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Corey Quinn’s AWS Beta Certification Exam Report

2 points by Corrado 6y ago

Corrado 6y ago
This is a great article about certification testing and why it might not be a great idea. He points out that certs generally test for the previous methods and processes and fail to account for evolution of them. I completely agree with him in that I don't value these type of certifications much anymore. In fact, you could say that I de-value them; the more time you've spent trying to prove that you know something, the less time you've actually spent doing that thing.
mikece 6y ago
I took (and passed) my CCP exam at the end of December and was not expecting the level of nannying and sniping that the online proctor dealt out. I have a mild case of dyslexia so in all of my practice tests I read the questions aloud to myself as that aids three-fold (at least) in speed of comprehension for me. So when exam time came, since I'm the only one in my house, I started reading the questions aloud and was IMMEDIATELY chastised by the proctor and told to shut up -- it's a SILENT test! Okaaaay... so I mouthed the words to mimic the dual sensory experience and was chastised yet again: I have to be PERFECTLY STILL otherwise their crappy "is the person sitting still at looking at the computer and not a cheating materials" software would register red instead of green. Nevermind the fact that this is arguably a violation of the ADA (failure to provide an adequate accomodation to my dyslexia): you do things the way the proctor demands or you're dismissed on the spot and you don't get your money back. Ditto if I slumped forward and rested my head in my hands as a read. Heck, even when following all of their pedantic rules I still got the "status red" warning even when I was being perfectly still (probably because I'm 195 cm tall and looking down at my laptop instead of directly at it?). Fortunately the CCP test was easy and I was very well prepared for it but had this been a harder test or one for which I wasn't so well prepared the degree of distraction -- checking to see that I'm "status green" or not -- and petty interruptions from the proctor might have been the difference between passing or not. As much as I like being able to take the test from home I hope there's an alternative to e-Stalag Pearson for my next exam.
- QuinnyPig 6y ago
  Author here. I've heard a bunch of reports like this, but didn't experience any of it myself. I was certainly watching for it...

2 points by Corrado 6y ago

This is a great article about certification testing and why it might not be a great idea. He points out that certs generally test for the previous methods and processes and fail to account for evolution of them. I completely agree with him in that I don't value these type of certifications much anymore. In fact, you could say that I de-value them; the more time you've spent trying to prove that you know something, the less time you've actually spent doing that thing.

mikece 6y ago

I took (and passed) my CCP exam at the end of December and was not expecting the level of nannying and sniping that the online proctor dealt out. I have a mild case of dyslexia so in all of my practice tests I read the questions aloud to myself as that aids three-fold (at least) in speed of comprehension for me. So when exam time came, since I'm the only one in my house, I started reading the questions aloud and was IMMEDIATELY chastised by the proctor and told to shut up -- it's a SILENT test! Okaaaay... so I mouthed the words to mimic the dual sensory experience and was chastised yet again: I have to be PERFECTLY STILL otherwise their crappy "is the person sitting still at looking at the computer and not a cheating materials" software would register red instead of green. Nevermind the fact that this is arguably a violation of the ADA (failure to provide an adequate accomodation to my dyslexia): you do things the way the proctor demands or you're dismissed on the spot and you don't get your money back. Ditto if I slumped forward and rested my head in my hands as a read. Heck, even when following all of their pedantic rules I still got the "status red" warning even when I was being perfectly still (probably because I'm 195 cm tall and looking down at my laptop instead of directly at it?). Fortunately the CCP test was easy and I was very well prepared for it but had this been a harder test or one for which I wasn't so well prepared the degree of distraction -- checking to see that I'm "status green" or not -- and petty interruptions from the proctor might have been the difference between passing or not. As much as I like being able to take the test from home I hope there's an alternative to e-Stalag Pearson for my next exam.

QuinnyPig 6y ago
Author here. I've heard a bunch of reports like this, but didn't experience any of it myself. I was certainly watching for it...