Has anyone taken the ETCP exam?

Welcome to the Booth Bigwhiskey! Be sure to stop by the new member forum and introduce yourself sometime.
We have at least two ETCP certified electricians hanging out around here: derekleffew and steveterry. I think they are both certified trainers as well. I'm sure one or both of them will be able to help you before the day is over.
 
... I think they are both certified trainers as well. ...
STEVETERRY and I are Recognized Trainers, as well as Certified Entertainment Electricians.

Make sure you are comfortable with EVERY topic listed in the Examination Content Outline. The bibliography at ESTA Foundation/Educational Resources/Electrical is very thorough, and should help if you feel you are lacking on a particular subject.

Some of the best prep advice I have seen is to identify where your experience is lacking and concentrate specifically in those areas. For instance, if you have never done any film lighting, read Harry C. Box's Set Lighting Technician’s Handbook. If you've never worked in a venue that wasn't a proscenium theatre, read Harry Donovan's Entertainment Rigging. Ugly’s Electrical References is invaluable, but don't get too hung up on memorizing formulas or tables--just know how to solve the equations algebraically, and what the variables represent.

If you've been honest with yourself on your application about your experience, passing the exam should not be so difficult as to require tons of cramming, which some educational experts say isn't effective anyway. It may seem silly, but I found the psychological advice in the Candidate handbook to be helpful. Breathe deep and relax!

Final comment: If you have additional time, and I suspect most will, use the space available to comment on questions you thought were poorly wriiten or confusing. This helps the test writers continue to improve the exam.
 
STEVETERRY and I are Recognized Trainers, as well as Certified Entertainment Electricians.

Make sure you are comfortable with EVERY topic listed in the Examination Content Outline. The bibliography at ESTA Foundation/Educational Resources/Electrical is very thorough, and should help if you feel you are lacking on a particular subject.

Some of the best prep advice I have seen is to identify where your experience is lacking and concentrate specifically in those areas. For instance, if you have never done any film lighting, read Harry C. Box's Set Lighting Technician’s Handbook. If you've never worked in a venue that wasn't a proscenium theatre, read Harry Donovan's Entertainment Rigging. Ugly’s Electrical References is invaluable, but don't get too hung up on memorizing formulas or tables--just know how to solve the equations algebraically, and what the variables represent.

If you've been honest with yourself on your application about your experience, passing the exam should not be so difficult as to require tons of cramming, which some educational experts say isn't effective anyway. It may seem silly, but I found the psychological advice in the Candidate handbook to be helpful. Breathe deep and relax!

Final comment: If you have additional time, and I suspect most will, use the space available to comment on questions you thought were poorly wriiten or confusing. This helps the test writers continue to improve the exam.

What Derek said, plus:

If you have time to comment on questions, you had more time than I did! Make that commenting a secondary priority to answering the questions correctly!

Electricians: spend some time on studying the rigging issue of truss weight distribution!

Finally as Derek said, thoroughly review the candidate information to insure that you are totally familiar with all the areas of knowledge that are listed.

There are no trick questions!


ST
 

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