I passed the 000-421 DataStage v8.5 certification!

[ray.wurlod]

Congratulations on your pass. I also obtained that certification at IOD 2010, on the Monday. I wasn't aware that the exam would be available, but took the opportunity in the Demo Room to get briefings on all the new functionality in version 8.5. That, plus my extensive experience with the product, turned out to suffice. It's an approach that could only have worked at IOD (the Demo Room for InfoSphere is one of the best things, in my opinion, at the whole conference).

[TonyInFrance]

I have mostly been working with Datastage V7.5.x and that too in the Server environment for the last 6 years during which I worked on Parallel jobs for around 3 months only.

Now I need to pass the Datastage V8.5 certification exam.

I am basically proficient in developing Server jobs using most passive and active stages. When it comes to Datastage PX (as it used to be called back in the day) I have used Sort, Merge, Hash etc. I understand that Parallel jobs are more complicated than Server jobs in the sense that the number of stages are much more in Parallel jobs and of course the underlying mechanism is different when it comes to partitioning data.

I would of course like to obtain this certification on my first attempt.

What would you people advise me to do? How should I go about it? Which training / s from IBM do I need to take?

Much appreciated

Regards

S. BASU

[qt_ky]

Congratulations on passing, S. BASU!

The exam you took is very difficult, and as you mentioned, the time pressure is significant. I also did not pass that exam on the first try. I studied and reviewed ahead of time, but at that time, IBM did NOT provide any link to a practice assessment test that you could take ahead of time. I heard rumors of one existing, but their web page did not link to it. Now I see they have finally fixed that glitch, to the benefit of anyone who wants to prepare better to know what to expect.

Even knowing something simple ahead of time, like the test format, can make a huge difference! I went in expecting 65 multiple choice questions where you choose the best answer A, B, C, or D. So, even the format they used was confusing and required extra time. When I finished the 90 minutes, I had zero minutes left to go back and review questions I had flagged for review!! And as you mentioned, you went in fully prepared knowing what to expect, and you still had only 5 minutes after you finished to go back and review answers! Seriously, they need to allow more time!

Like discovering there is a practice exam after taking the real exam, I later found out about the "take it again voucher" after the fact. It's like insurance. You pay maybe $10 to $30 (don't recall), and present the voucher when you take the real exam the first time. Oops, too late, you can't sign up for that after you fail!

Another thing: Check with your company and what kind of support agreement they may have with IBM. Mine had one level of premium support, which provided one complimentary (meaning free) certification exam voucher per named caller (with support), per year. It took some digging and pushing, but I got that, so was not out any money.

As far as the real exam goes, you're not allowed to take in any notes, scratch paper, smart phones, etc. into the testing room. When I went to the testing center, I had to pull my pockets inside out and submit to all their rules, pretty much everything just short of a full body cavity probe.

Tip: You're also not allowed to share or discuss any specific details of test questions, so to cover yourself, you may want to review your post one more time and edit out anything that resembles specific clues. Just a heads-up for everyone, the rules are strict.

Thank you for sharing those resource links with everyone, and your study tips! It will help anyone wanting to certify so they know what to expect! Your advice is right on target.

[chulett]

S. BASU no pass, S. BASU want pass like cppwiz.

[TonyInFrance]

Eric - You are mistaking me for cppwiz.

I haven't yet taken ANY test so passing / not passing is still a distant dream.

Now.. I hope you have some serious input for me since I am still as committed to passing this test on the first try...

Craig - You have really helped me a lot in the past. I hope you can do the same again. I need to take you out for a few beers if / when you come to Paris in the near future...

[qt_ky]

Oops, sorry BASU! Now I get Craig's message!

Congratulations cppwiz!!!

To pass on the first try, study all the resources mentioned and definitely take the practice test! I say study, because a quick read through or review is probably not going to cut it. The IBM web page has a study guide with a few bullet points per category. Don't let its simplicity deceive you.

The IBM training / education web site outlines some Training Paths. Search on those for DataStage, you will get clear suggestions on classes. Classes alone won't help you pass the exam. It's advisable to study all the PDFs as well as Redbooks.

