Choosing a Certification All of the benefits detailed above will vary in ‘weight’ depending on the certification program (or programs) you chose to embark on. When deciding, you should consider the following; • • • • • •
Forget the vendor; will you learn something useful about technology? Does the certification carry any weight in the market, how is it perceived by employers/hirers? Do too many people have it? Is this certification alone good enough to achieve your goals? Is there demand for the certified skills? What benefits of certification does the vendor supply, if any?
Getting Started/First Steps If you haven’t already, you should take a quick look at the certification pages on the F5 website that can be found here: https://www.f5.com/education/certification/. Along with the overview provided at the start of this chapter this should tell you all you need to know about the certification program. Should you be really stuck, you can always email the F5-PCP team at: f5certification@f5.com. Next, we’d suggest you register for an F5.com account here: https://login.f5.com/resource/registerEmail.jsp which will give you access to a number of resources exclusive to registered users. A DevCentral account will also likely be very useful and provides access to F5’s community support and documentation site. Register here: https://devcentral.f5.com/register. Then, before you can even think about booking an exam, you are required to register with the F5 Credential Management System (CMS) and complete the various agreements found there – you can’t sit an F5 exam otherwise. The CMS also provides program updates and some useful downloads; you can find it here: https://i7lp.integral7.com/durango/do/login?ownername=F5&channel=F5&basechannel=integral7. This account is entirely separate to an F5.com and DevCentral account. Finally, once you’ve confirmed you are eligible to take an exam, you’ll need one more account, this one with Pearson VUE, F5s examination provider. When you’re ready to sit this exam (or any other) you’ll need to book it through Pearson VUE here: https://www2.pearsonvue.com/f5/.
Taking Exams As already mentioned, you must register with the F5 CMS in order to be eligible to take this exam and book it through Pearson VUE. The number of questions, time allowed, and passing score are provided when you book the exam, however, there are normally 70 questions over 90 minutes with a required passing score of 69%. All questions are scored equally. Exams are typically $135 USD in the Americas, $145 USD in EMEA, and $155 USD in APAC.
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