Passed ZCE-wo-hoo-I am a certified PHP developer now
May 23, 2009 General, Technology
After days of preparation and studying, I at last took the courage the take the Zend exam last Monday (18th May). I have been preparing for this exam for quite some while, even though I have passed in all the mock exams, I was targeting for the ‘Excellent’ grade in order to confidently put myself in a position to take the exam.
About the exam
- This is exam full of trick questions. So don’t expect direct answers, there is always a trick around.
- The real exam can be a lot harder that the mock exams offered by php|architect
- The certification guide will cover a lot of basics of most of the units, but is not all; you will need to buy additional books and materials in order cover the complete exam syllabi.
Materials
I had the following study materials at my disposal, this doesn’t mean that you will need all of them if you are preparing for the exam.
- Professional PHP5 (Programmer to Programmer)
- PHP in Action: Objects, Design, Agility
- PHP: The Complete Reference
- (To get started) Professional LAMP : Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP Web Development
- php|architect’s Zend PHP 5 Certification Study Guide
- 10 Online Practice Test Exams from php|architect
- Certification exam voucher
Zend sells the last three things in one package at a discounted price; you might want to check that out.
Benefits
It gives you a good sense of satisfaction and achievement. This to me is the greatest benefit. The preparation that I went through for this exam makes me feel like an expert in php. I don’t have to go back to the php manual for every odd function, now I can tell them by names.
Secondly it gives you recognition among the developers and others. They allow you to use a logo, which looks fancy on your resume (Checkout my CV). They also have your name listed in their yellow pages directory.
You can call yourself a Zend Certified Engineer, except when you are in Ontario, Canada for crazy reasons…. 
