Archer Certification Exams - Preparation Tips!

[Anonymous]

Hi Archer pros!

Ready to prove you know your Archer stuff? Earning an Archer Certification is a great way to do that!

And if it's been a year or more since you've last looked into Archer Certification, here's a whole bunch of information that we hope will help as you peer down the ol' certification road.

First, let's review the new exam structure that was introduced in late 2021. There are three levels:

1. Archer Certified Associate
2. Archer Certified Administrator - Specialist
3. Archer Certified Administrator - Expert

Which exam is right for you? If you've never been an administrator, but have been using Archer for a good amount of time as a business user, Level 1 (Associate) is made for you. This is also a great exam for people who focus on making Archer recommendations, such as Solution Owners, Sales and Account Managers, etc.  I'll share preparation tips for each exam in a bit.

If you're an Archer admin, and feel confident with the content covered in Archer Administration I, can build applications, confidently work through access control scenarios, and set up notifications, reports, and dashboards, give Level 2 (Administrator - Specialist) a try.

If you're a longtime Archer admin and know your way around everything listed above, and can work through Archer Admin II and Infrastructure Admin topics with ease and can answer questions related to API functionality, then Level 3 (Administrator - Expert) is where I'd go.

Exams absolutely reference our course material, so be sure to review the courses shown below for the exam of your choice. While taking our training isn't required, if you're looking for study material, we're going to point you to these courses. (Reminder - all Archer courses can be found here: https://www.archerirm.community/t5/course-catalog/archer-training-courses/ta-p/670701)

Level 1: Associate	Level 2: Administrator - Specialist	Level 3: Administrator - Expert
Review these classes (all free): Getting Started series: Getting Started with Archer Deployment Options Archer Solutions & Use Cases Overview Introduction to Archer APIs* Suggested, but not required:** Archer New User Experience Developing Archer Power Users & Business Analysts	Everything listed for Level 1 (Associate), plus: Archer Administration I Archer Application Design Best Practices	Everything listed for Levels 1 and 2, plus: Archer Administration II Archer Advanced Workflow - Beyond the Basics Archer Control Panel & Archer Instance Manager Archer Installation & Upgrade*** Archer LDAP - Beyond the Basics Archer Single Sign-On - Beyond the Basics Packaging in Archer
* Why is the Intro to Archer APIs class included at the first level? It's a free class and helps even new users to understand the basics of what API functionality brings to the Archer table. ** I thought you said Level 1 is based on the free classes. It is. We're listing these additional classes for those who have taken these classes and are wondering if the classes would additionally prepare them for a given exam. Also, sometimes it's nice to have some hands-on practice with Archer before you take an exam, just to ensure you really feel ready. These all offer hands-on labs and would be good to use as additional practice. ***Why are on-prem topics like these required if we are using SaaS in our organization?  The Expert level is intended to help you demonstrate a wide breadth of Archer knowledge, and that includes topics that are outside of a typical SaaS deployment. Just as you have to learn networking concepts in order to pass a CISSP exam (even if you do nothing with networking in your current job role), infrastructure concepts are and will continue to be included at the Expert exam level.

Preparation Tips:

1. Take the Practice Exam associated with the exam level of your choice. All Practice Exams are located right inside our new learning portal, along with the exams themselves. You may take and retake a Practice Exam up to five times. My recommendation is to start with the Practice Exam for the Associate level, and if you fly through that one, proceed to the Specialist level, and then to the Expert level. Get a sense of where you might really fall, knowledge-wise, by gauging your comfort level with each exam.
   
   
2. Once you're ready, purchase the exam of your choice. If you have been making Archer configuration your career for a decade or more, there's no need for you to start at Level 1 just because. Each exam can be purchased for 100 training credits, or for $100 via credit card.****

**** If you currently hold an Archer On-Demand/Self-Paced Subscription, all three exams are included for you within the subscription. You're invited to take any/all of the exams you'd like. No exam vouchers required!

Super Important Details:

• Once you have attempted an exam, you'll have the opportunity to take it a second time within the next 60 days. This second chance is our way of acknowledging that sometimes exams are scary, and everyone deserves one do-over. Note that you won't be given the opportunity to go back and review the questions between the attempts - we've seen people try to write down all of the answers so they can pass the answers along to their friends, and that's so against the unwritten honor code of a true Archer admin. But you will have plenty of time to go back and review topics that you felt a little shaky with as you tested, and we'll be rooting for you during that second attempt.
  
  
• That said - these exams ARE open book! In real life, sometimes you know the answers to questions right away, and other times, you know where the answer is, but want to look it up really quick just to make sure. We'll let you do that!  You'll need to get through 70 questions in just 90 minutes, though, so there won't be time to look up every single answer. That's why we offer the practice exams and the single do-over. Passing criteria is 70%. You can do this.
  
  ***Other tips: While we certainly encourage you to use references, during the exam our learning portal will not allow you to open an Archer training course at the same time as the exam. Trying to open a second tab will close the exam and use one of your two exam attempts. Be sure you have saved PDFs of any student guides and/or have your own Archer instance or the Help Center open for best results.
  
  ***Also, if you skip a question, make note of the question number so you can easily find and return to the question before final submission. 
  
  
• Once you've passed your exam(s), what comes next?
  
  
  • Right away, you'll be able to print out your official certificate from our learning portal.
    
    
  • Also, each week, we'll be uploading the names and email addresses of the people who've passed their exams into the database of our badging partner, Credly. Once your info is added, Credly will send you an invitation to create an account with them (it's free and they don't spam you, not to worry), and once you're in there, you'll be able to download a fancy badge that you can proudly display in your email signature, upload to LinkedIn and other social media, and more. There will also be another version of your official certificate hosted within Credly, so check that one out and then keep whichever design you like best.
    • Note that there isn't an automatic feed that adds you to the Credly system. It's a manual upload from us that will be done on a weekly basis, so there will likely be up to a one-week delay, depending on when you take your exam.
      
      
    • What about expiration dates and recertification?  All certifications expire after 2 years. As your expiration date nears, be ready to retake an exam - whichever exam you're best suited for. We don't ask you to track CPE credits or do any continuous learning. You simply take the exam available at the time you're ready to take it. Archer changes since your last certification exam will be included in the new exam, so taking the latest exam is all that's needed to renew.

What other questions do you have? Contact us here and help us add to this page!

Best of luck (not that you need it - you're amazing and are going to do great!),

Megan