Let’s be honest. Without the right exam study tips, you can easily become the victim of test anxiety and avoid passing a certification exam. This can be frustrating, especially considering time and money you invest in each try.

If you plan on adding a certification to your professional profile, make sure to follow these tips before the exam.

1. Understand the Exam Inside Out

As elementary as this seems, many exam candidates don’t check the syllabus. As a result, they fail to fully understand exam objectives and details.

You need to carefully go over and understand each exam objective, sub-objective, and skill. That way, you can be better prepared for the types of questions you will face.

While researching the exam, make sure to find out about particulars such as exam format, duration, and passing score. This will further put your mind at ease.

You should also consider attempting a few sample exams. That way, you’ll grow familiar with the exam pattern and examination format.

2. Plan Out Your Study Sessions

You can’t cram for a certification exam in just one night and take the test the next day. You’d be unprepared for the exam and may fail to score a passing grade.

After all, exams such as the PMP exam are designed with the expectation that candidates understand the content and have ample practice.

What you need to do is plan your studies up to the exam date. That’s why bootcamps are very helpful with training for tough certifications such as Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

3. Don’t Hesitate to Get Professional Help

Certification exams aren’t always easy to prepare for. Therefore, do yourself a favor and opt for professional certification training.

You can choose from enrolling in instructor-led training or purchasing a self-paced course. If you’re wondering how to select the best training option, here are some tips.

• Self-paced courses are more suitable for individuals looking to train anywhere, anytime, and at their convenience.
• If you prefer revising training materials several times, buying a self-paced course will be a better choice.
• If you’re more comfortable in a classroom setting, be it in real life or virtually, live instructor training is for you. Especially if you have questions you’d rather get instant answers for.

4. Create the Right Environment for Studying

This is one of the important exam study tips that often get neglected. You need to ensure your study space is optimal for studying. While this fully depends on how you study, here are some tips to get you started.

• Check the lighting in your study environment. Good lighting is important to ensure minimal strain on your eyes. Moreover, it ensures better learning and memorization.
• Make sure you have a comfortable chair and desk. You can also opt for a sit-stand desk if you’re more comfortable that way.
• If you’re studying on your laptop, keep your monitor at an arm’s length away. Also adjust your chair to ensure your knees are at the same level of your hips.
• Avoid all types of distractions like TV or noisy neighbors. If this is a little hard to pull off, invest in good headphones that cancel out noise.

5. Include Practicing Taking the Exam to Your Study Schedule

Just attempting practice exams isn’t enough. You need to know HOW to take the certification exam you’re preparing for.

For instance, if you’re preparing for an ITIL 4 certification, you should know how much time to spend on each question. This means that you should practice reading all questions and statements while selecting the right answers in a specific time frame.

You can find more ITIL 4 exam taking tips on Axelos. Similarly, every organization that owns and manages the intellectual property of a certification offers its own guides.

In addition, here are some generic tips you should follow.

• Divide the exam time by the number of questions. This will ensure you don’t spend too much time on questions and run out of time.
• Mark the questions you don’t understand and move on to the next question. You can always go back to attempt these with the remainder time.
• If you can’t answer two or three questions, don’t worry. The passing grade is well below 100%, so you’ll still pass if you get a few questions wrong.

Got More Exam Study Tips that Work for You?

If you have more exam study tips that you swear by, make sure to drop them in the comments below. This will help other learners improve their chances of passing the exam.

Need more help with choosing the right certification to support your career goals? Get in touch with our Training Advisors for further guidance.