What is it like to take the VCP test?
by VCP Help on 26/01/09 at 8:00 pm
The VCP Test Itself
Taking the official VMware Certified Professional test is much harder than most of the hundreds of tests I took in college for one simple reason: there can be multiple answers for each question.
You see, after many years in college, I have become very adept at taking multiple choice tests and when there is only one answer allowed per question, I can usually rule-out at least half of the questions and then reason the actual answer from what remains. You probably can too.
However, the VCP destroys that multiple-choice test taking skill by requiring multiple answers on most of the questions! For example, some questions may have a list of seven possible choices and you will select four of those to arrive at the correct answer. You can’t use deductive reasoning on these questions – you must know the answer and know it well.
The difficulty is also increased because a very large number of the VCP exam questions are derived from the introductory/early chapters in the official VMware manuals. Yeah, you know, those books/sections that you never read? If you’re like me and use the manuals as a reference and don’t actually read them from cover-to-cover, you’ll be in for a shock when you see that many VCP questions are pulled from those early beginner-level chapters in the manuals!
The hours I spent studying and memorizing the study guide and sample exam were invaluable. Having many possible answers per question really makes the test tough, especially when the questions may be about trivial information or even (gasp) things I know to be wrong or untrue from my experience using VMware on a daily basis! Do yourself a favor and grab the study kit. If you have to re-take the VCP test, it will cost you more than the kit, so it’s really stupid not to prepare fully with the kit.
