Becoming officially Marketo Engage Certified is a great way to showcase your expertise in the platform. If you’re preparing to get certified, you may be wondering what it’s like to take it remotely from your own home. I’ve compiled Marketo Certification tips that I’ve gotten from other Marketo Engage Champions as well as my own experience. I hope this helps set you up for success in your journey becoming Marketo Certified!
Current Certification Offerings
Marketo currently offers three exams:
- AD0-E555 Adobe Certified Professional – Marketo Engage Business Practitioner: This is the most junior exam. It’s similar to the former Marketo Certified Associate. Its target audience is marketers with approximately 6 months’ hands-on experience.
- AD0-E559 Adobe Certified Expert – Marketo Engage Business Practitioner: This was developed in partnership with Marketo Engage Champions. It’s a similar level to the former Marketo Certified Expert. Its target audience are Marketo Engage end users, customers, partners and consultants with broad operational experience in the platform.
- AD0-E556 Adobe Certified Master – Adobe Marketo Engage Architect: This is the most advanced exam. It was also developed in partnership with current and former Champions. It’s for power users who understand business impact and can effectively explain their solution to technical and non-technical stakeholders at different levels. It replaces Marketo Certified Solutions Architect (MCSA), which was only available to Marketo Partners. It’s a proctored written exam that requires you to first have an active Adobe Certified Expert – Marketo Engage Business Practitioner certification.
PSI vs Examity
There are two companies that provide remote administration of Marketo exams: PSI and Examity. PSI uses their own software to administer the exam. You can’t download or test your connection ahead of time. This can cause delays when you are ready to take your exam. Examity uses remote meeting software to proctor the exam. This means you can test ahead of time and jump right into the exam when you log in.
I used Examity, and this is the provider recommended by many other test-takers. Here are some tips and tricks for preparing for taking the test in Examity.
Remote Administration via Examity
You need to be able to download remote meeting software on your computer. If you work at a company with tight Information Security policies, check with your IT department ahead of time, or consider using your personal computer. My proctor used GoToMeeting, although other people have reported that theirs was on Zoom. Since they’ll be monitoring you remotely, your computer needs a working camera and microphone.
Tips for Examity Success
In order to make sure that the test is fair for everyone and that nobody is cheating, Examity has certain requirements and concerns that you should be prepared for:
- External monitors are not allowed. I normally have my laptop plugged into a monitor, so I rearranged my desk so that my laptop was up on a monitor riser at eye-level.
- Headsets are not allowed. Make sure you can hear and be heard on your computer’s built-in microphone and speakers.
- Your desk and surrounding area should be totally clear except for your computer, keyboard, and mouse. Nothing should be in arm’s reach. They may ask you to rotate your camera 360 degrees to make sure nothing is on the wall behind your laptop.
- Close all other programs on your computer.
- Silence any notifications such as messages or calendar alerts.
- Be prepared to show your computer’s activity monitor to prove that you have nothing else running.
- They may ask to see your glasses and/or watch. Take off your watch and jewelry ahead of time so you have one less thing to worry about.
- You can not read questions out loud—even mouth the words. If that’s something you often find yourself doing, practice doing so in your head with your lips closed. (This was hard for me!)
- Have your photo ID ready to show the proctor.
More Exam Resources
Fellow Marketo Engage Champion Veronica Lazarovici wrote a helpful overview of the Adobe Certified Expert – Marketo Engage Business Practitioner exam—with a side-by-side comparison to the old exam—on Marketing Nation.
I hope these Marketo certification tips help you prepare for taking your exam. Got any other suggestions? Post in the comments!
A version of this article was originally published on Marketing Nation. This article was updated in May 2023 to reflect the newest version of the Expert exam.
Amy is the founder of MarketingOpsAdvice.com. She is passionate about helping marketing operations professionals grow their careers and work smarter. Amy is a 4X Marketo Champion with 10 years’ experience in high-growth B2B SaaS companies. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her Cajun Terrier, Helo. Pronouns: she/her