Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I earn a ITIL Foundation-level certification.

For the past six or eight years I have heard of ITIL  certification. I didn’t pay much attention to it as I wasn’t an Enterprise IT person and did see a way that I could qualify for it. A recent look at it changed my mind. I was surprised to learn that the vast majority of ITIL, at least at the lowest or Foundation level, was basic management of the delivery of services. I could do that.

I looked about on the Internet for what would be a good study guide for the exam. I went with “ITIL Foundation Exam Study Guide” by Liz Gallacher and Helen Morris. The book started with an assessment quiz of 30 questions. I answered 17 of them correctly with no study. I felt good at the start.

The book is a good study guide. Each chapter ends with a ten-question quiz. I was scoring 8 to 10 out of ten on each chapter. At the end of the book is a 40-question practice test. I scored about 35 of 40 on the test or a rate of 7 of 8 questions correct.

Next came the exam. ITIL allows for online proctored exams. If you have a computer with a webcam, an Internet connection, and such you can take the exam at home pretty much when you want.

I signed on with ThoughtRock.com. $250 brought me more study materials and one exam. If you fail the exam, you have to pay $185 to take it again. I skipped the study materials and took another practice exam on ThoughtRock.

I took the exam from my dining room table on a Saturday morning. I passed with 34 of 40 correct—still at the 7 of 8 questions correct pace. The hardest part of the proctored exam was staring at the computer screen. I have a bad habit of looking up at the ceiling when I try to remember something. The exam proctor asked that I stare at the screen. I understand the request and struggled through it.

The exam itself is about what I expected—40 questions, multiple choice, one hour allowed, half hour needed. In all their materials, ITIL emphasizes that there are no trick questions on the exam. I guess that depends on what you consider a “trick” question as I found at least ten trick questions. I suppose if they just asked you to show you know the ITIL definitions and concepts too many people would pass the test.

The study and exam are much easier than the PMI PMP study and exam. ITIL, nonetheless, isn’t “easy” as some people have told me. There are 40–50 pages of definitions to memorize. You need to know these well enough to work your way through the trick questions.

I am glad I did this as I did learn a few things about how Enterprise IT people view the world. Now I have some more letters to put on my resume.