Doctors have the PhD, accountants have the CP,
project managers have the PMP.
As a professional in the world of AV,
how can I make my business cards look 30% more
legit with a cool acronym at the end of my name? Enter the CTS designation
certified technology specialist. AVIXA's way of making sure audio-visual
technicians are all on the same page. Say what you will about the prestige of this
CTS, CTS-I and CTS-D designations I know they aren't a requirement for a lot of freelancers,
but it's another shade of blue in the sky of the colour by number
placement that is your resume. Before I jump in I want to give a little
disclaimer here: I am NOT an employee of AVIXA and my views do not reflect those
of my employer. I just passed the exam a few weeks ago and I thought I could
share some tips. If you're watching this video when it comes out you might be in
lockdown with tons of free time on your hands looking to better yourself and
update your skills. I'm gonna help you get test-ready and pass your CTS exam
when all the testing centres open up again. Alright first things first:
become an AVIXA member. There are so many great resources on the AVIXA website
to delve deeper into any of the areas of AV that you're unfamiliar with. I didn't
know much about networks in the OSI model before I started studying for my
CTS exam but there are a bunch of lessons and quizzes through their online
learning portal to get you up to speed. Second: read the book. If you read the CTS
exam guide and absorb even 1/3 of the information you'll probably pass. You
should get the latest edition right now it is the third edition and you can even
get a digital PDF for your tablet I can't sugarcoat it this book is not a
page-turner I fell asleep on the subway or reading this book dozens of times.
For my learning style it was important to just get through as much as possible
in a single read-through and review the quizzes at the end of each chapter. The
questions in these quizzes may not be on the CTS exam but they'll give you an
idea about areas you may need spend extra time studying and reviewing.
Alright so you've finished reading the whole CTS exam guide, now what? Well I'd
recommend you take the AV technologist test. Once you have become a member of
AVIXA you can take a free AV technologist test and then you get a certificate as
an AV technologist woohoo. It's pretty safe to assume that if you can't pass
this you probably aren't ready for the CTS exam. Alright so at the back of
your CTS book you can register for a total seminars training hub account for
even more online quizzes these had similar questions to the AV technologist
test but the good thing about studying here is that the answers and
explanations are much more accessible than they are on the AVIXA website.
There were no new questions though. If you want new questions and you know
somebody who has an older version of the CTS book with the CD included there are
even more practice questions to study there and if that's still not enough and
you need even more practice questions there's an app called StudyBlue where
users submit flashcards on any given topic and I found a few good CTS ones.
Alright so to sum all of this up: read the book, do the quizzes at the end of
each chapter and then test your knowledge online. Now you know I can't
give you any of the questions word-for-word but I would recommend a
good understanding of the current and power formulas, know all the different
kinds of audio and video cables as well as what they're used for, and make sure
that you can understand how to properly read floor plans. On the CTS candidate
handbook it states that "the passing score is always 350 out of a
possible five hundred points", so that means you only need a 70% to pass! Now go
out there and claim your fancy AV acronym. Thanks for watching all the way
to the end if you found this video helpful be sure to LIKE and subscribe it
really helps grow my channel and good luck on your exam!