The Importance of Managing Your Candidate/Testing ID...

Or, Why Didn't I Get My Certification

The Multiple ID Problem Most IT professionals who pursue certification will take more than one certification test, often at different locations or vendors. Over time, many candidates are assigned multiple candidate IDs (also known as testing IDs). This can result in certifications not being awarded, and for the Business Partner, it can also prevent awarded certifications from showing up in the firm's IBM PartnerWorld profile. How does this happen, and how can it be corrected? Most importantly, how can this situation be avoided? First, let's be sure we understand the importance of your candidate/testing ID. The importance of your Candidate/Testing ID Awarding Individual Certifications A candidate/testing ID is initially assigned to you by a testing vendor when you register to take your first certification test. (Note that testing IDs are also assigned to you when you take a mastery exam on Prime at http://ibmtesting.prime.prometric.com/.) Once you complete an exam, your test results are sent from the testing vendor to IBM's Certification Database. It is this testing ID that uniquely identifies you and your exam result to IBM. When IBM's certification program determines whether you have passed all of the requirements for a certification, it only looks at the passed tests under a single candidate/testing ID. When the requirements are met for that ID, the certification is awarded. If the requirements for a certification are split across multiple ID's, the certification will not be awarded until all tests are merged under one ID. Achieving PartnerWorld Points for Certification Certification is the method used to measure IBM Business Partner skills. Although IBM's PartnerWorld program and Professional Certification Program are both within IBM, they are separate programs. PartnerWorld works with IBM Business Partner firms and keeps track of each firm's status through the "PartnerWorld Profiling System" (PPS). The Professional Certification Program works with individuals, and stores all test and certification data in the "IBM Certification Database." For privacy protection the IBM Certification Program does not provide PartnerWorld the certification status of a firm's employee without the candidate/testing ID of that individual. The certified employee first provides their candidate/testing ID(s) to the firm's Authorized Profile Administrator (APA), who then enters this ID into PPS. PartnerWorld then pulls eligible certifications from the IBM certification system, for each candidate ID that is specified in PPS. If an employee is profiled in PPS, but any of the following is true, there will be an incomplete listing of that employee's certifications in the firm's profile:
1) No candidate/testing ID is specified 2) Only a subset of ID's are specified, and one of the certifications achieved falls under the missing ID. 3) All ID's are specified, but the tests required for certification are split across multiple ID's, so the desired certification hasn't been awarded. ( Also see separate Did You Know article: "How Professoinal Certification Links to the PW Profiling System" )

How does the problem of multiple ID's get started? To better understand how to avoid the "multiple ID" problem, it is helpful to see how it happens in the first place.

The Importance of Managing Your Candidate/Testing ID... Or, Why Didn't I Get My Certification

1) You register for your first certification test and get your first candidate/testing ID. (Note: Your ID will be printed on the score report you receive after taking the test.) Depending on the testing system, IDs have the following general formats: Thomson Prometric Testing Centers ( www.2test.com ) - 9 character ID's starting with SR or SP. Pearson VUE Testing Centers ( www.vue.com ) - 9 character ID's starting with VUE. Prime ( ibmtesting.prime.prometric.com ) - Prime is an internet-based system, used for unproctored mastery tests, and conference testing. You can specify your Prometric or VUE testing ID, if you have one (recommended). If you do not have such an ID, Prime will assign a 9 character ID starting with PR. You should not make up your own ID (such as 123456789), or use a promotional code, as this creates problems importing your test record. 2) Later, you take another exam, but you are assigned a new ID. This can happen due to: Forgetting your first ID Not realizing that you've been assigned a new ID (perhaps you're testing on a different system, or you mistakenly created a second profile on the testing system you previously used). Being in a situation where no one shows you how to re-use your first ID, so you think you have to obtain a new one. What happens as a result? As result of testing under more than one candidate ID, your passed exams are split across two or more ID's. This can result in the following situations: The certification you're pursuing requires more than one test. Because the tests were taken under different ID's, the test results are stored in different records. The certification is not awarded, even though you passed all the requirements. The certifications you're pursuing require only one test. So the certifications are awarded, but each certification is under a different ID, and spread across multiple test records. How to correct the multiple ID problem If you have more than one testing ID, you should ensure all of your exams and certifications are consolidated (merged) under a single ID.
John Q. Certified 123 Jones St Anytown, Texas 78681 United States ibmcer@us.ibm.com

This can be done through the IBM Certification Member Site. (Please refer to About the member site , for
Registration instructions.)

VUEA00000 PR0000000

Once logged into the Member Site, select Member Services and then ID Merge. The "ID Merge" screen (see figure) provides a list of ID's already represented in the profile you are currently viewing. To merge more ID's into this profile, you can specify each additional ID in the fields provided at the bottom of the page.

The Importance of Managing Your Candidate/Testing ID... Or, Why Didn't I Get My Certification

How to avoid the problem of multiple ID's Keep a record of your candidate/testing ID (Note: Your ID is on the test score report you receive upon completion of a certification test. You should always retain a copy of the score report for your records - as your official documentation of the test.) Use the same ID when registering for subsequent exams. If you are assigned an additional ID, merge the IDs as soon as possible. If you have questions about your candidate/testing ID, email certify@us.ibm.com.