Red Hat Certification Blog

Effective May 1, 2009, the format of the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and Red Hat Certified Technician (RHCT) exams will change. Relax: both will remain 100 percent performance-based exams that test people’s ability to do things, rather than their ability to memorize multiple choice questions and answers. The most visible changes concern testing time. The RHCE exam, formerly two sections of 2.5 and 3.0 hours, becomes a single-section exam lasting 3.5 hours. The RHCT exam, formerly two sections of 1.0 and 2.0 hours, becomes a single-section exam lasting 2.0 hours.

Naturally, some might wonder how this change is possible. Some might wonder whether we have made the exams shorter by making them easier — that perhaps we have eliminated a lot of coverage. Others might wonder whether we have deliberately made them more difficult by forcing people to do as much or more in a shorter period of time. Neither of these conjectures apply.

The people who would pass these exams on April 30 would probably pass on May 1. The people who would not pass on April 30 would probably meet the same fate on May 1.

We have shortened the testing time by consolidating the two separate sections of the earlier format and by using time more efficiently. We have found, for example, that candidates who passed Section II of these exams seldom needed as much time as we allocated in Section I. Furthermore, virtually all candidates are capable of installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Consequently, instead of requiring a bare-metal installation, we will provide pre-installed systems, which will save 20-25 minutes.

We have also made a few minor content changes, but our analysis suggests that these changes can be made without significantly changing outcomes for candidates.

Timing is not the only change. The 100K+ candidates of the RHCT and RHCE exams will recall getting a printed exam document that listed the tasks they must perform. The bare-metal installation required under earlier versions of the exam made this a necessity: how else would you know what to install? Under the new format, the tasks are presented electronically, thus eliminating paper.

Eliminating paper has led to other advances. The electronic format means that candidates can choose their preferred language, regardless of where they take the exam. Incidentally, the exams are now available in 5 new languages (Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Dutch, Italian, and Turkish) in addition to the 7 previously available (English, Japanese, French, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese.) Few IT certification exams can claim this level of internationalization.

Red Hat’s ten-year commitment to performance-based testing has built a dedicated community of Red Hat certified IT professionals. We do not take their dedication lightly and will not make changes to certification programs or exams arbitrarily. A good program must evolve, however, and we believe that these changes will make for a more efficient and effective test. Some may feel more comfortable with the notion that nothing should ever change. I wonder if those same people are using the 0.10 Linux kernel?