ITIL v3 Foundation - Preparation advices & exam tips

ITIL framework has emerged over the years, latest version is v3 since year 2011. I consider it best suited for IT departments in big enterprises (Having IT staff 100+).

I'm not recommending this certification for fresh graduates. I think it is best suited for IT staff with at least 1 year experience working in IT department in an enterprise in-order to understand why you need all of this. Coming from small Software or vendor is not recommended.

Following is sharing my experience in certifying ITIL v3 foundation (Just passed the exam today), it might not be the best, but it achieved the target :)

Preparation advices:
  • I recommend taking a course with good instructor. If you don't want to pay money for the course especially the exam doesn't require this, you can watch Youtube introductory training material; I recommend this ITIL playlist. There is also very good online free course for ITIL foundation here.
  • Schedule the exam after 3 - 7 days maximum of finishing your training course.
  • Knowing the definition & terminology is very important in ITIL (Represents 15 - 20% of the questions).
  • Exam is easy in general & passing score is 65%, but require knowing the syllabus, topics, terminology used in ITIL, and how they interrelate.
  • Don't enter exam without answering as much questions you can.
  • Answer questions based on ITIL concepts not based on your work experience.

Exam advices:
  • Time is enough for answering having in mind that only 1 answer is valid (1.5 mins per question), rule of elimination incorrect answer is best used practice.
  • Answer straight forward questions first, and don't waste time for hard questions just mark them for review.

Free exams:
How to schedule exam:
You should have Prometric login or register for a new one.
  1. After sign in; in the "Client and program selection", select "EXIN" in "Client" section, and "EXIN (EX0, EX1)" in "Program" section. Click "Next".
  2. Read important information from EXIN, and click "Next".
  3. In "Exam" section, select "EX0-001 - ITIL Foundation (syllabus 2011)", in "Language" section, select "U.S. ENGLISH", in the currencies, select "USD", you will find the net price updated to 215 USD. Click "Next".
  4. In "AVAILABLE TEST SITES", click "Schedule Appointment" next to the exam center you would like to take your test in, and select date and time for exam, click "Next".
  5. In "PAYMENT INFORMATION" screen, type your email, birthday, training provider if any, complete billing information, and click "Commit Registration".
  6. You will get "THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING WITH PROMETRIC", and you will receive email confirming the date.
Getting your certificate:
    After 1 business day, you will receive an email asking for confirming your details in EXIN candidate portal, and another business day for receiving your portal credentials where you can download a softcopy of the certificate; hard copy of your certificate will be issues and emails using standard mail after 2 days of confirming your credentials.

    Hope this help someone.
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    25 comments:

    1. Islam AliMarch 11, 2014 9:38 PM

      What is the cost of the exam?

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Ashraf FouadMarch 11, 2014 9:56 PM

        215 USD, written in post ;)

        Delete
      2. MateoFebruary 19, 2016 6:27 PM

        You can find a free ITIL simulator in http://www.lumenti.com/learning/course/view.php?name=itil_en&lang=en with 30+ questions
        http://www.lumenti.com/learning

        Delete
    2. UnknownMarch 12, 2014 9:01 AM

      Congratulations Ashraf ..... I hope you all the best ISA

      ReplyDelete
    3. UnknownMarch 29, 2014 2:53 AM

      Hi Ashraf
      Congratulation for passing the ITIL. I am also preparing for ITIL Foundation exam.
      I have a question in ITIL Official website they upload 2 sample questions paper A & B . is any questions come from there too,.... or most of the question come from where ....
      pls let me know

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Ashraf FouadMarch 30, 2014 12:03 PM

        The sample is very similar (nearly I identified some came already as is) to what the real exam is :)

        Delete
    4. UnknownMarch 31, 2014 8:05 PM

      thnx what other learning material you use, I am preparing with these website for exam above you mentioned. I bought the Thought Rock course also to prepare for the exam , any other guidance from your side to pass please let me know
      thanks

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Ashraf FouadMarch 31, 2014 8:14 PM

        This will be more than enough, exam is pretty easy.
        I have used some printed exams from a course provided to our company.

