Terrible Online Exam Experience with PSI

[CollinsAero]

I was scheduled to take the CLD exam today online through the proctoring service provided PSI.  First of all, the proctor did not seem competent in their job.  You have to screen share your screen so they can see, which I already did and then they asked me to share it with them again even though it was already shared.  And then they instructed me to close everything except for Chrome and then I did.  I showed them Task Manager and they said I still needed to close tabs but they were both Chrome?...I didn't even seem like they were trained on how to do their job.

And then when they were supposed to release the exam, I could see the screen of the remote machine.  They told me to call some tech support number.  I called the tech support number but the guy said that the proctor was supposed to call them and not the test taker.  I told the proctor that and then he gave me another another number to call.  This time, this guy wanted to remote into my PC and then when he remoted in, he couldn't help me.

So I tried switching laptops to see if that would help but by that time, I wasn't able to launch the exam through the NI site because it was 30 mins after the exam scheduled time.  So then I called the contact number for PSI and then they said I needed to call tech support even though I already talked to them...

I called tech support and he said PSI is going to look into it and that I had to reschedule my exam.

The tech support guy gave me a number to call to reschedule the exam.  I called the number and then they didn't have the ability to reschedule..............

I just gave up after this.  I spent 2 hours and talked to like 5 different people and the issue was still not resolved and path forward was not established  WTF!!!

[crossrulz]

At least you actually spoke to somebody during your exam time...https://forums.ni.com/t5/Certification/Online-Exam-Experience/m-p/4054510 

[CollinsAero]

There is a typo in my original post. I meant to say that when the proctor was trying to release the exam, I could NOT see the screen of the remote PC, which was the main issue.

[cyongjed]

You not the only one here, I faced it three times straight in a row!

[usrfrnly]

Mines not as bad as some, but I still need to vent: The proctor exited before I got my score. I called three times and each time ended with them placing me on hold and then hanging up. i spent over an hour on the phone and I still don't know if my exam even counted. 

NI should not do business with such a bunch of twits.

[Ozfarmboy]

One of my employees also had a terrible experience with PSI.

She sat a CLAD, and had this to say about the experience:

• PSI stated that the ID I had on me was not a ‘Government issued ID’. Down the bottom of my ID shown, it clearly states: ‘Victoria State Government’ and on the back it says ‘Department of Justice & Regulation issued in the State of Victoria’. I understand PSI is an international company therefore proctors have limited knowledge of Australian states, although telling me that I would have to re-sit my exam another day because it was not a ‘Government issued ID’ and me having to try to convince them otherwise  back and forth (that it IS in fact a government issued ID) was not ideal right before the exam (created frustration anxiousness).  
  
  
• Notepad/ MS Paint was not installed on the virtual exam environment. Was unable to take notes in the online environment.  

• My desk is 2.4m long and I got asked to take off all of the ornaments from the other end of the desk and into another room. It felt like by the end of the check that my study was rearranged and all of my belonging were in another room! Seems fairly excessive especially since the desk requirements are ‘Desk must be clear of all notes and electronics.’

• Proctor asked to show on camera the front and back of my working out sheet of paper that I would use. I queried this as on the CLAD exam guide it says no access to paper or pen. This is not a big issue although it is an example that guidelines are not being properly communicated. 

[Mr._Jim]

Man, these guys are sticklers.

I was completely mentally prepared for my CTA exam, scheduled for online testing yesterday morning.

I went through the whole camera ordeal, going over the whole room and the workspace, and took a photo of my passport.

My passport has "James" printed on it, while my NI account ("My NI") has "Jim" as my first name, and everyone knows me by that name. The proctor asked if I had any government issued ID with "Jim" as my first name. I shrugged on camera and wrote, "No, I'm sorry, they're all listed as James." I attempted to reason with the proctor, saying, "This is a really common name derivative." The proctor again curtly rejected my plea. Out of exasperation and barely contained anger I said, "This is outrageous." The proctor replied "You may close the chat window now."  

Now, I know in the fine print in NI's KB for online testing, they do mention that one should make sure that their ID is exactly compliant with the name registered for the exam. So it is a bit of a dumb mistake on my part. However, I was really taken aback by how inflexible the PSI proctor was, though. At best, there was no "human" factor, and at worst they were rude, depending on how someone interprets it.

Needless to say, this utterly destroyed my nerves yesterday. Getting psyched for an exam, not sleeping well the night before, and then being unexpectedly dismissed is pretty rough.

Also, if you get into trouble during exam setup and you need to talk to someone at NI, it's quite frustrating that when calling the main number, the operators will apologetically say, "Sorry, there's no phone queue for customer education." When things are down to the minute and you're about to lose your money, it would be nice to be able to talk to someone in a timely fashion. I love NI. I've built an 18 year career mostly on their products, seeing mostly great things with occasional blunders. Through the CLA community and otherwise, I know people in Austin and NI is a great company to work for. All that said, it's really frustrating when your only option is email support for situations like these.

My lessons learned from this:

• If you're thinking of taking the online version of the test, think very hard about it and consider any other options you might have. It is not a straightforward process and there are several potential pitfalls without much recourse other than, "well, I'm not going to do that again."
• The name on your NI profile is what gets used for the PSI exam registration. You cannot change this name on PSI's site, so you'd better make doubly sure that your formal name is in your NI profile before you schedule, and that it matches your IDs. For people who have undergone name changes for any reason and you're still in transition to getting your IDs updated, don't even try - you will be rejected.

I rescheduled in person for early next week before I travel to Asia, during which time my CTD will expire. This time I went for a physical test center an hour away from my residence. I had hoped I'd be able to use Pearson Vue, but sadly NI appear to have completely gone to PSI. I've since changed my name on my "My NI" profile to my formal given name, but if for some reason it doesn't get applied retroactively, I'm hoping that the person at the test center will intuitively understand that Jim and James are the same person.

For those of you who've had great experiences with the online testing, I'm genuinely happy for you. For the rest of us, be prepared for an incredible "experience."

[Mr._Jim]

Edit: I had the wrong NI department. The correct one is certification, but for some reason my mind went to customer education.

Also, I went to a physical exam location today and the proctor chuckled when I said that the online people thought I was an imposter. He took one look at my driver's license and checked me in.

That alone made two hours in the car worth it.