Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1289708
www . machinerylubrication.com | September - October 2020 | 23 ML "I would say 100% that the online exam is much more relaxed for the exam taker than paper- based." -- Khashayar Hajiahmad, Area Manager of Industrial Division & MRO, Mineral Circles Bearings expedited scoring, and zero travel costs while maintaining exam integ- rity, data security, and compatibility with an increasing number of online training opportunities. Naturally, we remain keenly interested to know whether the "user experience" of our first online exam candidates matches what we antici- pated. My brief, unscientific survey with these test-takers has found that candidates do, in fact, assign value to the attributes listed above. Covid-19 Convenience and More With the understanding that Covid-19 restrictions had created a pent-up demand for exam sessions, we fully expected that potential test-takers would not want to wait for the unknown day when physical exam sessions might return to their local markets. Ideally, our online exams would seamlessly provide an immediate and convenient way for candidates to move forward. It turns out we were correct. Candidates who sat for our online exams in July and August told us they did so because they could conveniently schedule their own dates and times, making it easy to adhere to Covid-19 social restric- tions or to coordinate with their busy schedules. "I live in Trinidad and Tobago," explains Sanya Mathura, Managing Director and Senior Consultant at Strategic Reliability Solutions Ltd., who recently passed her MLE exam online. "Since that exam launched in 2019, I've wanted to take the exam but the locations and times really conflicted with my schedule." And then the 2020 Covid-19 restric- tions put a halt to the possibility of any practical paper exam sessions at all. "Our borders are still closed due to C-19. I decided on the online option where I had the flexibility of choosing a date and time that worked best for me." Being able to do it all from her residence was reassuring, too: "I was also not entirely sure of the avail- ability of a test center in Trinidad and Tobago and did not want to run the risk of being in a location for four hours during these unprec- edented times," she writes. Describing similar reasoning was Leston Bethelmy, Lead Reli- abilit y and PdM Engineer at Trinidad Inspection Services Ltd., who passed his MLA II online. "e online exam option was much more convenient than the paper option due to the Covid situation," he says. Dr. Nat ha n C . Wrig ht, President of Transformationa l Performance Solutions, concurs. He offers two reasons why he jumped at the opportunity to sit for his MLE