and he would have failed, and he finished all but two of the CBT videos and was scoring higher on the transcenders. Pretty much I feel like I am screwed but I have no choice and have to take it, at this point there is not much I can do because take practice tests over and over and hope I just make it over the mark.

I have heard the test is not very hard and the bar isn't set very high but I have also heard it is not exactly easy either and I hate the wording of the questions on some of the practice questions so the real exam may be even worse who knows. If anyone who has passed could comment on their experience and how many study hours they put in to pass, ect. that would be great!

Thanks

Although it is entirely possible to self-study for ITIL Foundation exams, self-study (or online training) for any topic is not the right approach for everyone.

As I read your post that's what I see. Self-study, at least of this material, probably isn't the right approach for you.

At the risk of self-promotion I will say that what makes the material less dry and more interesting is having a capable and qualified instructor who holds the correct credentials and has actual ITIL adoption experience. Furthermore, I would add that if you get an instructor that can relate the material to practical examples from real-life then you will likely do much better on the exam.

The questions are written in Queen's English, which can be tough for Americans. Another aspect of attending a live class and having a good instructor is that such a person will be able demonstrate how to translate the format of the questions into some more like the English we speak in the US.

Attending a class doesn't sound like an option in your situation. I would recommend that you spend some time reading the official ITIL glossary. This is one of the best study aids as the Foundation exam covers quite a bit of terminology.

BTW, my approach to covering the material works and is supported by results.... as an instructor I have a 100% first time pass rate for those who attend my sessions, as well as a very high average student score on the foundation exams. The population is over 1000 students at this point...

MS

Matt_Smi

I just took the exam today, I spoke with my manager and was able to get it pushed back so I had the weekend to study. I got an 80%, no official training course, just self study, mostly using some CBT Nuggets, A review book and transcenders extensively which I found to be the biggest help. As mentioned a big part of this test is knowing the terms and vocab and the test gets you familiar with what to expect in a way, they just will ask it differently on the actual test. But still you will see an answer and know that is not a part of the "ITIL vocab" so to speak so you can rule it out easily. Anyway I am very happy with my score, I would have been happy with a 65% haha and this is a big relief off my shoulders!

stephens316

Question for you Matt. How many questions and what did you need to pass? I might take this some in the next six months depending on what happens.

Matt_Smi

stephens316 wrote: »

Question for you Matt. How many questions and what did you need to pass? I might take this some in the next six months depending on what happens.

Hey, this is from their website I just copy pasted...

"The Foundation examination tests candidates in their ability to understand the basic concepts, describe them and demonstrate basic comprehension of the ITIL practices.

The Foundation examination consists of 40 multiple choice questions, where only one option can be correct and will be awarded a mark. The pass mark for this examination is 65% (26/40) and the exam duration is 60 minutes."

So 40 questions total and you need 26 right to pass (14 incorrect) or a 65%, each question is worth 2.5 points, I think and 80% would be 8 wrong. Def not a high bar set on the passing score but the exam was not a joke either, again I feel the biggest help was the Transceder practice exams, well worth the cost $120, well actually $60 since I split it with a co-worker and when he was done with it we freed up the license and I used it.

Turgon

Matt_Smi wrote: »

I just took the exam today, I spoke with my manager and was able to get it pushed back so I had the weekend to study. I got an 80%, no official training course, just self study, mostly using some CBT Nuggets, A review book and transcenders extensively which I found to be the biggest help. As mentioned a big part of this test is knowing the terms and vocab and the test gets you familiar with what to expect in a way, they just will ask it differently on the actual test. But still you will see an answer and know that is not a part of the "ITIL vocab" so to speak so you can rule it out easily. Anyway I am very happy with my score, I would have been happy with a 65% haha and this is a big relief off my shoulders!

Sounds good. One or two companies like to see some ITIL awareness on the CV these days. I might rattle this out in the new year and then get back to the technical stuff.