Online CLD Experience - useful tips for interested test takers

[itstalhaperacha]

I am going to share my experience of the online exam and share some useful tips.

1. Most of the people had the problem of shortcuts not working. I managed to find a remapping solution to that after an effort of 2-3 days.

However, the proctor didn't allow me to setup my environment. Moreover, I had the remapped shortcuts written on a paper. I had to set those shortcuts (which I could remember) during the exam time. I lost my precious initial 10 minutes in setting up. If I fail by a narrow margin, I am going to take up this issue with the certification team.

2. I took the test over WiFi and it worked almost seamless. Its not going to be as crisp as your local development system. .

3. I used a big screen with a laptop. I used a separate camera. You have to close the laptop lid and you are good to go.

4. I was not informed about the remaining time at any point. At the end, my connection was lost. When I connected back, I asked for the remaining time. At that point, I was told that I have 14 seconds left. You can imagine the frenzy afterwards.

5. Overall it was a good experience. I would strongly advocate to Practice as much as you can.

[leahmedwards]

Thanks for posting @HyperSol - I really wish I read this before taking my online CLA!

I too found it quite convenient, but I did find some aspects bizarre e.g. proctor giving you a number to call if you find it hard to re-access the system after your internet drops out, but you're not allowed to save the information or write it down.

Thought I'd add a few tips of my own:

1. Would reiterate to wear a watch as the lack of timing system really threw me off. The system clock shows a random time that seems un-related to the real time.
2. Yes, separate camera is useful for panning around the room. I disabled my laptop camera in Device Manager.
3. Program wise, there is no Windows snipping tool and print screen didn't seem to work. Only found this out as I like to snip the front panel sketch next to my UI VIs while I'm working on them. Instead I made an additional copy of the PDF so I could have the sketch open next to the instructions.
4. Full screen the browser window BEFORE the test is started. When my internet connection dropped out, I exited full screen mode and it was all blurry once it came back.
5. Launch the test nice and early - it took me half an hour-ish to do all of the check-in stuff and wait for approval. Maybe that was longer than average, who knows, but I was getting twitchy as my test start time came and went.
6. You can drink water from a clear glass - I okayed this with the proctor.
7. Some of the shortcuts seemed buggy, but others worked. I had some problems with copy and paste for GObjects at 1 point, but CTRL+Click+Drag was still okay.
8. You can take a comfort break with the proctor's permission but you are still on the clock. Luckily I didn't have to do this. Useful to know the option is here though - 4h is a long time!

Wishing you all the best for your results.