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The Benefits of Certification
The fields that encompass IT and Software Development are placing an increasing weight on professional development and continuing education. The fields are constantly changing, and professionals who are working on the cutting edge can too quickly and easily find themselves with knowledge that has become outdated. As a result, staying current with the state of the art should always be a high priority. To that end, professional certification can play a significant role. While passing a test does not automatically grant "expert" status, it can help distinguish you from your peers in the profession. More importantly, however, the amount you can learn simply by studying and preparing for a certification exam can be tremendous.
The Apple Certified Support Professional is designed for help desk and support professionals who are tasked to provide assistance to basic end users of the operating system. The exam Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.5 (9L0-402) is also the first of many tests required for several more difficult, more specialized OS X certifications: Apple Certified Technical Coordinator or Apple Certified System Administrator, for example. The ACSP certification is designed to verify a basic or essential understanding of the core aspects of Mac OS X.
Preparing for the Exam
There are several resources available that can help you prepare for the exam. The first is the Support Essentials Skills Assessment Guide . It lists the exam objectives and how they are presented. It also gives information on passing score and how to register. Second, Peachpit Press has published the book Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Support Essentials, Second Edition which covers in great detail each section of the operating system as covered by the test. Finally, Apple offers an intense, three-day training course Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.5 over the material covered on the exam.
For many, the Apple training course is not a viable option, and as a result, the Apple Training Series book can be more than enough of a studying tool to allow a diligent student to pass the exam. However, simply reading the book may not be enough for some test-takers. It is highly recommended that the reader walk through the exercises in the book. More directly, the test asks some very specific questions about Mac OS X applications that the reader may be familiar with, but has not used extensively. Specifically, I remember getting a little tripped up in a few places by questions covering Parental Controls and Network Diagnostics, two aspects of the OS with which I was somewhat familiar but did not have a lot of experience.
Taking the Test: Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.5 Exam (9L0-402)
As of early January, 2009, the Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.5 Exam (9L0-402) had 90 multiple-choice questions, some permitting partial credit. Most of them involve showing a few key screenshots from various aspects or applications of the operating system and asking a question about them. Others are more straight-forward. The exam is computer-based, and you can mark questions that you are initially unsure of and want to come back to. The passing score is 73%, so about 66 questions have to be answered correctly. The questions are divided into the following ten categories.
- Installation & Configuration
- User Accounts
- File Systems
- File Management
- Applications
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- Network Configuration
- Network Service Access
- Network Service Provision
- Peripherals
- Startup Process
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These categories correspond exactly to Chapters 1-10 in the book:
Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Support Essentials, Second Edition
A full review of Mac OS X Support Essentials is available here.
Once you're certified...
After passing the test, you get a few perks. First, the proctor at the Prometric testing center will give you a printout of the results that shows that you passed and how you did in each of the above categories. About two weeks later, Apple will send an email with a PDF of your certificate. For concern for the environment, they have stopped mailing actual certificates. The PDF is relatively basic. It shows the apple logo, the title of the certification (in this case: Apple Certified Support Professional 10.5), your name, the date you passed the test, and a URL for credential verification. The email also invites you to join the Apple Certification Alliance. This is a public listing of all Apple Certified Professionals. Membership in the ACA allows you a public listing of yourself as an Apple Certified Pro and a 35% discount on Apple Training Series books.
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Additionally, you are entitled to display this certification logo.
(Subject to Apple's restrictions)
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For More Information on the Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.5 Exam (9L0-402) Visit the Following Resources
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