NodeJS Certification Exams Experience: JSNAD/JSNSD

OpenJS Foundation and Linux Foundation have launched two Nodejs Certifications.

1. OpenJS NodeJS Application Developer
2. OpenJS NodeJS Services Developer

I recently cleared both the exams. Links to my certifications(JSNAD / JSNSD).

Both the certification are of medium level difficulty. JSNAD consists of around 22 questions while JSNSD consists of around 6 questions each of the exams spans for 2 hours which is more than enough time to solve all the questions.

Exam Place

You can take the exams at any place of your choice(Your bedroom, kitchen wherever you want) but the room must be quiet. Since the exam duration is 2 hours it is best you choose a place where you have proper sitting arrangements like a desk and chair. It is good to have a bottle of water alongside.

Exam Mode

The exam is taken completely online. You will be given remote access, via any browser, to a centOS machine where the exam content is hosted. This remote access is something like when you are in a hangout meeting and people share their screen except here you get the complete access of the remote machine, unlike the hangout screen share.

Exam Proctor(Monitor)

For the entire duration of the exam, there will be a proctor(a real person) who will have remote access to your machine(including webCam/Mic). You can always chat with the proctor but you can not talk to him. Proctors are very humble and helpful. Of course, they can not help you with the exam related questions.

Exam Questions

Once you have the access to the remote machine(after the proctor releases the exam) you will find a chrome browser containing the questions. You have to read questions/instructions from there and use the code editors of your choice like (VS Code or Sublime etc). You will find a folder named project which consists of the several sub-folders named with question/task number. You will have to use the code editor to write answers in the corresponding folder as instructed in the question. You will find clear instructions in the questions about how to write your answers.

Do's and Don'ts

1. Read the questions carefully even if it contains paragraphs of instructions. If you miss any instructions to implement it will result in mark deductions.
2. Use npm modules. You can always use the npm modules to solve any questions. If questions can be solved by using npm modules do use them rather than writing your own logic which takes time and you need to test.
3. You can refer to the NodeJS official documentation during the exams.
4. Don't spend much time finding a solution from NodeJS documentation you may lose your precious time. NodeJS documentation is very long and it may take time if you have never visited it.
5. If you are going through the NodeJS documentation you should always know where/how to look for what you are looking otherwise you will lose time.
6. After writing your answers you should run the code once. It will save you from any typo mistake which can incur deductions in marks.
7. Don't try to run obvious answers or answers with less than 2-3 lines of code. Keep these to test at last.
8. In order to run your answers, you will have to switch the directory multiple times. It is best to remember the shortcuts(of your editor) to open the terminal directly in the current folder. Like for VS CODE, it is Ctrl+`.

Some difficulties I faced during exam

No Exam Timer Display

The exam does not have any timer running to show the spent/remaining time. So it becomes difficult to guess how much time is remaining. Therefore I had requested the proctor to remind me periodically(every 20 mins) of the remaining time at the start of the exam.

Candidate Machine Hangs or Un-responsive Tab

Sometimes the tab your machine where you have opened the exam becomes un-responsive. It may happen more than once. Do not panic. Just wait for 2-5 seconds it will become normal. If the problem persists you will have to re-join the exam but remember the exam timer will continue to run. In case you are not re-joining the exam withing 30 minutes the proctor will close the exam.

Solutions

1. Close all the applications running even the background jobs which are not useful. You can simply restart your computer 10 mins before the exam so that all the un-necessarily running apps will be killed. Take care of on-start apps.
2. You should not have running chrome extensions. Those may cause a problem.

Unresponsive Remote Machine

When I was giving JSNSD exam the remote machine became unresponsive. This happened due to the low internet speed at my end. So I asked the proctor if I could re-start my router. The proctor paused the exam then I re-started my router. During this period my exam timer was running(it took almost 5 mins). Once I got my speed back I refreshed the exam page and re-joined.

Take away: Before you start the exam make sure you have consistently high-speed internet. Probably you can talk to your ISP not to cut your bandwidth during this period(if it's possible).