Failing exams...?

Maccy

Maccy

Maccy

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Joined
23 Nov 2004
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How do you deal with it? I've just come back from a retake to fail it again, and got exactly the same mark as the first fail! Not sure what I'm more annoyed about, the fact that I've messed up twice or the fact that I've cost the company 2 x £156!

So go on then, what have you failed? Did you keep trying until you got it right, or did you try a few times and then concede, or did you just think 'sod it, failed once - not for me!' ???
 
What exam was it just out of interest?

At the company I work for if we fail an exam we have to pay for the re-sit :)
 
Only time I've failed is because I've not given enough effort, which is most likely worse than failing when you've tried because I know I could have done it.

However, I'm sure everyone fails at something now and again be it a driving test or exam. Try and address why you failed, fill in the gaps of knowledge and try again. If you've already done that and you simply don't "get it" then I'd say maybe move on and try something else.

No one is good at everything.
 
It was a HP software related exam, not going to go into details. I've never been good at exams, and there's next to no material online except for braindumps/cheatsheets which in a lot of circumstances give incorrect answers!!
 
I failed core 1 a level maths twice, might have been 3 times, can't remember. The amusing thing is i got a B on core 2 first time and my maths teacher had no idea how that was even possible :D Managed to pass it in the end though.
 
Maccy said:
It was a HP software related exam, not going to go into details. I've never been good at exams, and there's next to no material online except for braindumps/cheatsheets which in a lot of circumstances give incorrect answers!!
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HP software is rubbish. (not helpful, just my experience)

If there is no material and what little about is wrong I'd question why do the exam. If it's so you're able to support the software can you learn from someone else in the company? Or I'd go to HP/whoever does the exams and try to explain you've having issues learning the software because the documentation is lacking, can they help with where to find more info.
 
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We're business partners with HP so need to have people acredited, etc. HP have said to read specific chapters from their software documentation, but it simply isn't enough. May get in touch with a HP rep, thanks.
 
The only major exam I've actually failed was my signal processing exam last year. For the retake I found that ignoring my lecturer and his handouts and using online guides made things a thousand times easier so I passed with flying colours.
I think I got 30% in my first attempt and 67% in my retake.

I also didn't do too well in the first of three further maths modules that I took a few years ago at A level, getting a D at my first attempt. When I retook it I was really ill on the day and the worst questions possible came up so I got an E for the retake and decided to give up with that one and rely on the other modules to push the grade up. To top it all off my cat was run over the evening after that exam, so it was a pretty crap day all round :(
 
No, it's 2 exams - I've taken one of them and a colleague took the other one, he passed by 1%. Nobody else has done this, it's just supposed to be us 2 doing both exams, knowing my luck he'll pass it first time!
 
I can only find those braindump type sheets/programs that cost like $50. There's a disclaimer at the start of the exam saying you shouldn't use them!
 
Most of the technical exams I've done it was best to make sure that you were actually familiar with the subject/product rather than just having read a manual for it ... personally I'm pretty paranoid about failing exams and tend to get very stressed over taking them and prepare as much as possible.

I do remember several guys at our place getting in trouble for failing the RHCSA exam (or whatever it was back then) ... but mainly the was because their actual knowledge was almost at the RHCE level and they failed due to spending the week before drinking instead of being on the fastrack course.

Only HP exam I've done was the HPUX CSA one which was really easy (test center people thought I was going to report there was something wrong with the system as I was out so quickly).

My next exam is likely to be the Red Hat clustering one when my management get around to booking me on the course .... I can't say I'm looking forward to it ...
 
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I've taken the CFA Level 1 twice now first time I tried to do it in 6 weeks failed hard next time I put more effort in but was also getting married the month after the exam which didnt help with prep time and it was a narrow fail (fffuuuuuuuuu) Given the option I would just say stuff it but I need to pass it for work so my carreer is on the line now nothing like a bit of pressure to pass it the third time :/
 
Maccy said:
We're business partners with HP so need to have people acredited, etc. HP have said to read specific chapters from their software documentation, but it simply isn't enough. May get in touch with a HP rep, thanks.
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Are there any courses available for this? Do you get feedback on the exams so you can see where you went wrong, even if it's just in general terms? Can HP help with material? It seems odd to have an exam but little to no supporting material - effectively that would just be a licence to charge people for something until they get it right almost by chance.

I've failed a few exams overall, almost all related to maths. If it was especially important to me then I'd probably persevere until I passed but I've always been able to pass enough to continue with what I wanted to do. If, however, it's something where you're not sure if you want it enough or you don't think your performance can improve and there's no obvious external way to improve it then I might be less inclined to suggest trying repeatedly.
 
This will probably make me a laughing stock but here goes;

I Failed my driving theory 3 times by ONE POINT, then gave up, will revisit driving at some point in my life though! i must...
 
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