        Delete
    5. HammadApril 11, 2014 9:42 PM

      thanks ashraf, very informative,

      ReplyDelete
    6. UnknownJune 19, 2014 12:35 PM

      Hi Ashraf, This blog is really good and informative. I'm planning to write ITIL this week but confused between Ex0-001 and Ex0-117. Could you please guide me on what is the difference between the two.

      ReplyDelete
    7. UnknownJune 24, 2014 7:49 PM

      AoA Ashraf. Thank you for taking the time to put this info out there. It's because of people like you that the other 99% don't have to waste time combing through boring websites :)

      I just finished my PMP exam and it took me about 20-30 days to prepare for that. I had head that the ITIL-F takes much less than that. Would you say that it will take approxiamtely 3-5 full days to prep for this exam?

      ReplyDelete
    8. UnknownJuly 06, 2014 9:27 AM

      Hi Ashraf... The code for ITIL Foundation exam through Prometric is EX0-001 & Pearson VUE is ITIL-F, so basically does the sample exams through EXIN help up prepare for both Prometric & Pearson VUE, also could you recommend other sample exams available that would come off use for ITIL exam through EXIN.

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Ashraf FouadJuly 06, 2014 9:58 AM

        It is just a matter of different in companies, content is the same. I didn't search for more exams, the exam is quite easy.

        Delete
    9. trishienessAugust 20, 2014 10:20 AM

      Nice blog.. really helpful! :)

      ReplyDelete
    10. UnknownAugust 20, 2014 11:07 PM

      Here are some advices that helped me pass the exam. Try to learn from any video course provider for ITIL v3 Foundation. Personally I did use CBT Nuggets. They are good and short. You can complete their Video Course for 12 hours. I did run the video course for 4 weekends in a month.

      Additionally you should practice with the Exam Prep's there are a lot and pretty much all are the same. Personally I did use an app from app store called ITIL v3 Foundation 2014 - Exam Prep. It is very convenient and practical to have the practice exam in your hands at all time "I was literally practicing even when I went to the toilet" the benefits of technology.

      You should be able to pass after all of this. I hope this was helpful enough.

      Andi

      ReplyDelete
    11. UnknownNovember 05, 2014 5:53 PM

      Hello Mr . Ashraf thanks for the informative blog but I have some questions about the ITIL v3
      certification
      I'm a fresh graduate from the College of Computer Scince and Information Systems
      I want to support my bachelor degree by taking the ITIL certification
      Do you think that I'm capable of taking the course and test since I studied the (PM , Analysis and Design , Information Systems ) over the years ?
      And do you recommend it for me ?

      Sorry for the long comment ..

      Regards

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Ashraf FouadNovember 05, 2014 8:14 PM

        It is not a matter of capability more than the matter that how much you will benefit. If you are fresh graduate ITIL might even seems unreasonable for you, because it best suites IT department in big enterprise to understand why the change or support take that much effort, you won't feel the necessity as long as you didn't face it.
        Also, if your intention is working in small companies were the polices and rules are not rigid, don't waste your time in it.

        Better for fresher to determine which career they intend to go and start related certificate, i.e Java programmer ==> Java certification programmer, Network ==> CCNA, and so on.

        Learning in college is not real work, and ITIL talks about organization between large number of staff mainly with different roles.

        NOT recommended for fresher.

        Delete
      2. UnknownNovember 06, 2014 12:14 AM

        Thanks for the replay
        But I have one last question
        Then do you think that I should get a project analyst certificate ?
        And it will support my CV

        Delete
      3. Ashraf FouadNovember 06, 2014 6:19 AM

        First select what you want to be and then decide on certificate.

        Project Analyst Certificate for Project management career, I a company won't give opportunity for fresher to handle a project, this might help to be project management assistant or coordinator.

        Are you willing to be in this career path?

        Delete
    12. UnknownNovember 09, 2014 12:02 PM

      hey buddy, thanks for this, much appreciated...however the link to the youtube playlist does not exist...can you please provide an updated link? thanks!

      ReplyDelete
    13. neetiApril 07, 2017 8:28 AM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      ReplyDelete

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