BSD Certification

I'm personally working towards a BSDA. I purchased the study materials in winter of 2008 but until recently, hadn't seriously thought to pursue the exam.

For me, my interest in the BSD systems has been steadily growing with the realization of how flexible they are, and how with some effort in getting past the initial learning curve(s), you can really do amazing things.

Not sure what the end result of my having the certification will be, however being from somewhat of an audio/electronics background, I am interested in being able to set up nice multimedia systems and just want to learn more about the systems anyway.




didn't decide to pursue the exam until a few months ago when my interest in the BSDs grew more and more. For me, it was the realization that with some effort, you can really harness the power of these systems.

Not sure what my own end-goal is, but I'm interested enough in all of the BSD systems to pursue the exam to be able to be proficient enough with all the systems for my own use mainly (think multimedia etc).
 
I'd certainly like to go for my BSDA, but like Phoenix, I'm on the western side of Canada so I'm focusing on other certifications I can get locally at the moment while holding out for more information on the BSDP cert that's in the works.

Going down to Ontario for two exams would be a bit more sensible than for one. I'd have to be damn sure I was prepared though :p
 
Ruler2112 said:
Here's my $0.02 on the OPs question of interest.

I've little to no formal training in BSD, so there are certainly gaps in my knowledge - I just learn what I need as I go. This would make taking any closed certification exam problematic. I also have a 2" thick pile of printouts and notes I use for reference when setting up a system because I'm not going to remember the name of specific kernel parameters when I only use them once every 4-6 months at most.

The current test description document says that it covers FreeBSD 6.x (among other distros). A relative newcomer to BSD, the earliest version I've used is 7.0, so this wouldn't work too well for questions that have changed between versions. (M$ exams are very picky with this type of thing from what I've heard. They change where stuff is located between releases and even between patch levels - the exam question will specify the OS version and patch level; you're expected to know where a given obscure option is with this information and not being able to look at a screen to see that the button has been renamed or moved.)

I'm not going to travel long distances to take a test (closest upcoming one to me is about 1500 miles away), nor pay large amounts of money to do so. While $75 isn't a ton of money and much less than I've seen other certification exams cost, I can get another terrabyte of storage with that same amount of cash. :)

I also have a rather low opinion of the value of certifications in general. I can't tell you the number of times that I've shown up a person in something he/she was 'certified' in. For example, in my college excel class (yes, one of those required classes I slept through ;) ), we had a microsoft certified something or other. The older lady sitting at the next bank of computers wasn't able to format her 3.5" floppy disk because it was used and too full to save the 'unformat' information and windoze 95 didn't have a checkbox to override. (This was when floppies were expensive compared to now, ~$2 a shot, and she couldn't afford a box of them... she was barely able to afford to go to school.) The MCAP (microsoft certified arrogant person ;) ) swaggered over, proudly proclaimed his certification in a voice loud enough for everyone in the class to hear, looked at the error, clicked a things for about 5 minutes, and then declared without a shadow of a doubt that the disk was unusable. He was truly speechless when I (19 years old wearing old jeans and a t-shirt) rolled my chair over to her station, wordlessly leaned over the keyboard, pressed control-escape, arrowed up twice to run, started a command prompt, typed format a: /q /u, hit enter, said "there ya go", and rolled back to my station. :e My brother has spent tons of money on multiple certifications, but still doesn't know what he's doing in most stuff. A buddy calls me all the time for PC advice - his company recently paid for him to be certified, but it was such that he crammed for 2+ weeks leading up to the test, passed it, and dumped it all because he never used it. (See previous reference to obscure features never used.)


That all being said, I'd love to have some sort of certification in BSD. It would be completely useless for my present job (and probably in near-future jobs as well given the area I live in), but would be sweet to be able to say, put on my business cards, or be able put in my profile. Even if it's just an online exam that I could complete with the reference material that I have at hand when working on a system anyways, it'd be very cool.
Click to expand...
Just a few points regarding the BSD certification.

While the exam requirements list version numbers, no exam questions are version specific. If you are studying for the exam, you can use any version number from the one listed to the latest stable release of that BSD. For example, you can use any FreeBSD from 4.11 (listed in the objectives) to 8.0 (the current latest release).

