ITIL, formerly known as the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, consists of several different types of practices of IT service management needed by businesses and IT organizations to improve the quality of IT services offered by them.
ITIL Foundation is one of the most sought after and highly credible certification for aspiring IT professionals. If you are already employed, then obtaining this credential can be a bit challenging as you might require an effective learning strategy to prepare for the ITIL certification exam without compromising on your performance at work.
Here are some important factors to consider while preparing for the test:
Time Management Is The Key
Once you have decided to obtain an ITIL certification, you need to estimate how much time you will need to prepare for the exam. You need to decide according to your current work schedule, learning capabilities and familiarity with the exam topics.
Despite your learning capabilities, it is advisable that you spend at least two months of time to prepare for the test. You can utilize this time by going through the study guide available, solving practice questions several times and working on your weaker areas. In this way, you can easily prepare for the test by studying for 7-8 hours a week. You can either study daily, on alternate days, or on weekends depending upon your availability and work schedule.
Get Familiar With The Test Pattern
Apart from learning important concepts for the ITIL Exam, it is equally important that your study the ITIL test pattern so that you perform better on the day of the exam.
An updated version for the ITIL exam was launched earlier at the beginning of 2019. The previous version of the ITIL exam included some topics that were outdated and not quite relevant to the latest IT practices, tools and technologies.
Since the ITIL foundation exam is an elementary level certification, with the help of proper training and a sound learning strategy, it is possible to clear the exam within the first attempt.
Learn About The ITIL Lifecycle
The exam basically covers the fundamental ITIL concepts and checks your knowledge about the ITIL service lifecycle. There are a total of five stages in the ITIL lifecycle. They are:
- Service Strategy
- Service Design
- Service Transition
- Service Operation
- Continual Service Improvement
Passing Criteria
The ITIL foundation exam consists of forty MCQs and the time duration for the test is 60 minutes. The candidate needs a minimum of 65%of marks to clear the ITIL foundation exam. With proper guidance and preparation, it should not be too difficult.
Examination fee
The fee for the ITIL exam can cost you an amount of up to five hundred dollars based on your provider.
Keep updated notes
There are a variety of different topics and formulas that you need to study to prepare for the ITIL Foundation certification exam. You can try making notes of them. This will save you time as you can study the notes from time to time to refresh the concepts instead of going through the entire study guide or lecture.
It is important to note that the ITIL foundation displays and reflects the procedures and strategies of practical implementations as well as regulation of new IT services that any organization wishes to provide.
Focus on practical knowledge
Knowledge of practical implementation of ITIL services is of great importance. Most experts are of the view that more often than not, trainees happen to make mistakes in some of the easiest questions asked in the examination and lose marks. Professionals in the field of IT suggest that if you have already got some first hand practical experience with ITIL at your workplace, you can accurately answer most of the questions asked in the exam for you merely need to use some common sense and apply some basic logic.
Explore online training courses and videos
Even if you have good knowledge about the ITIL framework, it is still advisable to immediately enroll in an online ITIL training program, as getting enrolled in an ITIL foundation certification training online is a great way to prepare for your ITIL foundation exam in lesser time and with reliable professional guidance.
Check out self-study options
Since ITIL foundation exam is an elementary level certification, it is possible to clear the exam and achieve this certification through self-study if you do not have enough time or money to invest in an ITIL foundation certification training online program.
You can also prepare for the exam easily through special ITIL mobile applications that have been specially designed for mobile users and provide a variety of practice tests to practice almost anytime and anywhere.
Study the course outline
Before preparing for your ITIL foundation exam, make sure to study the course outline carefully. This can help you have a clear understanding of all the topics that you need to cover for the exam.
Discuss with your trainers
If you are preparing through a trainer-led study program, do not hesitate to ask questions to clear your concepts. Without having a deep understanding of fundamental ITIL concepts, it might be difficult for you to prepare for more advanced level ITIL certification exams as all ITIL concepts are interconnected with each other.
Practice is important
Make sure to solve practice questions. It will help you to become mentally prepared for the exam in advance. It will also help you to work more on your weaker areas. You can easily download practice questions online.
Join the online ITIL Community
Once you have cleared your ITIL Foundation certification, you can easily become a member of the ITIL online community which offers special ITIL tips and articles to its members which can be quite useful. You are also kept updated about different seminars and workshops on ITIL which can help you with your professional grooming and advance your career with greater ease.
Once you have cleared your ITIL foundation exam, you can also consider opting for more advanced level ITIL certifications available for professionals such as the ITIL Practioner and Intermediate Level certification.