My ITIL @2011 Foundation Certification Journey

I wanted to share my ITIL certification experiences with others so that they can leverage from it.

Quick background

I am an IT service delivery manager and am working on a support/application management activity since last 2 years. Having come from software development background, I wanted to learn and improve my skills on IT service management.  Preparation for ITIL foundation certificate provided me the way to accomplish it.

For people with service management experience, it is not a difficult certification to achieve. You may find these links useful:

https://www.axelos.com/best-practice-solutions/itil/what-is-itil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Technology_Infrastructure_Library

Reference book

ITIL Foundation Exam Study Guide by Liz Gallacher and Helen Morris (Sybex publication)

Steps I followed

1)      Read the book “ITIL Foundation Exam Study Guide by Liz Gallacher and Helen Morris” (Sybex publication). Read chapters in the same order as presented in the book. Write notes related to important definitions, objectives, scope. Seriously take the chapter end tests and record results (in 1 text file/chapter in each reading cycle, result file will have the responses for all questions in a test. Incorrect response will have a comment beside it with correct answer)

2)      Repeat the above step. Do not edit the result files. Create new set of files for chapter end tests. Update your notes. You will also add points in notes based on incorrectly answered questions.

3)      Take the assessment tests (3 assessment tests from the book) and record results. If you get less than 90% score in any test, you need more reading/understanding.

4)      Now, review the results (count of incorrect answers) from step 1, step 2. You should improvement in results from 2^nd reading over 1^st time reading. If the score is < 90% from 2^nd time reading, you need to more understanding on that chapter. Compile the list of chapters that need more understanding based on percentage of score (in descending order). Repeating read the chapters from the list (lowest scored chapter will be the first one to read) and take chapter tests. >=90% score is the bench mark I targeted for each chapter.

5)      Read the notes from step 1 and take the 3 tests (step 3) one more time. Your target is >= 90% correct answers.

I started preparation on 23 Oct 2014.  cycle 1 completed on 15 Dec 2015, cycle 2 completed on 30 Dec 2014, cycle 3 completed on 30 Jan 2015, Exin registration and exam complete on 1 Feb 2015, result confirmation and certificate on 6 Feb 2015.

How to book exam?

You can take training or you can self-study. I studied it myself. We need to register in https://www.exin.com/NL/en/exams/&exam=itil-v3-foundation and pay the exam fee USD 225.

How to take the exam?

If you have computer with webcam, audio, you can take it from home or you can also take it from authorized exam centers. I took it from home. There are 40 questions and we should get 26 correct. You will get score immediately after the exam. I answered 38 correctly out of 40.

When will you receive certificate?

The Exin authorities will review the video recording and send the result within 10 days after taking the exam. For me, it took 5 days. Then, certification is official.

Quick note: 

The reference book I mentioned is great to cover all the areas.  The more the number of times you read, the more will be our clarity on service stages. I do not suggest reading it like a novel in 1 sitting.

Tests in the book are of the same pattern and difficulty level as actual ITIL test. That's from my experience.

More knowledge on the service management is outcome, certification is an output.

All the best.

What is next after successful completion?
There are intermediate level certifications from ITIL for more knowledge. You may refer to https://www.exin.com/NL/en/exams/&fw=itil-v3. Training is prerequisite for certification.