A major difference between the BSDA and other industry certifications is psychometrics (see our document on Why Psychometrics Matters at http://www.bsdcertification.org/downloads/psychometric.pdf if you're interested in learning more about this). I've taken and taught dozens of certs myself (Novell, Microsoft, Cisco, Comptia, Checkpoint, etc.) and have written extensively on why certification programs suck (see http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/bsd-guru/?page=25 for examples). It is easy to tell which programs don't use psychometrics as they test you on your ability to understand the question, wade through irrelevant details, memorize stuff you'd never use in the real world, etc. The BSD Certification Group works closely with employers and working sysadmins to determine which skills are important on the job. Our psychometrician makes sure our questions are fair, understandable (even if English is not your first language) and only test what the objectives say you need to know. Every examinee is asked to comment on any question that is irrelevant, unclear, or has nothing to do with working reality.

Don't let the paper base nature of the exam fool you. The exam is practical and makes you think. If you haven't studied the objectives or admin'd BSD, you will not pass the exam. If you have at least 6 months experience on BSD and have carefully read the objectives and practiced the ones you don't have experience with, you should find the exam quite reasonable to pass.
 
I have read the paper you are referring to about psychometrics and it does in fact seem like a very legitimate approach to the exam material. I have been very interested in taking this exam, however like many of the complaints in this read, geographical locations offering the exam can and are quite limiting. Has there been any updates in regards to the online test approach? Is it still under development/testing?
 
dlavigne said:
A major difference between the BSDA and other industry certifications is psychometrics (see our document on Why Psychometrics Matters at http://www.bsdcertification.org/downloads/psychometric.pdf
Click to expand...

Interesting concept... I'd be interested in just seeing and analyzing such a test, just to figure out how one would achieve a way to accomplish such a thing.

If a BSD test is ever held near to my location, I may well study up and participate.
 
The custom online testing method is still waiting for a project manager willing to steer this project to completion. We've had a requirements spec for several years and continue to educate people about the need for an open source test delivery solution.

Regarding geographic area, if there is a conference, employer, school, or user group willing to host an exam room, let us know and we'll make arrangements for an exam event. If we can find a minimum of 4 people willing to take the exam at the event, it is worth the proctor's time.
 
Looks like most of the people are interested in how the BSD certificate would make them look in the job market. Of course this is perfectly fine...in fact this is what the whole BSD certification stuff is about, right? However I thought that some people would take it just for themselves as I did. I took the exam in November 2009 and I did it just for my personal satisfaction, I don't need it for my work, my work has nothing to do with FreeBSD or BSD at all, I'm not even a sysadmin or something, I just love FreeBSD!
 
phoenix said:
The only thing stopping me from getting the BSDA cert is unavailability of testing in BC, Canada. Hopping a plane to Toronto/Ottawa just to take a test is a bit extravagant right now. :) But I follow the mailing list, and have done a bunch of reading on it. If it ever comes around my neck of the woods, I'll give it a shot.
Click to expand...

Hi Phoenix.

I am faced with the same problem regarding the location of the exams.

Dru kindly let me know that the BSDA Exam is going to be offered at LinuxFest Northwest in Bellingham April 24-25.

It's just across the border from Vancouver.

It's still going to be a 4 hour trip from Kelowna, but this is the only feasible opportunity for those of us on the west coast.

Here's the site: http://linuxfestnorthwest.org/

Cheers.
 
mgp said:
Looks like most of the people are interested in how the BSD certificate would make them look in the job market. Of course this is perfectly fine...in fact this is what the whole BSD certification stuff is about, right? However I thought that some people would take it just for themselves as I did. I took the exam in November 2009 and I did it just for my personal satisfaction, I don't need it for my work, my work has nothing to do with FreeBSD or BSD at all, I'm not even a sysadmin or something, I just love FreeBSD!
Click to expand...

I think we all do, but why not get paid for it as well? :e
 
innosys said:
Dru kindly let me know that the BSDA Exam is going to be offered at LinuxFest Northwest in Bellingham April 24-25.

It's just across the border from Vancouver.

It's still going to be a 4 hour trip from Kelowna, but this is the only feasible opportunity for those of us on the west coast.
Click to expand...

Cool. Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into this.
 
Upcoming BSD Certification Events

Here are the upcoming events for those interested in taking the BSDA certification exam. Details for each event are available on the Events page at https://register.bsdcertification.org//register/events .

