Exam Questions

Now, we’ll change gears a bit and look at the SAP certification exams and how to approach them. Let’s look at the examination question types and some tips and hints about how to complete the certification exam.

Types of Questions

An international team sets up the SAP HANA certification exams. All the questions are written in English, and all the communication is in English. Because the exam teams are international, a lot of attention is focused on making sure that everybody will understand what is meant by each question, avoiding possible double meanings or ambiguities.

Figure 2.15 shows three types of questions that you will find in the certification exam.

Figure 2.15 Three Types of Certification Exam Questions

Figure 2.15 Three Types of Certification Exam Questions

The first question is multiple choice. The radio buttons indicate that you can only choose one of the four options. There always will be only four different options, with only one correct answer.

The other two questions are called multiple response questions. There are two types of multiple response questions:

Both types of multiple response questions use checkboxes, and you must select however many answers are correct.

All three types of questions have exactly the same weight. You either get a question right or you get it wrong. It’s a binary system: 0 or 1.

For a multiple response question with two correct and two incorrect answers, you must select two answers. If you select three answers or one answer, you do not receive any points. If you select two answers and they are the correct two answers, then you earn a point.

[+] Tip

Select as many answers as are required! If you are certain that an option is correct, then select it. If you are doubtful about an answer, at least select one option. If you don’t select anything, you will not earn any points. Even if you plan to come back to the question later, we still recommend that you select the exact number of answers required.

Multiple choice questions normally make up the majority of the questions for the associate-level core exams. More than half of the questions will have only one correct answer and three incorrect answers. There are no true or false questions in the certification exam. However, we will use true or false questions in this book, but only for training purposes.

[»] Note

In the certification exam, there are no fill-in-the-blank questions.

The questions and the answers themselves appear randomly. In other words, two people could be taking the same exam, sitting next to each other, and the order in which the questions appear for each person would be different. Also, for similar questions, the order of a, b, c, and d (the answer options) is different for different people.

Because answer options are randomized, you will never find any questions that list “All of the above” or “None of the above” as a possible answer.

The questions in the SAP certification exams tend to be very short and to the point. All extra words and descriptions have been cut away, ensuring that you will have enough time to complete the exams. We’ve never heard anyone complain about the time limits in the SAP HANA certification exams. Because the questions are to the point, every word counts. Every word is there for a reason and has a purpose, so don’t ignore any word—especially words like always, only, and must.

Always indicates on every occasion. Only means that no other options are allowed. Must indicates something that is mandatory. In the answer options, you could see some optional actions that would be valid actions in normal circumstances, but if they are not mandatory, they are incorrect answers for questions asking what you must do. Therefore, for questions using the word must, pay attention to optional steps versus mandatory steps.

The certification exams use a minimum of negative words, which are only used for troubleshooting questions. All negative words in a question are written in capital letters—for example, “You did something and it is NOT working. What is the reason?”

Now that we’ve looked at the general structure of SAP certification exam questions, let’s look at the strategy of elimination in the exam.

Elimination Technique

Experience has shown that the elimination technique can be useful for answering exam questions. In this technique, you start by finding the wrong answers instead of finding the right answers.

When creating exams, it is fairly easy to set up questions, but it’s hard to think up wrong answers that still sound credible. Because it is so difficult to write credible wrong answers, it’s normally easier to eliminate the wrong answers first. As Sherlock Holmes would say: Whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

To show how efficient this technique can be, look at the multiple response question with five different options (Figure 2.15, right). There are three correct and two incorrect answers, so it saves you time to find the two incorrect ones, rather than trying to find the three correct answers.

Bookmark Questions

In the certification exam, you can always bookmark questions and return to them later. If you are not confident about a question, mark it. We still recommend that you complete the right number of answer options: If two answers are required, fill in two options. If three are required, select three options. Then, mark the question so that you can review it later.

[+] Tip

Watch out when you do the review; your initial choice tends to be the correct one. Remember, don’t overanalyze the question.

Now, let’s turn our attention to some general exam strategies. Implementing test-taking strategies will help you to succeed on the exam.