Minnie

To all certs, I want to share my perspective on this topic. I am a characterization engineer, I got certified with CLA two year ago. I use Labview on weekly basis, but do not use advanced topics such as Xcontrol, OOPs, etc. I know what they are, but not using them daily. If I inherited a project with the codes in them, I know how to debug it. With that been said, I spent two weekends preparing for the exam with old course materials. I have 2 other co-workers who is attempting the exam with me. After the 1st attempt, one passed only by a single question. After another weekend of studying, reading all the concepts of advanced topics in Labview Help Manual, we tried again. This time, the other co-worker barely passed, and I was again barely failed. The issue mainly is, we do not know the choice we picked was wrong or right, when we discuss the exam questions, we can give very logical explanations to the choices we have picked, and they are the wrong ones. The two co-workers felt they passed it by luck, because during the final review, there are at least 5-6 questions they changes at the last minute before submitting in. There were no definitive feeling of "Yes, this is the right answer." Luckily, my local sales rep is awesome, put me in contact with the certification department, I was able to get a copy of the course material for "Advanced Architectures in Labview" through enterprise agreement. After studying this course material for a weekend, I was able to pass with 2 missed questions. Bottom line, after you have studied the course material, you will be able to see the questions from a new perspective, you won't be like a headless chicken looking for answers. The course materials will help you narrow it down to the specifics. In any regards, I really liked this learning experience. I understand that from the test writer's perspective, it is difficult to write an exam to can test for project management skills and advance labview architecture concepts without the guideline, so the exam is mainly from the course materials. Also, another good news to share. After speaking to certification department, NI plans with the future CLA-R exams, you can review the questions that you got wrong after you submit your answer. This will definitely bring some sanity to the test takers so that you do not second doubt yourself with the right questions.