Linux-Infotag, Augsburg, Germany: March 27, 13:00

IT360, Toronto, ON, Canada: April 7, 17:30

RootConf, Moscow, Russia: April 12-14, time TBD

Grazer Linuxtage, Graz, Austria: April 24, 14:15

LinuxFest NorthWest, Bellingham, WA, USA: April 25, time TBD

NLUUG, Ede, Netherlands: May 6, 14:00

BSDCan, Ottawa, ON, Canada: May 13, 12:00

BSDCan, Ottawa, ON, Canada: May 14, 12:30

Southeast LinuxFest, Spartanburg, SC, USA: June 12-13, time TBD

MeetBSD, Cracow, Poland: July 2, 12:00

OpenCommunityCamp, Oegstgeest, Netherlands: July 11, time TBD

NYCBSDCon, NYC, NY, USA: November 5-7, time TBD
 
We've added two events since yesterday:

Linuxwochen Wien, Vienna, Austria: May 6-8, time TBD

EuroBSDCon, Karlsruhe, Germany: October 8-10, time TBD
 
darkshadow said:
there is no exam here in jordan :\
Click to expand...
Regarding any geographic area not listed, if there is a conference, employer, school, or user group willing to host an exam room, let us know and we'll make arrangements for an exam event. If we can find a minimum of 4 people willing to take the exam at the event, it is worth the proctor's time.
 
paean said:
I'd like to hear from anyone who's taken an exam and what they've gained through the process. Equally so, I'd like to hear from those who haven't taken it, and why.
Click to expand...

Hello,

I took it ( this year ) :OOO .

Last year also tried to take it but there were some errors in some part of score reports
Yes, it has come to our attention that the breakdowns didn't show correctly in the
report (though the exam result is the same). The psychometrician is redoing the
score reports and you should get the corrected version some time tomorrow.

Sorry for the confusion!
Click to expand...

which led people ( here in my country ) who didn't pass the exam to refuse to take it again .

I believe I didn't take the exam last year because I was ill ( had to drink pills during exam etc ) .

In Bulgaria people don't believe in such errors and expect 2nd time there will be some discount in the tax or some other extra ( I spoke with some of people we were on the exam last year ) .
I also wouldn't try to take it for 2nd time if I had to pay for it , but 2 tries were like a "gift" ( I didn't pay for it ) for me , so why don't I try ... and I took it successfully :stud .

EDIT:
@dlavigne

Hi Dru, I suggested some days ago on public mailing list for trying some modules of Moodle for computer based exam . What is your opinion ?

3rd edit: We are waiting for BSDP , it will be a lot more interesting hands-on exam :h
 
Sorry to hear that people won't take the exam because of a formatting mistake that did not affect the exam result :-(

Open source components exist for creating an exam delivery solution in a proctored environment. We have had a design document that matches our software requirements for several years now. The problem has been getting a project manager to drive its development and produce a working solution.

We are also working on other solutions to increase the availability of taking the exam and hope to be able to make an announcement in the first quarter of 2011.

Cheers,

Dru
 
Yes, it is sad , but I assume for non-working people the price for the exam is a bit high .

Btw , when will be mailed personalized certificate signed by you ( and other directors ) ? I mean what time after the results are received .
I am eager to put mine in a frame :e I found one in Google images , it looks nice :)

In the university I study we make our test exams online since 2 years I think and it is great , no more broken pencils , no more "get up early in the morning and travel to the university" , but it is very easy to cheat because exams are made from home - you can always use Google or other sources with documentation ( study guides, textbooks , etc ) .
Our questions are always 30 , they fit on one screen in the quiz module , you are able to save your answers before submitting the whole exam . In the beginning there were a lot of problems , many poor academic assessments due to high server load and not enough testing ( bad admins - poor testing :e ) , they partially solved this problem with opening the exam ( which have to be made for 1 hour ) for 3 hours for example - i.e. if exam is opened through 8-11 a.m you can start it in 9:05 a.m. to 10:05 a.m.
I tell this because always something new have to be tested in many many times, and I believe your solution will be the perfect one for your exam , but if you need more testers in the future , we are open :stud

But always preferred is to make computer based exam instead of paper based one , especially when questions are many .
 
I'll be shipping the certificates on Tuesday.

We're still working on an online version of the exam that can be delivered in a secure, proctored environment and hope to have an announcement about that in the first quarter of 2011.

Cheers,

Dru
 
Whoohoo! That could be awesome, as we have online proctoring services available at the local uni here in town, and would save an 8+ hour drive to a conference. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top