I passed my RHCSA exam in San Diego this past Friday! 70% is required to pass and I scored 88%. I don't know where the missing 12% went, I was pretty confident I achieved all of the objectives and completed all the tasks. None of the exam tasks puzzled me, so I'm not sure where I lost the missing points. RedHat test results do not tell you what objectives you missed.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the training. I think that as a trainer, you always dread sitting in class and the potential of being taught by a terrible trainer. Fortunately Mike Phillips, the RHCI who taught the class was very knowledgeable and combined practical advice with the exam preparation.

The materials from RedHat were also good. One RedHat instructor (not Mike) told me that if I could do all of the labs without getting stuck, I would probably be in good shape for the exam. That proved true. I would say 90% of the labs in the class were well designed and combined several objectives and/or key skills in each lab.

Next up is my RHCE. Now that I have the experience of sitting for a RedHat exam, I know what to expect. Sorry I can't say exactly what to expect, since RedHat has a very strict non-disclosure policy. However, I can emphasize what the RedHat certification website says.

This is NOT a multiple-choice, pick or guess the right answer kind of certification. I've taken and passed multiple certifications, technical and non-technical including PMP, Comptia Network+, Cisco CCNA and others. I feel that none of them has been as challenging as this certification. You can't guess a the right answer, or just be a good test-taker. If you don't know your stuff, you will fail. I really enjoyed this exam.

I can also comment on my personal experience. I consider myself a Linux administration expert. Though I can't say how many tasks I had to complete, I can say that I suffered 3 complete erratic reboots of my exam machine. Hardware and power at the training facility were kinda flaky. Though I had this difficulty, I was able to complete all tasks, check my work, and still finish about 15-20 minutes early. So, I felt there was adequate time for an "expert" to complete the exam.

Also, I found the RHCSA/RHCE study guide from Michael Jang to be a good resource. The evening before the exam, I timed myself on completing the 2 RHCSA sample exams in the book. I can't comment on how they compare to the real exam, but I did feel that they were useful preparation.

Now its time to start working on the next certification, the RHCE. I'll update on my progress next week.