PHP 5 - Zend Certified Engineer
Well, after some nail-biting (j/k - that is gross), I passed the PHP 5 exam!
So what were the questions like? On my test, there were quite a few on OOP and Security. Coming from a PHP 4 environment, those were my serious weaknesses.
Luckily, I purchased a 5-pack of the practice tests and that helped a lot. I recommend that you purchase the practice tests if you are considering taking the exam. You can get a general idea of what your weaknesses are - then you can focus on studying those areas.
I personally thought the real test was harder than the practice tests. This could be due to the fact that I decided three cans of Red Bull would help me with the test. Then my marker didn’t work - no one was in the room with me and the test was timed so I was scared to leave to ask for another. (Yes, you know I complained about this after the test was over.)
But I digress.
The exam is 70 questions, 90 minutes long. I finished the first round in about 1/2 hour, no lie. (I blame the Red Bull). I then went through and re-read each question and I am glad I did. I corrected a lot of the answers and took a wild guess on the fill-in-the-blanks that I didn’t know.
If you take the test, you can mark questions to review. If I had even the slightest doubt, I marked it for review. If I didn’t know the answer, I filled something in anyway and then came back to it. That way, if you run out of time at least you put something down. Right before the test, go to the PHP manual and glance at the string and array functions.
And make sure your marker works before the test administrator leaves the room. Apparently making funny faces into the camera will not make them come and check on you. 
Filed under: PHP
Congratulations Valerie! I am thinking of getting my cert within the next year.
You go girl! Did you take it locally? Was it worth it?
Congrats on passing the exam. I passed mine last year, and haven’t seen much of a reason to take the PHP5 exam yet (aside from OO concepts). I thought it was a pretty thorough test, and did the same as you - marked many for review if I was even slightly unsure about them. This helped as some other questions sometimes helped you answer the previous questions that were marked for review.
I also felt the same, that the real test was much harder (and phrased differently) than the practice tests.
Anyway, I digress and again say ‘Congrats!’
@Ken, no..I took in NYC, in the empire state building actually. I should blog about my NYC experience - it was so SMELLY! Anyway…it was worth it because now I have a nice cert to hang at my cubicle.