Best Practices for MECP Exam Preparation
By Jack Cutts W
e know you’re out there. You purchased an MECP study guide five, six, maybe even 10 years ago. You might have even creased the spine by opening it up a time or two, but ulti-
mately, the thing just sat on the shelf. Does that sound familiar? Anyone who has made it past middle school can remember
having the “I’ll get to it later” or “someday” mentality. Fortu- nately, it’s not too late to dust off your brain and your tools and get MECP certified in just a few weeks. Here, we outline easy steps and best practices you can take to increase and update your industry knowledge, all while gaining a valuable profes- sional certification.
START WITH A STUDY GUIDE Walk over to the bookshelf and dust off your guide. If it’s more than five years old, put it in the recycling bin and visit the Consumer Electronics Association’s online store (
store.ce.org) for an updated copy. MECP updated its Basic study guide in 2010, the Advanced guide this year and the relatively fresh Master level guide in 2007. Be sure you have the latest copy! More than likely you have a few years of installation experi- ence under your belt, so you’re probably a good candidate to start at the Advanced level. For those who might belong at the Master level, it is important to note that you must first possess a current Advanced level certification to be eligible for Master certification. There is no prerequisite for years of experience or age for Basic certification.
QUIZ YOURSELF In each MECP study guide, you’ll find a short, 10-to-12-ques- tion quiz at the end of each section. The variety of these questions, written by the same Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who write the actual MECP exam questions, are a good indica- tion of how the test will “feel” once you are ready to take the real thing. With around 50 to 60 questions per study guide, there is quite a bit of free preparation available right there.
TIME FOR A PRACTICE RUN If you feel you’ve mastered the section quizzes in the study guide, it might be time to take one of MECP’s online prac-
62 Mobile Electronics June | July 2012
tice tests (
cea.eitprep.com). Available now for the Basic and Advanced levels, these half-length (75 and 100 questions, respectively) online practice tests are the closest thing to simu- lating the official MECP exam. The online exams are complete with a three-hour timer and online calculator (at the Advanced level). At the end, you’ll re- ceive an instant score report, along with a tabulation of all of the questions you answered incorrectly, plus the correct an- swer to help focus your continued study efforts. These online practice tests mimic the same range of topics you’ll see on the official MECP exam, so there won’t be any surprises come test time.
DO SOME OUTSIDE READING There is a wealth of knowledge beyond the MECP study guides. Take a look through some of MECP’s recommended reading to further aid your preparation and expand your knowl- edge of specific topic areas. It is possible that a different author explaining a tough concept in a different way can help you master that concept and ultimately help you perform better on your MECP exam, as well as in other aspects of your job. You can see MECP’s recommended reading list for all three levels at
http://mecp.com/downloads/additional_reading.pdf.
ASK A FRIEND Books are great, but sometimes the best way to improve your knowledge or crack the mystery of a difficult concept is to ask someone else. People learn in different ways, so others may approach things from a fresh angle and use explanations that
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