Thursday, July 31, 2008

Pointers on How to Pass PhilNITS (FE)

For those who would like to challenge the PhilNITS Fundamental Engineer (FE) certification exam, but do not know how to start or how to proceed, I am compiling here some pointers I have gathered through my own experiences, discussions with others who have tried out the exam, and also from my own analysis and researches. I hope some of the information here will be of help in your preparing for the exam...



1. Have the Right Motivation

Everything changes depending on your motivation. If for example it has been your childhood dream to work in Japan as an IT engineer, then having the PhilNITS certification may be your passport in achieving that dream, and you will do everything to be able to improve your chances of passing the exam. Here are but a few more possible motivations for challenging the exam :


  • Skill Development and Improvement
  • Appreciation and Recognition
  • Standardized and Objective Skill Assessment
  • Rewarding and Challenging Job or Employment
  • Career Advancement
  • Advanced Technical Trainings


2. Get to Know PhilNITS Better

I believe in the saying that you need to know more your enemies before you can defeat them. Although PhilNITS is not an enemy, having a better understanding of the background, history, vision and composition of the PhilNITS exam will improve your chance greatly of formulating an effective strategy and eventually passing the exam.

One of the most important matters you need to know about PhilNITS is the basis and the scope of the questions in the exams. PhilNITS utilizes two Bodies of Knowledge (BOK), one is the IT Common BOK (for the morning part of the exam), the second one is the Practical or Core BOK (for the afternoon part of the exam)

You may visit also the following sites for more information :
http://www.philnits.org/
http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/



3. Improve Your Confidence

Even if you have the capabality to pass the exam, but you do not have the confidence, it would be very difficult for you to pass. On the other hand, if you currently do not have the knowledge or capability of to pass the exam, but have confidence about your potentials, then there should be no problem for you in passing the exam, given enough time and support during your preparation.

The tricky part about confidence improvement is on how to measure it. One simple way I can advise is to download a past exam set. Let us take for example the morning exam part, which is composed of 80 questions. Create a checklist for all 80 items, and start placing a check mark for all questions/items for which you are already knowledgable and confident in solving and getting the right answer. Your goal is to have as many questions with check marks. You can measure your confidence level in percentage, or the ratio of the total items with check marks over 80.

In improving your confidence, you should aim for a level higher than the actual exam requirements, as normally the underlying condition during the actual exams makes it more challenging for concentration and focus. So I recommend to set at least a target of 85%, as the actual passing mark for PhilNITS is 75%.


4. Don't Work Hard. Work Smart

The scope of the PhilNITS exam is very wide, and it covers topics usually taken during a regular 4-year BS in Computer Science course. Do not just review or study blindly, as it is almost impossible to cover all the topics in the Body of Knowledge if given only a couple of months to do it. Instead, if you can organize the information about the exam, and about the questions that are coming out, you may be able to formulate an effective strategy that will help guide you where to put focus on. Also, if you are able to objectively measure your understanding of each items, you will be able to determine which items you are weak at, and then start working to improve on them.



5. Attend Organized Reviews

Some people can review or study better alone and by themselves. But if you are already busy with other activities (like school, work, family, etc.), sometimes you need to force yourself to be able to focus on reviewing or preparing for an exam like PhilNITS. In this regard, attending an organized group review might be beneficial for you. An organized group may either be a professionally conducted review, or even just your regular group of friends who decided that you are all in this together in preparing for the exam.
Here are some of the foreseen benefits of attending organized reviews :

  • Will Usually Force You to Allocate Time
  • Sense of Commitment Other Than to Yourself Only
  • Sharing and Discussions
  • Expert Tips and Advices
  • Coaching and Guidance
  • Professional Assessment


And finally, here is a list of References and Materials that might be helpful for your preparation :
  1. Past PhilNITS Exams (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
  2. Solutions to Past Exams (available at PhilNITS office, ask for the “Preparation Books”)
  3. Textbooks on “Fundamental IT” (available at PhilNITS office)
  4. Online Review System (available at PhilNITS office)
  5. IT Common Body of Knowledge (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
  6. Practical Body of Knowledge (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
  7. Handbook on PhilNITS (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
  8. Additional Backgrounder on PhilNITS (http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your advice...

Thank you very much...

Anonymous said...

