XML Master Success Story : John Anderson
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| What was the purpose of your taking the exam? |
| Gain certification in industry generic skill from an independent provider (not tied to any specific vendor such as IBM). |
| Did you have any experience with XML prior to taking the exam? |
| Yes, I had been doing working with XML Schemas and XML Stylesheets on and off for the preceeding two years. However, I had no DTD exerience and that hurt. I took the exam in December 2007 and failed. |
| How much time did you put into studying for the exam? |
| This is hard to determine. After failing the first time, I knew I was going to retake, and so I made a concerted effort to brush-up my skills throughout the year. However, given that I was allowed a 1 year period to retake free, I procrastinated until 1 week before the deadline, and really spent 8 hours a day or more really focusing on the exam. |
| Let us know about any books, seminars or other preparation tools you used to study for the exam. |
| I downloaded a copy of Oxygen XML. I am sure XML Spy or Stylus Studio would work too. I think using a trial copy of these tools to build/test examples is essential to passing. I also used XML Master download test application as well. I found that useful, especially to verify work with the trial software. I also purchased one of the early referenced books on your website on XML. Its not there any more and good riddance. It was horrible and incorrect in many cases. I also had a 1st edition of the $10 pocket XML in a Nutshell pocket guide. This was very valuable as it was a quick means of study while I was away from the computer. Your website's reference to this book has the wrong edition. |
| Please share any post-exam thoughts or advice for those who will be taking the exam. |
| This is really not advice to others, but it could be. When I failed the first time, the resulting breakdown on how I did for various parts of the test was very useful. I think I scored a 10% on Namespaces. So this time around, I worked very hard on Namespaces, as well as everything else. I thought I had "mastered" the concept, but I still got a 10%. Luckily, I scored very high everywhere else. I really wonder about the accuracy on that part of the test. For those looking to pass, follow the XML Master Tutorial, study some, then take the XML Master Practice Exam. Note how long it takes to evaluate the longer questions regarding the presentation of some XML or XSL and what might be wrong or right. Be proficient in answering those typs of questions in an expediant manner. You'll see lots of them during the test and you cannot panic. Take the XML Master Practice Exam some time later and see if you have improved your ability to answer the questions quickly and successfully. Be sure to download one of the trial xml software packages and try to build something. |
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