Dimitris Pilios:
Just got informed i cleared CKAD exam with a passing score of 78/100. Many thanks to kodekloud team for courses and support to pass exam. I took the exam yesterday
Some notes on the procedure:
- Exam was scheduled at 13:30 Eastern European Time (Athens). I started self check-in at 13:00, but the overall process of checking-in took 1 hour 15 minutes, and i finally started the actual exam at 14:15. This happened mainly due to my camera getting disconnected (i still do not know the reason, they said about inadequate bandwidth) and due to poor ID photo quality (camera blurs text). So i suggest you take shots of your ID before the exam and do whatever you can to get a proper camera. Also prefer passport than your country’s ID. I am not saying all these to get you anxious because in the end your check-in should pass, but you may spend a lot of time checking-in, which will get you nervous and anxious, and may lead in spending many minutes of your actual exam trying to calm down and concentrate.
- About exam environment: Do not get anxious with windows sizes. You have the option of using virtual desktops (you can find the icons at the upper right toolbar of virtual desktop window). You can test usage of virtual desktops in https://killercoda.com/kimwuestkamp/scenario/cks-cka-ckad-remote-desktop . If you cannot see the bottom edge of browser window, put cursor in the top edge and drop it down to shrink browser window vertically, then drag the window up so that you can see the bottom edge (the shrink i mentioned may need to be big). Seeing the bottom edge is important so that you can use Ctrl+F to search (search bar appears at the bottom)
- I did not encounter significant lag on browser scrolling, searching, etc. But for me the terminal lag was irritating. This lag happens mainly when you try to delete characters of a command, like when you use UP arrow to get a previous command and then using DELETE to update the command. I think it is important for each task, to run some extra commands in the end to verify everything is OK and on its place, so you must either type quickly everything from the beginning or use terminal cached commands and update them, BUT you will have a lag, which, if you have to run many commands during the exam, will irritate you. Obviously the previous exam system was better in terms of that.
- Now i understand why the say you should clear killer.sh session in 90 minutes, even though it is arguably more difficult the real exam. Indeed it is more difficult, BUT do not underestimate the real exam anxiety factor, which may lead in consuming a bigger amount of time trying to understand question, implement and verify so that you are sure you have it correct.
- Questions are mainly straightforward, they do not try to trick you, do not lose time by thinking in an over-complicated way
- Do not get crazy if something technical goes wrong at the middle of your exam. Chat with the proctor and they will help you. In case even chat is not accessible do not panic. Your exam session (every current data regarding queries and tasks, your main ubuntu virtual desktop and k8s clusters) has been saved and ready to resume. So even if connection seems closed and nothing works, you can close PSI browser window and start PSI browser again. At this point you may have to pass check-in process again, but the important thing is that exam session is kept and will resume at the point you left it. Also, in such case of closing PSI browser window, try to signal what you are doing some way, if possible raise your hands in camera (if camera is still connected), say to microphone what problem you have and that you re going to restart PSI browser, or if you are unsure what to do, contact online PSI helpdesk chat. Try to do all the above relatively quickly, do not leave much time passed, otherwise they may suspect you are doing something strange or cheating.
