CLA-R Questions 5 & 6

[NelsonUWP]

I have a problem with the following correct answers from the CLA-R sample exam.

http://download.ni.com/evaluation/certification/cla-r/cla-r_sample_exam_english.pdf

5. You are put in charge of a project that is currently under execution in the development phase. In
the first week as a project manager, you receive emails requesting changes. What is one of the
first things you should do?
a. Consult the project scope document
b. Meet with the customer to discuss the changes
c. Refuse the changes as they affect either scope, budget, or schedule constraints
d. Call a team meeting to incorporate the changes and then bill the customer

6. You are brought on to lead a LabVIEW project that is currently in the development phase. While
reviewing the project document, you realize that several key features currently under
development are based on a set of assumptions that were documented at the beginning of the
project. How will you handle these assumptions?
a. Stop all the development activity and clear the assumptions with the stakeholders
b. Evaluate the risk associated with each assumption and develop a contingency plan in case
the assumptions prove to be false
c. Rely on the expertise of the project team and allow development to continue
d. Stop the development activity on the modules with assumptions are deemed incorrect but
allow other development to continue

The correct answer for 5 is A and the correct answer for 6 is B. 

I feel like these answers depend heavily on external factors not covered by the problem descriptions (contractual details, documentation, customer relations, etc.). For example, question 5, depending on the contract they may require a sit-down to discuss funding for changes (B) OR they may say all changes need to be approved by their program management otherwise you should reject these changes (C); sometimes, customers require you to implement all their changes no matter what and funding will be discussed later. It all depends on the contract at the beginning of the project and is usually not called out in the scope document. 

For question 6, I could make a case for all answers to be correct (maybe not C so much), again, it depends on the agreed upon contract. There are many other factors that could come into play such as relationship with customer, other work loads, etc. that could make other answers more correct than B. If I was leading a team and there was some ambiguity in the assumptions and we had other things to work on, I would tell them to work on the other items and get clarification from the customer on the assumptions before proceeding (A); I certainly wouldn't waste time creating contingency plans (B) when the customer could clear up questions quickly. 

Are these questions similar to the actual CLA-R exam?

Thanks 

[crossrulz]

I'll give you the ambiguity on question 6.  But question 5 clearly states "what is one of the first things you should do?"  The first thing you should ever do when asked about changes is check to see what your current spec is.  So the answer is definately A.

And, yes, the CLA-R is quite similar to the practice exam.  What helped me a lot was going through the practice exam with a bunch of other CLAs.  The CLA Summit helped a lot there (we had a study time the night before).  We managed to talk through most of the answers.

[NelsonUWP]

That's a fairly large technicality, at least to me. I feel like you should already have a very good understanding of the scope if you are the Architect so I guess that's not how I read the question. 

From how you explained it, I see how A would be the most correct answer. I would however like to see it more aligned with the other questions as the other three follow the format of "Do X to accomplish Y" (e.g. Meet with the customer to discuss the changes", "Refuse the changes as they affect either scope...", "Call a team meeting to incorporate...."). A better selection for A would be something along the lines of "Consult the project scope document to verify changes are out of scope" because you're not saying why you are consulting the scope document. 

[NelsonUWP]

One more irk would be the wording of "What is one of the first things you should do?". While I agree "Consulting the project scope document" is the first thing you should do, "Meet with the customer to discuss the changes" is also in the category of "one of the first things you should do".

[JÞB]

For what it is worth, a few simple statements that I belive can be subtantiated are:

• A little birdie has told me that, NI agrees there is room for improvement in the exam questions. 
• NI has a long history of commiting resources to provide improvements to it's valued product offerings. 
• Training and Certification products are valued by NI.

Does that help you feel better?

[NelsonUWP]

Not really. The machines with the CLA-R are preloaded and have no feelings, you don't get to dispute your answers, nor do you get to see which ones you get incorrect. 

Also, there is only the one (terrible) sample exam wheras there are multiple for the CLAD and CLD. What's a guy to study? Saying that there are 2 questions for "Software Development Methodology", "Configuration Management Tools", etc. etc. does no good especially when their versions of what these mean differ than some companies' versions.

[crossrulz]

Last I talked to NI about all of this, they were gathering information, but weren't quite ready to make more sample exams.  It basically came down to not enough questions written down that they can use.  That's the same issue with the CLD-R.

But if you don't like the multiple choice, you are allowed to take the 4-hour practical to recertify.

[jcarmody]

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@crossrulz wrote:

Last I talked to NI about all of this, they were gathering information, but weren't quite ready to make more sample exams.  It basically came down to not enough questions written down that they can use.  That's the same issue with the CLD-R.

But if you don't like the multiple choice, you are allowed to take the 4-hour practical to recertify.

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I know a CLA that recertified by writing exam questions for (I think) the CLAD test.  Perhaps NI could skin two cats with one knife by allowing a CLA to recertify by writing some CLA exam questions.  I know I'd be more comfortable taking the CLA exam now if I didn't have to fall into the CLA-R meat-grinder two years later.  So, if y'all'd make the CLA-R process better, I'd appreciate it.

[crossrulz]

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@jcarmody wrote:

I know a CLA that recertified by writing exam questions for (I think) the CLAD test.  Perhaps NI could skin two cats with one knife by allowing a CLA to recertify by writing some CLA exam questions.  I know I'd be more comfortable taking the CLA exam now if I didn't have to fall into the CLA-R meat-grinder two years later.  So, if y'all'd make the CLA-R process better, I'd appreciate it.

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It is called the Certification Rewards Program.  

[jcarmody]

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In that case, I thought I heard about a CLA that recertified that way; maybe it was some Microsoft certification after all.  I can't be sure.  I'm confused rather easily.