"Failed the Tenable VMS Written exam — but the proctoring experience was the real problem. Anyone else?"
Failed the Tenable Vulnerability Management Specialist Written exam — but honestly, the proctoring experience was worse than failing.
I want to share my experience because I'm curious if anyone else has gone through something similar.
**First attempt:**
The proctor ran the full pre-exam system check on my machine, cleared me to proceed, and then terminated my exam mid-session because of remote access software (AnyDesk-type) installed on my computer. The same software that was there during the check they approved. No warning, no chance to uninstall it — just kicked out.
I filed a formal complaint. They escalated it to QA and gave me a second attempt.
**Second attempt:**
Before starting, I asked the proctor if they needed to verify my installed software (given what happened the first time). Their response: "We don't have control over your machine beyond watching your screen for the next 2 hours." So… completely contradictory to what happened in my first attempt.
During the exam, Tenable gives you access to 3 web-based lab consoles (TVM, Nessus, NNM) to reference real configurations. I used the TVM console to verify specific answers — things like which graph types are available when filtering by "Assets" — the kind of detail you validate in the tool, not memorize.
While doing my second pass reviewing answers, the proctor gave me a warning saying they would end my exam if I kept "copying." I explained I was using the lab environment that the exam itself provides. Stressful situation in the middle of an already high-pressure test.
Ended up scoring 70% (needed 80% to pass).
**My takeaways / questions for the community:**
- Has anyone else had issues with proctors not understanding that the lab consoles are part of the exam? It feels like there's a disconnect between what Tenable sets up and what proctors are told.
- Did anyone else find a gap between the Tenable University study material and the actual exam content? Some questions were on very specific configurations I never encountered in the prep material.
- The exam includes questions about Tenable Core + Nessus and Tenable Core + NNM, but I only had hands-on access to TVM during preparation. Anyone else deal with this?
- Any tips for the next attempt? Specifically around the Nessus and NNM areas.
Not here to bash Tenable — I genuinely want the cert and I'll retake it. Just want to know if my experience is an outlier or if others have dealt with similar proctoring inconsistencies.
Thanks in advance.