I feel like the biggest failure

[Radgirl]

I can't stop crying because I failed a recertification exam. I feel like the biggest loser/failure that ever walked the face of the earth. Now I really question everything in my work/life. This hurts so bad I don't know what to do.

[Tayl405]

Recertification exam? For what?

[Radgirl]

It's an IT cert. We have to recertify every 2 years.

[paiger81]

Can you take it over again?

[Radgirl]

I can and I'll have to pay another $120 to take it over. At this point, I'm not sure if it's worth it.

[Tayl405]

Oh that sucks! Sorry! At least it's Friday????

[Winter Storm]

You're job in not in danger, though, right?

[Radgirl]

No, no danger. I just feel like a total loser right now. What pisses me off the most is that when I took this exam 2 years ago, the material was 3-4 times smaller than what I had to study this time around.

[coll214]

Oh radgirl that's awful! I'm sorry :( ; At least your job's not in jeopardy though and you can retake it... look at this one as a practice, now you know exactly what to expect.

[Radgirl]

True, but I don't think I'm going to try again. First off, I don't have the extra cash and second, I'm not sure it's worth while anymore.

[Kitty]

Well, if its not even worth your while to re-take it, and it doesn't effect your job, who really cares? ;): It's not a big deal. People fail tests for all kinds of reasons. Failing a test does not define who you are or how well you are at your career/speciality.

Don't sweat it.

[Radgirl]

Thanks Kitty. :)

[Morgan81]

Radgirl,
I think I know what certification you mean, and you are no loser. If its the CCNA or any Cisco, Microsoft or any certification for that matter, you proved your merit by passing it the first round. I know many people who can't say that with the eaiser tests that were around back then, myself included! The truth of the matter is that this has become a major revenue stream for all of the major players in IT. The tests are designed by the same people who make the product and charge you for the tests and the majority of the study aides for them. So they can make them as hard as they want, purposely fail you and then get you to pay for more study books. They suck and they aren't trying to really teach you anything, just trying to take your money.
But you don't need a stupid recert. You have your job, and it's not going anywhere (5 bucks says that if you put one of those uber-geeks who write these tests in your position they could never hack it). Your management knows what you can do and thats the important thing.
I know 5 people who where certified in my field (VC) and ALL FIVE where fired due to "Blatent Incompetence". I have never met anyone to say that these certifications help you do you're job better, they just give you some extra letters to throw on your buisness card.
So the hell with it, focus on your basic job so you can get promoted and then it won't matter what certs you have.

Keep your chin up.

[JimLNYC]

Whether or not you're a failure depends on how you deal with the situation...to quote a great line from the movie Zoolander, "What do we do when we fall off the horse? WE GET BACK ON."

I've "fallen off more horses" than I can count. I've been told that I'm not strong enough, that I'm not good enough, that I'm not talented enough. Or, to quote a classic Pogues song, "I've been spat on, and shat on, and raped and abused." But I'm still here, and I've taken the numerous times I've fucked up, and made them an impetus to learn something new, or to improve at something, or whatever the case may be.

All the failures and losers and quitters in the world have stumbled and fallen at some point. But the funny thing is, there aren't very many successful people worth mentioning who haven't stumbled and fallen at some point either. The crucial difference lies in what they did afterwards.

I'm just speaking generally. Strategically, if it's not worth it to retake the test, then it's not worth it to retake the test. Just some general motivational philosophy to keep in mind.

[Morgan81]

Good point Jim.
"Success is how high we bounce when we hit bottom."

[labrat2111]

Awwww. I'm sorry to hear that and I can understand how you feel after fucking up my MS defense 2 weeks ago. It will take some time to feel better but you'll be okay. Like others have pointed out your job doesn't depend on it and it's just another thing to go on the resume. Hopefully you'll feel better after a good night's sleep.

[Radgirl]

Morgan, Jim, and lab, thank you all so much for your words of encouragement. I really am bothered by how much more difficult they made the recert exam. I mean, I had thousands of pages to study where as the first time around, I had a third of the material to study. I really think it's unfair, but there is nothing I can do. To be honest, the cert didn't make a damn difference in my salary. Even when I got my master's degree, no one here even considered giving me a higher salary. Lots of employers do look to see if you have a cert or not, but I'm not really sure if it matters anymore. Nonetheless, the pain is subsiding and I'm coming to grips with my cert being finished at the end of the month.

[GetMeOuttaDC]

Morgan, Jim, and lab, thank you all so much for your words of encouragement. I really am bothered by how much more difficult they made the recert exam. I mean, I had thousands of pages to study where as the first time around, I had a third of the material to study. I really think it's unfair, but there is nothing I can do. To be honest, the cert didn't make a damn difference in my salary. Even when I got my master's degree, no one here even considered giving me a higher salary. Lots of employers do look to see if you have a cert or not, but I'm not really sure if it matters anymore. Nonetheless, the pain is subsiding and I'm coming to grips with my cert being finished at the end of the month.

Not that I work in IT, but can I say that I think anyone worth working for would be more concerned about your performance (present and past) than what we seem to have established as a figurehead credential?

[Radgirl]

I agree DC, but some companies in IT have this odd focus of degrees and certifcations and what not. Honestly, I went to a job interview last week and was asked some of the most technical questions. I felt like a dumbass, but I couldn't answer half of what they were asking. Part of me wanted the satisfaction of recertifying and knowing my stuff. The other part of me thought it would be helpful in my continuing job search. Obviously none of this is true anymore. I do feel it's a game and they are playing with people's cash. Sucks, but true.

[Morgan81]

The problem is that IT managers don't know how to do technical things and are lost when someone starts babelling about HSRP, SIP etc. So they try to get an easy to understand qualification that someone can say they have, so that they can do a specific job. Welcome to the wonderful world of certifications. All they are really for is to prove to people outside of your business, that you know your buisness, which is why I said once you have a job in whatever field, you can reference that as proof you know what you're talking about, which by the way is a lot better than a stupid piece of paper.

[Radgirl]

Good deal Morgan. However, should I even bother with trying to obtain any other certs at all?