A brand new sort of performance-based lab examination merchandise is giving Cisco Affiliate and Skilled Certification examination candidates extra alternatives to display their information and abilities. These lab objects complement the extra conventional multiple-choice and drag-and-drop merchandise varieties, that are notably suited to measure abilities associated to idea, information, and conceptual comprehension. This new lab merchandise sort goals to measure the appliance of data in a hands-on surroundings for configuring and troubleshooting.
Simply as somebody should get behind the wheel of a automobile and navigate by way of visitors to display driving abilities for his or her driving take a look at, Cisco candidates ought to use actual routers, precise Cisco gear, and merchandise to display their abilities and talents to carry out particular duties. Like in real-life conditions, when candidates work with units, they’re typically free to make use of their most popular configuration choices, so long as they produce the anticipated consequence. For instance, candidates can enter the prompts they like if the machine is configured accurately on the finish. This goes far past their respective “working configuration” since, within the office, the main focus is on attaining the specified outcome that aligns with the given necessities.
Whereas the trail to get to the tip state is just not the precedence, candidates ought to take heed to how lengthy they work on every lab merchandise. The entire examination is timed, however candidates haven’t any limits on how lengthy they spend on every query. These new labs are designed to present candidates 5-7 minutes to finish. So they need to be aware of how a lot time they should spend on objects all through the examination.
Key options of performance-based lab examination objects
One of many key options of the brand new lab objects is their easy, intuitive Person Interface (UI) that splits the display horizontally into two essential panels. The left panel has three high tabs for simple navigation between the Duties (directions on the duties at hand and necessities for every step), Tips (issues candidates mustn’t change), and the Topology (a community diagram for duties). The correct panel is a web-based terminal with tabs for every machine the candidate must carry out the required duties.
The UI’s design helps customers maximize their focus by letting them work together with the terminals whereas all the time with the ability to seek the advice of the topology diagram, as proven within the following determine instance.

The UI offers a number of navigation choices. Customers can navigate between terminal tabs utilizing keyboard shortcuts and should manually reorder terminal tabs, however they can not break up the appropriate panel to see two or extra terminals on the identical time. At any time, candidates might use the send-to-all function that sends a number of command strains to all units without delay. From the left topology panel, customers might click on on the machine icon to activate the corresponding terminal tab on the appropriate panel. The topology diagram is interactive and helps zooming out and in in addition to resetting the zoom to the unique default dimension.
As soon as candidates dive into the examination, they could encounter performance-based labs, multiple-choice objects, and drag-and-drop objects. Once more, the vital factor is to maneuver ahead and get so far as potential by way of the examination. Candidates can skip any merchandise and transfer to the subsequent merchandise, however they can not return to a earlier merchandise.
How performance-based lab examination objects construct alternatives
The last word profit of those new labs is the candidate’s alternatives after passing the examination. One of many values of certification is to assist differentiate your self amongst your friends and within the job market. Our certification recipients inform us that their Cisco Certification helps them display their continued competency on this fast-paced, shortly evolving market. Enhancing Cisco’s exams with performance-based lab objects offers further alternatives for candidates to display to present and future employers that they’ve the abilities and talents wanted to carry out their job.
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