LLE 2005: Taking the Exam

The exam is already next week. If you don't know what to expect, check out "What not to expect in the LLE," where Peachy Limpin writes about what you can expect and shares what Perla Garcia, chair of the Board for Librarians, told her. If you missed all my other posts about the exam, here they are:

LLE 2005: Preparing for D-Day
LLE 2005: Studying for the Exam
LLE 2005: Applying in Person
Librarians' Licensure Examination 2005

You should also go over all the requirements and instructions for the exam days. Bring only what you're supposed to bring, wear what you're told to wear, and try to get a good night's sleep before the exam.

And finally, here's what you need to remember while taking the exam:

1. Pay attention. Read, understand and follow all of the instructions. Listen to the proctor. No matter how unlikeable s/he may be, you're stuck with your proctor. Some will be very kind, while others will terrorize you. Don't let them affect you. Life is not fair. Get over it.
2. Be careful. Once you get the answer sheets, check that you have all of them in the proper order, make sure you understand what you're supposed to write before you start writing, and think like the professional that you aspire to be.
3. Systematize. Will you encircle your choices on the questionnaire first and mark your answer sheet later? Or will you mark your answer sheet after every question? Whatever you decide, remember that you can write on the questionnaire and that the number of the question you are answering should match the number on the answer sheet. Last year, I first answered all the questions I was confident about and marked those that I wasn't sure of—but always making sure that the numbers on the questionnaire and answer sheets matched. After the first pass, I went back to the ones I skipped and spent more time on the questions to which I didn't know the answer or which I thought were tricky.
4. Pace yourself. When you receive the questionnaire for a particular test, take some time to look at all the pages first so that you have an idea of the kinds of questions you'll be encountering. Make sure you're done with your first pass at half-time. If not, then you're taking too long. Your objective is to answer all the easy questions first, then go back to the hard ones. Stop answering questions during the last five minutes, and start filling in the blank spaces on your answer sheet. Why? If you leave a space blank, you will definitely get a zero for that question. But if you guess blindly, then you will at least have a 25 percent chance of getting one more point.
5. Don't fight the questions. Some questions will not make sense, but try to make sense out of them anyway. There will be occasions where a word seems to be missing (e.g., not) from the question; see if the choices support your hypothesis and act accordingly. If the question really does not make any sense, focus on the choices and play "spot the difference." You can prepare for these kinds of questions by going back to your mock exams and "playing" with the questions. If you change one word in the question, what will the answer be? If you disregard the questions, can you guess the correct answer just based on the choices?
6. Finally, focus. This is the moment of truth. It doesn't matter anymore how much or how little time you spent preparing for this exam. This is not the time to torture yourself about the things you should or should not have done before the exam. After each test, try not to discuss the questions and/or answers with other examinees; this practice will only serve to distract you from the next test.

Good luck!


Category: Licensed Librarians