.NET Certifications

Many potential employers require some form of testing or like to see that you have certifications prior to hiring you. 

I like to use Brainbench to obtain my certifications, because I simply can't afford the Microsoft Certifications nor the time it takes to obtain one. Being self-employed, I don't have an employer paying for me to take the MS Certs or allowing me to study on the job. But Brainbench makes it affordable for individual users to get numerous kinds of certifications from a reputable company. Your transcript is posted for several years. (I lost all of my certifications displayed in my transcript a few months ago, because they expire 3 years after you take them.) So I guess it's time for me to start over again.

As a contractor, I typically go through the hiring process all over again every six months. It's much more convenient to send a potential employer to my Brainbench transcript page than to have to take a hiring test over and over again for every employer (which typically is a Brainbench test anyway). So if you can produce your own transcript and test results, employers typically don't make you take their tests. 

Brainbench tests are open book - you can use any materials you have on the internet and at your disposal. I don't memorize every single thing I have ever done, but I can typically pick out the answer from their 5 multiple choice options, and I'm great at research so can typically find an answer very quickly -- and to me, that's very important as a programmer -- if I don't know it, can I find it and implement it -- it seems very "real life situation" to me.

I received an email two days ago indicating Brainbench was offering their annual membership for 50% off, making it $99.50. The offer expires after August 16th.

All you have to do is join their group either on Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter.

I joined the Linkedin Group. It's called: Official Brainbench Certified Network.

Once you receive a certification, you receive a link to a PDF file where you can print out a frameable, electronic certificate. You also have a place on the site where you can download the logos for your certification to display on your web site or resume. For instance, I received the certification logo below for Master C# 3.0 Fundamentals.

You are allowed to take a test more than once. I have been working on a VB.NET project for a while, so I wanted to take the C# test to see how much dust had accumulated. I was surprised I did as well as I did with a score of: 3.68. But that wasn't good enough for me, so I decided to actually study this time and retake the test and made a score of 4.19. The tests consist of 40 questions. Brainbench provides a Test Outline with all the topics that will be on the test so that you can study those topics. If you retake the test, you will not be asked the same 40 questions. You'll be served up another 40, with maybe a few repeats, so make sure you study hard.

I have also used Brainbench tests in the past to learn a new technology. For instance, since Brainbench provides learning tools and a great Test Outline for each test subject, you can study everything about that technology, learn it, take the test to see where your weaknesses lie, study some more, etc. It's kind of like taking a virtual college course or home-schooling.

You can build your transcript and choose what tests display on your transcript. For instance, since I chose to retake the test to try for the Master level, I could hide the previous test from yesterday so that it doesn't show at all. In the transcript, you can click to view the details of the test -- what kinds of questions were asked, how many of each type were asked, how many were answered correctly, etc. It also lists strengths and weaknesses. As an example, my transcript says:

Scored higher than 89% of all previous test takers.

Brainbench has links on the site for "See Where You Stand" and "Top Scores" so you can see how you compare to others in your city, state, country, or world-wide.