RCV Change Managment

I have been studying Change Management these past few days (Item RCV02) in the syllabus. One thing which I have already concluded is that I was not ready when I took RCV for the first and second time. Now this may also have been concluded by my abysmal scores but sometimes one needs to really re-evaluate to realize something (i.e. fall flat on ones face as it were...in my case twice).

Also I very highly recommend that following book:

Release, Control and Validation ITIL V3 Intermediate Capability Handbook

(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0113312105) 

Now this is a small book (literally), but it is chalk full of great advice and study pointers which follows the syllabus. Now I have not taken RCV again yet, but can say that my understanding has increased tremendously by following the syllabus and using this book as a supplemental guide.

I am unsure if my new study technique will work or not but I am gaining a much more granular understanding of RCV and this can only help when I do my third and hopefully final attempt to pass RCV.

Also I am reading:

Implementing ITIL Change and Release Management (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0138150419)

Which is a very well written book on the subject. 

In conclusion I can actually say I am somewhat glad I failed although not for the monetary loss but more for the fact that it has forced me to study far more in depth then before and in doing so has really allowed me to be gaining a far better understanding of ITIL. Suffice it to say that when I pass RCV I will be using this same study technique on all the remaining exams. 

When I finish my ITIL Expert I will publish here a how to guide with final thoughts, study tips and all the resources I utilized to achieve my goal. I hope that this blog of my ITIL Expert journey will allow others to skip my mistakes and have a more streamlined path to achieving their ITIL Expert Certifications.  

Thus, good luck to all others seeking their ITIL Expert Certifications. 

RCV

Changes, they say the one of the best traits one can posses is the ability to change. Similar to Continual Service Improvement. I have made some changes.

1) I have removed some details from my LinkedIN. Now it reads more streamlined. I do not believe my LinedIN should read like a resume.

2) My study technique for ITIL moving forward it now something I should have done in the first place. I am going through the official syllabus for RCV and then re-reading the sections noted and studying just those sections.

3) I would also like to recommend one also read general books on implementing ITIL. There are (2) great ones written by. Larry Klosterboer from IBM, you can check my LinkedIN for there names I will post them soon. There is also a very good book written by John O. Long titled ITIL Version 3 at a Glance.
Again I will post on linkedIN the names ISBN under books I am reading.

In conclusion the path to attaining ones ITIL expert is no easy task but in the end I believe that what is gained is well worth the effort.

RCV Round 2

Just got my results on my second attempt at the RCV exam.
I got a 55%.

It is quite obvious to me that I did not study well enough for this exam. So now I am starting over again. I will be reviewing ALL aspect of the syllabus piece by piece in the best detail I can achieve.

RCV Exam uppdate

So I took the RCV exam on Tuesday and got a 50%.
Not exactly very good, I failed.

So what went wrong. From my analysis I believe my main error was one of overconfidence and a minor change in my study practice which I have since corrected. So here are my main conclusions.

1) Actually do the practice exams, do not just analyze them.

2) Just because answer "B" has "X" does not make it right or wrong.

3) RTQ! (Read the Question!) I mean do not just skim it and go I know what they are looking for. Read it, sometimes there is additional information you will need.

4) Go slowly you have around 11 minutes per question so take your time if you can.

5) Read all the answers first BEFORE you try to eliminate any of them.

6) Compare your final choice to the questions and the facts. Does it address all the areas?

7) Do note read into the answers or questions. Use just the facts you are given.

8) Remember ITIL is CUSTOMER CENTRIC.

I am planning to re-take RCV this coming Monday.

ITIL Exam Taking Tips Revision 2.0

I am planning to take the next intermediate exam (RCV) this coming Tuesday and made a few revisions to my test taking strategy I wanted to share:

1) When you read the question (you get it on paper, you may need to request so). I underline the data that is important. I no longer scratch or draw a line through the other data. I find this is actually too time consuming and sometimes you may overlook a important piece of data.

2) In my first post I wrote that the industry was not important; I was wrong in some other questions I worked on the industry Medical etc. was actually key to the 5 point answer.

3) I have found that writing bullet points bellow the questions with the relevant data is a big plus. I also number each bullet point.

4) When I review the answer choices I try to see which answer best addresses all the bullet points. This seems to help narrow down the choices to the 3 and 5 point answers fairly consistently. Then it is just a matter of determining which answer is most correct.

5) Read the linguistics very carefully. Sometimes one may read a sentence and subconsciously change tenses or add words. Be very careful this can be the difference between the 5 point and the 3 point choice. Also look at the vocabulary, tone and inflection of the text. The 5 point answer by definition needs to be the most ITIL centric.

6) In some questions it is critical to write down "What they have" and "What they are implementing". This in some cases has been very important to selecting the correct answer.

Now keep in mind this is just advice and not a replacement for knowledge of the material.

In conclusion I have found that using the same concept of Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom seems to work rather well.

Data: Is the scenario
Information: Is the facts you extract; underline and bullet point with numbers
Knowledge: Is seeing which answer applies to the most bullet points in the best manner.
Wisdom: Selecting the 5 point answer.

Final note: Remember to select review before you submit your answers to make sure you did not miss any or the system did not register your response on a answer.


Hope these tips help other ITIL Intermediate or Expert test takers.

Typo Confirmed

Dear Peleg,

Thank you for your email.

I have passed your comment to the OGC Account Manager - she has confirmed it should read service design. This has been noted and will updated in the next edition.

Thank you for notifying us of this.

Kind regards

L****

Elizabeth Mills
Tel:  +44 (0) 870 *** ** **
Web:  www.tso.co.uk

TSO Information and Publishing Solutions
Part of the Williams Lea Group www.williamslea.com

---

From: Peleg Holzmann [mailto:peleg@pelegit.com]
Sent: 09 January 2011 00:22
To: TSO CS Orders
Subject: Possible typo in: OGC Passing your ITIL Intermediate Exams
Importance: High

Dear Editor

I may have found a typo in the book: OGC Passing your ITIL Intermediate Exams (ISBN: 978-0-11-331099-9)

Please check the following;

Page 53

Right most paragraph;

“…service strategy through service delivery, service

transition, service operation, and continual service

improvement.”

I believe that “…service delivery” should read “…service design”

Service design being the second book in the series.

Kind Regards

Peleg, CISSP (No. 354616), ITIL V3 Foundation (SR7107807)

Mobile (847) 363-0831 (24/7)

Web Site:   www.pelegit.com

LinkedIN:   http://www.linkedin.com/pub/peleg-holzmann-cissp/25/161/63

E-Mail:        peleg@pelegit.com

                                       

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes.  Marcel Proust

The Stationery Office Limited is registered in England No. 3049649 at 10 Eastbourne Terrace, London, W2 6LG