Zend Certification Exam experience
Happy days, last month I passed my Zend Certification exam on the first attempt, Carlton Dickson is finally in the Zend Yellow Pages for ZCEs.
The things that I would recommend looking at if you’re planning to take the exam are…
- The PHP manual, this is a must, any serious PHP developer shouldn’t need to be told about this bad boy. Don’t think that the exam is simply about remembering the various functions…you really need to understand the language types, operators, control structures, etc
For me the language reference section is very important. - I bought the Zend Certification study guide and found it to be a fairly decent aid but don’t think that alone will help you pass because it definitely won’t!
- Practice tests - I thought these were pretty good value and would definitely recommend them as a purchase. When you think you’re ready for the exam take one of this tricky buggers and you’ll probably crash and burn on a few topics, an indication that it’s time to go back to the manual. It’s a shame they don’t tell you the answers at the end so you know what questions you messed up on.
- Other PHP developers - I found it really helpful to read about the experiences and advice from people that have already taken the Zend Certification exam…
- Will Fitch - http://www.phpfever.com/zce-what-to-expect.html
- Chris Shiflett - http://shiflett.org/blog/2004/oct/preparing-for-the-zend-certification
- Ben Ramsey - http://benramsey.com/archives/passing-the-zend-php-certification-exam
- Sidrit - http://sidyou.blogspot.com/2007/03/zend-certification-exam.htm
- Jure Merhar - http://www.merhar.si/php/taking-the-zend-certification-exam
- Alex Netkachov - http://www.alexatnet.com/node/129
- Josh Zerin - http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=6659647964&topic=4846
- Mr “I like PHP” - http://readtheweb.info/2008/01/02/passing-the-zend-php-5-certification-exam
- Mahmud Ahsan - http://mahmudahsan.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/now-im-zend-certified-engineer
- Robert Peake - http://www.robertpeake.com/index.php?/archives/102-Zend-Certified-Engineer.html
So far my career hasn’t progressed at the speed of light, but then again I didn’t expect it to. Studying for the ZCE has really strengthened my knowledge of PHP in a wide range of area, so applying all that has been learnt to future work will only improve the quality of my work, as well as my performance in interviews as I will be much more confident that I know my PHP.
A nice example of how the ZCE has affected another PHP developer’s life can be found at Richard Harrison’s website.
My question to any other Zend Certified Engineers is how has becoming a ZCE affected your career progression?
BTW…I have ONE practice exam left…I’ll donate it to the first person to send me a pic of them with a copy of their study guide, just so that I know you are really going for the exam 
Contact me on gmail using carltondickson as the contact address or just leave a comment below.
Taken by Patrick from India, good luck with your exam!
Now for another challenge…
[...] recently passing my Zend Certification Exam I felt that it was time to set myself another challenge. This one is sure to hurt me a lot more [...]
Congratulations, Carlton. I’m very happy that you are officially a ZCE. It’s not an easy task, but you did well!
Congratulations!
Hey its nice to see you recently become ZCE. Congratulation :). I’m completely agree with you as you said
“Studying for the ZCE has really strengthened my knowledge of PHP in a wide range of area, so applying all that has been learnt to future work will only improve the quality of my work”
Hi Carlton Dickson,
Great thanks for the Online Practice Test. Surely I will send a copy of my certificate soon
[...] sich mal die ganze Serie auf dem readtheweb Blog reinziehen (oder am Wettbewerb unten teilnehmen). Carlton Dickson hat eine Auflistung von weiteren [...]
Hi Guys,
I am trying to learn PHP but I dont have a job yet doing it. I thought that i would do the exam and hopefully I would learn by this process. Is this not the way? Am I going about this the wrong way?.. Will I be able to do It?