Micro-Blog 3 of 3: What I Wish I Knew Before I Took the CKAD: Steady as She Goes!

What I Wish I Knew Before I Took the CKAD-Steady as She Goes!

What I wish I knew before I took the CKAD: Steady as she goes!

This may come as a “no duh” to most, but I used a wireless connection during my exam. To be honest, I felt fine with wireless for the following reasons:

  • I built my own computer with a dedicated WiFi card and modular antenna
  • I sat right next to the router
  • My internet connection is stable and runs at 1gbps down 30mbps up
  • Everyone else was off the internet during the two hours of the exam
  • It had not been a problem as of yet

The last bullet point was the one that got me. You see I had no problem with my WiFi because it hadn’t reared its ugly head during a stressful moment. Such as taking the CKAD. That’s why when you sit down for the exam, ensure you are wired directly into your modem or router for a consistent connection. Consistency is key.

What it did to my experience…

The reason I bring this up is that I lost several minutes (arguably more) of precious exam time due to my session dropping with the proctor. When this happened, it immediately interrupted my focus, left me feeling frustrated and I then had to wait for the proctor to re-initiate the connection with me (which took about a minute at most). That put me back at the home screen of the exam, not on the question I was interrupted on. I was flustered, lost, and had to quickly navigate back to the question (if I remembered which one I was on!). 

The biggest factor in this interruption was that it took me some time to get back into my groove — the focused, confident mind that I know I have. In fact, it can take up to 23 minutes to get back into a focused mindset (The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress). So don’t let something as easy as a consistent internet connection knock you around! Use a stable, wired Ethernet connection directly to your modem if possible. 

That does it for our microblog tips on becoming a Certified Kubernetes Application Developer. Be sure to share your tips below on how you feel best prepared to pass the CKAD!

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