I agree with you, that if you only have confidence in yourself, you'd be able to pass the exam...Base from my experience; during that time that our dean told us that we are going to take the exam, we only have one week to prepare...Ive been looking for many review materials on the internet but got the old ones only. I was discouraged at first, but thinking that we are being paid by our school to take the exam, I continued to take the challenge...My only shield during that time was my confidence and belief in myself that I can do it...The end result is, I got close to the passing score for the AM exam, and I passed the PM exam.

Anonymous said...

By the way, in addition to what I stated above...I would like everyone to know that I passed the morning exam now... =)

loypinoy said...

congratulations frank :)

Anonymous said...

ei im rem, im kinda interested in Philnits examination. I would like to give it a try. Tips naman from the passers!! my ym is vanrijn_0669@yahoo.com.
btw, thanks for the pointers!!

Dark Angel said...

is the exam really hard? i am planning to take the exam when i reach my senior years... and by the way... tnx for the advice...

loypinoy said...

for 100 examinees, less than 20 will pass in Japan, and only about 10 will pass in the Philippines. the questions are not really difficult, as they cover only fundamentals of IT. but the coverage is very wide! that makes it difficult to pass for most. download and check out the "IT Common Body of Knowldege" (#5 in the Reference Materials I listed above). it will give you an idea of what topics are covered :)

Anonymous said...

here's how to pass philnits....take 1 liter of dark ale(i.e red horse for example)drink it bottoms up and sleep early around 7 to 8 PM....wake up at around 3 to 4 am in the morning and study your reviewer and try to remember everything that youve learned in college(i.e how youve cheated, how you copied your classmates programs etc.)...research studies reveals that sleeping early at night and studying early in the morning is beneficial. this way, it will be easier to remember what youve studied...

Namae said...

Helpful reviewer.

http://ccarlostan.googlepages.com/home

anonymous-too said...

to anonymous...

ill will try your advice that i should sleep at twilight and study at dawn except of the red drink thing. hehehe
sometimes i feel really pressured with all the preparation i am doing right now because of my studies and part time job. i just want to ask if during your time, did you feel this way too? or if not how did you handle all the pressure?

salome said...

wonderful site namae!
tnx!

Ranor Yap said...

Wow! Marvelous! thank you very much for the good tips and advices. I am currently enrolled in a university and i am planning to take the exam.
For those who had tried the exam already, can i ask additional tips on how to pass it. My email is ranoryap@yahoo.com. Thanks!

loypinoy said...

Hi ranor.
You may want to check out my April 2009 entry for additional tips and pointers. Good luck on your preparations...

sheryl said...

thanks for the post sir. it will be very helpful for those hopefuls. i am also interested to take the challenge and your post convinced me more.

loraine96 said...

hi! do you know when the scores for both am and pm exam will be sent. i took philnits exam last march 2011. i failed but i want to know my scores, and see if i passed either the am or the pm...thanks :)

loypinoy said...

it is important to know your scores :) philnits should be emailing your scores to you maybe after the holy week. if not, you may follow it up from the philnits office where you registered (e.g. davao, manila, etc.)

Anonymous said...

Philnits FE Exam is okay. I only have 2 weeks of review for that. One tip in answering the exam is to have the thorough analysis. There are some items that you don't know but you can just answer that one by carefully analyzing the question. I am not a computer science graduate. I am BS Math graduate of UP-Cebu. I've only taken up 6 subjects in compsci in the undergrad. The two-week-preparation that I had already includes the self learning of the topics that I didn't encounter in school. What I did in the exam is to have the confidence and the analysis. That is why I managed to pass the exam during my first take. I will be taking the Philnits AP exam this October. Maybe this would be much more difficult than FE...

Anonymous said...

hi.................. im james for the passer's of philnits share some tips and such information how to pass it.

Jeriboy said...

Hi..

Do I need to get a perfect score for the FE morning exam to pass?
(Because the handbook says "All 80 questions must be answered")

And do all FE exam passers get a job?

Thanks.

loypinoy said...

hi Jeriboy

it is just an advise "not to leave any items blank"

being PhilNITS-FE certified may open up good employment opportunities for you. how you handle those opportunities is up to you

YOLLY G. PELEGRINO said...

Thanks for the tips...wotwowwww!!!..Let's do this!..Aja!..hehehe