CertPal

Before you can go ahead and take the real Sun Java exams, you need to know some of the pitfalls that have plagued several test takers. Here are a few pointer

Do not buy a voucher before you are prepared to take the exam:

Often some candidates like to follow this approach hoping that the purchase of the voucher would force them to learn within a given time period. On the contrary this adds additional pressure to your preparation, since you need to study the objectives before the expiry date. Some candidates have lost money misinterpreting the expiry date on the voucher. Be wary of the MM/DD/YYYY Vs DD/MM/YYYY formats. Which one does your voucher display ?

When the candidates finally find that they have no more time to learn, they post a message on a forum that reads something like ‘I have voucher for exam X for a discount of Y%. Please call me to buy’. Remember, you are a candidate, not a voucher reseller

Material made available to you inside the exam room:

Prometric centers will not provide you with pen/paper/pencil at the time of the exam. You will be given a plastic sheet and a marker/felt pen. You can jot down on the plastic sheet with the pen.

Mobile phones, PDAs, and other object that would allow a candidate to cheat are not allowed. Also make sure that once you are ready, you book your exam slot in advance. This ensures that you dont spend anxious minutes waiting to buy one just before the exam.

Beware of drag and drops:

All Sun Java certification real exams run on a managed software. This software has a user interface where some questions require that you drag elements and drop them into their appropriate places. Beware though, once you answer a drag and drop question you cannot review its answer again. Which means if you do answer the Drag and drop question, when you try to review the answer next time the answer will be lost / reset. If you want to, you can jot down the drag and drop answer on the plastic sheet given to you and review it later.

Code analysis:

It is important to analyze the code presented to you even before you attempt to find the solution. Scan the entire class for well known problems before continuing your analysis

• Are non-static variables referred from a static context ?
• Are there infinite loops ?
• Is there a compile time error ?
• Are method overridden correctly ?
• etc etc…

Once you know how to scan for such patterns, answering the question will become easier.

Am I ready ?:

So when do you that you are ready to take the exam ? Thats a tough one to answer. There are candidates that get 50% on the mock exam but pass the real exam with flying colors. Then there are the ones that pass mock exams and fail the real one. The latter group is rare. At the end of the day if you know what your weak points are and you are confident that you can strengthen them, go for it !.

Back to home