So VMware’s VCAP-DCA grading is a little time-consuming. Since it is a graded all-lab test someone has to sit there and figure out what you did right and wrong and (presumably) there is a portion that is somewhat subjective.
VMware’s certification site states there will be a 10-day turn around, however that is currently (as of 6/4/11) a 22+ day turn-around. Which makes re-taking it a much longer process.
To take the test you have to apply, be approved then use that approval code to sign up for the test. There is a limited number of testing facilities and due to the length of the exam (4 hours) their slots are pretty limited. It took me a week to get the approval code, a week to get a good testing slot (at a center approx 1 hour from my house) and now I hope to find out my score around 4 weeks after I took the test and a month and a half after I initially started to sign up for it. If I find out that I failed and resign as fast as possible I would hope to get my second score the first week of August (assuming the scoring hasn’t slipped much past the 21-day-mark.
No wonder they have changed the requirement for instructors (any VCI teaching an advanced course will need to have a VCAP-DCA – was April, now July) because the time it takes to pass the exam is almost as long as it takes to study for it.
