If you’ve ever looked at a question during an exam and suddenly forgotten something you’ve practiced dozens of times, you’re not alone. Exam anxiety is real, and it affects all of us differently. Jamf Training Courses include a certification process, and the thought of any exam can be stress-inducing. Even for an experienced Jamf Admin, there’s often a different feeling when you’re completing those tasks under a time pressure. The good news is that exam anxiety doesn’t have to prevent you from succeeding, and I wanted to share some strategies I’ve seen help students prepare with confidence and perform their best during Jamf Training Courses.
During Your Training Course
Participate in Class
This might seem obvious, but one of the best strategies for preparing yourself for the exam is to actively participate in the Training Course. Follow along with the material in the way that you learn best, whether that’s watching the demonstrations before completing the lesson tasks or mirroring the demonstrations done by your instructor. Doing the tasks for each lesson also provides an idea of the types and formatting of tasks that you may be asked during your exam. Your instructor is there to help clarify confusing concepts and explain topics in different ways when necessary. In addition, keeping your camera enabled when possible during the training can help your instructor recognize when you may need additional clarification or when a concept deserves more explanation.
Take Notes to Reduce Stress Later
Jamf Training Course certification exams are open book, open note. If there are topics that come up in class that seem foreign to you or there are multistep processes that you want to document the steps of, provide yourself a “runbook” for later during the exam with the notes that you made during class.
Reduce the Unknown with the Practice Exam and Course Reviews
The practice exam and course reviews are often highly indicative of the types of questions you will be asked on the actual exam in the course. Trying these out on your own can give you an idea of which topics you feel comfortable with and which you need more clarification from your instructor on before you get to the exam. Take it one step further and simulate exam conditions; start a timer for yourself and see if you are able to complete the Practice Exam in the amount of time that you will be provided for the certification exam.
During the Exam
Use your Resources
This step refers partially back to your notes during class. Don’t hesitate to use your resources. In addition to the notes that you have taken in the course, you also still have access to Jamf Documentation and your Student Workbook. The Student Workbook even has a search functionality built in where if you search for a word or topic, the results will show you which pages in the workbook reference that topic, and if you choose any of the results, your search term will be highlighted anywhere it appears on that page. It is an excellent way to refresh your memory on a concept or quickly find where a similar task was covered during the course.
Don’t Suffer in Silence
Another resource that you might not think of is your instructor. Your instructor doesn’t know you’re having an issue during your exam unless you tell them. Don’t suffer in silence! Ask your instructor if you have a question. While your instructor may not be able to provide you an answer to an exam question, they can help clarify or troubleshoot.
If You Freeze, Take a Detour
If your brain suddenly goes blank, don’t panic. You can navigate to any part of the exam at any point, and can change your answers up until the point you submit your certification. Skip to another question or section of the exam and return to this question later. Completing a different task can help you refocus, rebuild your confidence, and often jog your memory when you return to the original task.
Take Advantage of Partial Credit
On the exam, next to each question is a number in between parentheses. This number indicates how many points that question is worth on the exam. The more components in a task, the more points that task is typically worth. Skipping entire practical tasks or scenarios on the exam is often detrimental to your score. If you freeze during your exam and don’t remember how to do a task in its entirety, take advantage of that partial credit by doing the portions of the task that you do remember, even if it’s just building a smart group and scoping a policy or profile that has no payloads to that Smart Group. Those partial credit points do add up. Perfection on the exam doesn’t have to be the goal. Any passing score earns the same certification.
After the Exam
Follow Up With Your Instructor
After the exam and once grading is complete, you will receive an email that your score is available in Jamf Account. That score will show only a percentage, however, you can reach out to your instructor for more details on your score. While Jamf Trainers are not allowed to give specific feedback on which questions are missed, we can provide a summary of points missed within sections (multiple choice vs. practical vs. scenarios) and can provide a breakdown of what sections of the workbook tasks missed on the practical would have fallen into. If you do not obtain certification on your first attempt, this type of information can give you an idea of where to focus on before you attempt a retest or retake of the course.
Review the Workbook Material
Before reattempting a certification exam or signing up for your next training course, you can use your Student Workbook as review material. Jamf Training courses have a scope and sequence where they build on top of the concepts learned in previous courses. You retain access to your Student Workbook for 3 years, so feel free to use it as a reference whenever needed.
Additional Information
Accommodations
Jamf does offer accommodations for the exam for individuals with disabilities. If an attendee needs an accommodation with a training course and/or the certification exam, please notify Jamf Training a minimum of 20 days prior to the first day of the training course or exam to allow preparations to be made.
Remember, your certification exam is not designed to trick you. It’s designed to validate the skills that you’ve been building throughout the Training Course. Trust your preparation, use your notes and the resources available to you, and don’t hesitate to rely on your instructor if you need more clarification. Even if the certification exam feels intimidating, you’re probably more prepared than you think you are.
You’ve got this.