TOPIC: Sharing negative experience with Proctored exam

Hello Colleagues,

I want to share my experience with Proctored testing via Pearson VUE .

I scheduled my exam for 11am EDT today (10/24/2020), and I am sure you can tell that the last few days(and weeks) I was preparing like crazy while working full time to ensure I am ready for the exam. I asked my family to leave for 5 hours today so I can be alone in the house and can concentrate.
I am very disciplined person so I had nothing next to me at my desk and was making sure my camera is on me and I don't move.

So exam started and I started getting messages from the Proctor saying every 5-10 minutes something like: "don't move your eyes from the monitor" (when I was thinking my eyes moved for a sec on the wall during few questions.. i don't do this on purpose); "don't read your question aloud" (after reading a few words on one question); then they started saying that they could not see me for a few seconds because of the issues on their side and I have to show my desk again to them before I can continue (this was happening every 10-15 minutes).
FYI - I have 3 people working from home, so I have fast internet connection, I have no tech issues plus I could've seen my self with "recording" over my video in the little window during the exam and my camera light was on at all times.
Long story short - they asked me to reboot my computer when I answered about 140 questions (all these conversations were happening while my exam time goes down.. so by that time I was already behind). When I restarted my machine, they called me (they did not say they are going to call, my phone was off, so I realized that after the system was not launched at the time of the restart). Then they asked me to launch exam. When I did that they realized they have a bug in their system and I cannot continue my exam now. They told me that I can't continue and I have to call PMI and ask them to reschedule my exam.
Called PMI - they need at least 5-7 days to process my request and then I will be able to reschedule.
To say that I am upset and angry means to say nothing about how I feel. I truly believe that this is unacceptable...
I hope you will have a smooth exam experience. I will try to call PMI on Monday to share my "lesson learned" with Pearson VUE.

Thanks,
Anastasia

I am sorry to hear, Anastasia, I hope that the situation gets received to your advantage. I have my online exam scheduled for 22/Nov and I certainly hope that Pearson will to botch it. Carlo

Really sorry you have been messed about so much with your online exam.
I have mine later this week and I was already concerned that there may be issues with the portal or something whilst I am doing it.
Like you, I tend to mutter as I read the questions, so really hope that I don’t encounter the same problems as you did....

The exam is hard enough without this additional stress...

Really sorry for the bad experience, I cant imagine how you are feeling
Am having my exam tomorrow on Monday October 26, 2020.
Hope fully they will have the bug fixed by then
Anvesh

Really sorry about your experience. PMI and Pearson must do something regarding this issue.
I hope they fixed the bug , my exam is tomorrow October 26,2020.
Thank you for the share
Anvesh

Anastasia, so sorry you had such an awful experience. To already answer 140 questions (while being constantly interrupted) and to have your exam canceled for no fault of yours, it is a real bummer! Try to stay calm and strong, and hopefully, PMI will be able to reschedule your exam sooner, and you'll nail it with no technical issues from Pearson this time!

Thank you all for your kind messages.
I sent a message to PMI customer care on Saturday and they apologized and already sent me a note that I can reschedule my exam now.

I sent the below message in addition to my original email I posted here to PMI since I really don't understand why you need to be treated this way when you are taking your exam:
"I believe that having a common sense could help to improve the student's stress level during the exam since answering PMI questions, controlling your eyes and mouth and answering Proctor's questions at the same time is very challenging and stressful and even if I would've have PMBOK in front of me during my exam, I would not pass unless I understand the concept and I practice before the exam. "

I hope my experience is unique and will never happen to any of you!

Regards,
Anastasia

Hi Anastasia,
So sorry about your experience. I had an exam yesterday and had the same experience except for the software issue. I was told not to mumble and during the whole exam, I was trying not to move my lips and eyes. I was so stressed out and unfortunately, I failed the exam. This time I will give the exam on-site. additional their whiteboard is awful, I can't understand why they can't use notepad instead.
Good luck with your exam.
Regards
Anjali

HI Anjali.
I am sorry I know how you feel.
I passed my exam on Saturday, 10-31... This time I chose a different location in the house and sat in front of a wall. That helped me to keep my eyes at the monitor and I was trying to control myself not to move the lips this time. After I got a Congrats message on the screen I picked up the phone cuz it was ringing every 5 mins they called me right away asking what I am doing I said - I completed the exam .. so I guess they don't see your screen, just your face, but I don't know. Anyways, good luck to you!