Over the years I’ve known a lot of people who for various reasons approach exams with great foreboding. This is true whether = it would be a high school Algebra test, a college essay-based exam, or a professional certification exam. Recently I was talking to a colleague that= I greatly respect for their knowledge and skills, and when the subject of certification came up I was very surprised to find out that this particular individual (whom I considered a Windows 2000 expert) had only gotten a few exams into the Windows 2000 MCSE before giving up on it. After talking to h= im for awhile, it seems like test stress was very much a problem for him. He w= ould know the material, but when the “red light” so to speak came on= and the questions were for a score, he would blank out.
Unfortunately this type of story is all too common. As someone who has always enjoyed the challenge of a test, sometimes it is hard for me to appreciate why someone would struggle answering questions about something they already know. Talking to my colleague and relating my attitu= des and rationale towards exams, I think to some degree I helped him see that taking an exam really isn’t such a big deal. He plans on trying to fi= nish the MCSE, so we’ll see if he’s able to change his attitude!
So how do people who enjoy the challenge of exams do t= hings differently than people who dread exams? Pop psychologists often talk about fear of failure and things like that, but I think that doesn’t adequa= tely describe the problem. I find a fundamental difference is in how an exam is viewed. To me, there is no real difference between answering a question som= eone calls me at work with vs. troubleshooting a server problem vs. working out a solution to a problem on an exam. In all three cases we’re called to = draw from our knowledge and come up with an answer. When I related that to my colleague, he objected, saying “yes, but you can’t tell the exam you’ll research the problem and get back t= o it, or consult any resources.” I asked him how much time he gets to research a server problem when managemen= t is breathing down his neck because a vital service is unavailable, and if fail= ure is an option. That might not seem like the same thing, but the point is this ... every day life is a test. When we’re on the job, we’re continually tested on our knowledge. We don’t view it as such, becaus= e we get comfortable with the environment and look forward to the challenge. IT professionals are successful because of that mentality that they can conquer any problem, even if they need a little help sometimes.
One shouldn’t look at an exam as being anything different. Naturally if someone is unprepared they have reason for concern,= but there are exam objectives published for pretty much any exam you would take= . You know what material you need to know. Just like your job, you know what knowledge you need in order to be successful. So, you should look at the challenge of an exam the same way you look at your job. In some ways a job = can be even more stressful. Fail an exam and you’re out the cost of the e= xam. Fail on the job and you might be out of a job. In other words, the stakes c= an be much higher, yet the vast majority of IT professionals don’t sit around worrying that if they can’t answer a particular question or so= lve a particular problem that they’ll lose their job.
Test stress can seem like something difficult to overc= ome if you suffer from it, but if you attack an exam with the same type of “I can do this” attitude and with the confidence level you perform your daily job duties at, rather than building up the test in your mind as this insurmountable hill, you might soon find that taking an exam is not only no= big deal, but a challenge you look forward to.