I passed today - here's what to study in order to pass
Hi all! Many people keep posting asking what to study. With the caveat that each person is different and may not agree with me, this is how I passed and my experience:
TLDR - I did all of the IAPP program and it was useless - if you want to pass, buy the CertsClub AIGP practice test and hammer it.
Quick and dirty:
- I have no related background and people ask if this matters for the test. It doesn't. Some may disagree. I believe if you already know some basics of AI/ML that may help, but not necessary.
- "How long do I have to study for?" This questions get asked a lot and surprises me because it's so subjective. If you study for 2-3 days straight, you can retain enough to pass this test. You don't need months of studying, but it also depends on how much time you're putting in every day.
- What do I study? I took the IAPP Course, and have their practice exam, entire coursebook (300+ pages), recordings of the classes, notes I took during class, etc. In retrospect, this was not needed and not helpful, so I therefore spent thousands of dollars on something I didn't need. The BEST thing to use to study I learned from another Reddit post...the AIGP CertsClub practice text. Hammer this test, and use your favorite AI chat tool to dive into why you got what you got wrong, and what you need to know about that specific topic for the test.
More info if you want:
3a) Please be aware the CertsClub test has a PDF and online test taking tool for $60-ish. The online tool sometimes marks a question incorrectly, but always explains the actual correct answer in the explanation section. Example: The correct answer is A, the tool says B is correct when grading, but the explanation portion below the question is actually correctly explaining why A is correct, not B. Just something to be mindful of as you go through it.
- Many people comment on how surprised they are by the scenario questions. I found the opposite and thought there were more foundational definition knowledge questions than I was expecting. I'd say 10% of questions were incredibly easy, 10% I had no idea what they were talking about and never saw before, and 80% were just solid questions you had to read slowly, understand what was being asked, and pick the best response.
Hope this helps and good luck!
EDIT: adding CertsClub link https://certsclub.com/iapp/info/AIGP