3 or 5 day practitioner - opinions ?

[saxman]

I have been researching the Practitioner exam options ... what do people feel about the 5 day release & control course & exam versus the 3 day single process option. Is the extra cost/time/effort worth it ?

How much harder is it than say just doing a change management 3 day Practitioner course & exam ?

At the end of the day doing the 3 or 5 day option I would hopefully be a blue badge holder whatever route I take ... so why put extra pressure on myself by trying to do all three at once, is it too much to take on ? whereas studying for one topic will be easier/less cost/less time etc ...

what do people think ? anyone done both ?

[ARoll]

Saxman,

I've gone through the IPRC course and in my opinion, unless plan to be very specialized, is the better route to take. Understanding how the 3 disciplines link and rely on one another is something that you will come up against as you take part in implementations. In the long run it would be better to have a base understanding of the other disciplines. Additionally it can help you careerwise to have that flexibility to move into other areas if need be. Additionally i wasn't aware that the single course disciplines were still being offered but if they are, look at the cost benefit. To eventually take the additional single course or eventually retake the 3 pack will wide up costing more in the long run, may as well do it now.
_________________
Adam
Practitioner - Release and Control
Blue Badge

"Not every change is an improvement, but every improvement requires a change"

[saxman]

Adam,

Thanks for the reply.

What is the exam like ? is it just MC or/and essay writing ? how long & how many questions etc .. any tips/advice welcome

Sax

[dboylan]

I agree with Adam whole heartily. I trained the 5 day combined courses and it wasn't until day three a lot of the value came out. The first two days were pretty much in depth reviews of the three processes. On day three you start getting into optimization and integration and it gets really interesting.

The test (in the US) is a 40 question M/C, but the questions are significantly more difficult to answer than the Foundation test. You do have two hours (as opposed to one for the Foundation) to take the test.

A lot of the question involve reading a scenario consisting of four or five sentences, and then being presented with a question and M/C answers.

[Ed]

Hi saxman

I took the single Practitioners modules (In the UK) and it was a mix of written & Multiple choice - the written on day two, and 26 M/C questions on day three.

If I'd have had the choice, knowing how V3 is going to work, I would have taken the 5 day course instead of Change, Config and Release. - Cheaper and worth more points.

Regards

Ed