[cppwiz]

Eric - thanks for good wishes and the information on the free certification with IBM premium support. I was not aware of that program, but did some research and found this link:

http://www-304.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/ ... ngs.html#5

IBM Software Accelerated Value Program
To further evolve our proactive service, the Accelerated Value program may also include the following value-add deliverables:

Certification Exam Vouchers: Each named caller can take one complimentary certification exam.

S. BASU - with your background in server jobs, I recommend you take the DataStage Advanced DX445 class:

http://www-304.ibm.com/jct03001c/servic ... Code=dx445

or take the Advanced Bootcamp if you are working for an IBM Business Partner:

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wiki ... d+Bootcamp

Also, make sure you memorize the APT environment variables! I don't think you would have used these much in server edition, but they are required knowledge for the certification.

[qt_ky]

APT env vars !exist in Server jobs.

Thanks for sharing the link. Regarding this:

Certification Exam Vouchers: Each named caller can take one complimentary certification exam

It doesn't say it, but it's one exam voucher per named caller, per year. It's implied because contracts typically go for one year at a time.

[TonyInFrance]

Thanks for that cppwiz. However are you sure this is for attaining the certification in Datastage V8.5?

These links seem to point to courses pertaining to v8.1. My searches for datastage v8.5 led me to courses bearing the code KM400.

What is sure is I can take only one course whether it is the beginners level or advanced one. i have to obtain the certification in 8.5 at the end. Thus I have to choose judiciously.

[ray.wurlod]

Course code conventions have changed only recently from DX to KM. For the same course (for example Advanced DataStage v8.5) the materials have not changed. So don't worry about the code. The first of the v8.7 classes are beginning to appear; I'm soon to present the one for Business Glossary.

[akrish1982]

I passed the certification last month.

I am compiling notes so that it can help others. please find the link:

http://datastageetlexpert.blogspot.com/ ... ation.html

[TonyInFrance]

Coming back to this thread after almost a year.

I finally took the exam a couple of days ago and passed (thankfully).

However the run up to this was everything but easy, stress free and without its fair share of tearing my hair moments.

I took the IBM Assessment test (for the 2nd time since I had taken it once sometime late last year) which is the official test preparation recommended by IBM.

The problem was:

IBM Assessment - The correct answers were not provided at the end but just my result showing in which section I scored what. In total I took this assessment test 3 times (yes 30$ a pop...ouch), once late last year and twice in quick succession this month itself. I failed the first two times which kind of destroyed my confidence. However, the third time I passed but just by a whisker.

[chulett]

After a lot of contemplation I purchased one of the training programs online from one of the various companies. This program consisted of 129 questions and their answers with the promise that if the candidate studies from this material he / she should pass the exam.

Not aiming this at you, Tony, but just a general statement - this kind of stuff pisses me off. This isn't any different from buying the answers to a final exam in college from another student. So the resulting "certification" can mean absolutely nothing other than the fact that someone is a good memorizer. And as you noted, you may "know" the right answers but have no idea as to the why of it.

[TonyInFrance]

Very true Craig... but I decided to go down this road when I saw that the Assessment tests from IBM didn't give any of the correct answers. All you know at the end of the test is in each section how many you got right out of all that you answered. That's not helpful at all.

These assessments tests were also a set of 65 questions that are supposedly recommended as official study material. I took the assessment test 3 times. (paying 30 US$ for each time)

The very first time I approached it was with a lot of over confidence (thinking I'd breeze though since I've been developing Datastage jobs for 8 years) but scored 45% thus a fail. This was of course because the assessment covered a lot of concepts that a developer does not use regularly. This was in November 2012. The questions were actually not very difficult. However since I scored so little I didn't have the confidence of taking the exam right away and aimed for February 2013.

Thus at the beginning of this month I took the exam again and came across a set of totally different questions - much more complex and incomprehensible. My score this time around? 33%.

The point I'm trying to make is - IBM's official material is frankly not of much help.

[hemaarvind1]

Thank You everyone for the valuable notes . I am sure this post is going to help lot of people who want to take up 8.5 Certification,including myself:)