SmartSheet Certified User

Woo.hoo.
Hours later, taking the test twice, I can now put in my LinkedIn that I am SmartSheet certified. Certified User that is. What does that mean? Not too sure honestly, but it sounds nice and cost me $99 so it must mean something. I am hoping that it means I can say I know a few little things about SmartSheet.

For those who are wondering how the test is and exactly what do you have to know, I will share my experience.
You don't have to know everything about SmartSheet to pass the test.. mostly the basics.
The test starts out pretty easy and basic, making you feel like wow either I truly am an expert user or this is super easy. It goes over the general idea of what SmartSheet is and it's basics such as what are rows, sheets, conditional formatting etc.

The test is multiple choice so really if you understand the basics of process of elimination, you have good odds if even if you are guessing.
As the test progresses, it surprisingly got more difficult and to the point that I was learning as I was going. On the second half of the test, I...had to 'call a friend a lot'. My friend was google. I don't consider this cheating only because I am considering it as using my resources wisely. Also because I really did try to read everything I could find in SmartSheet but sometimes you just don't know what you missed until it's in front of you. In addition, I was learning as I was looking up the answers and at the end of the test, I copied the test results which show the questions I got correct vs incorrect, to study further.

I passed the test, with great results and was ready to show off my certificate in LinkedIn.
The best part of this whole experience is that it truly opened up new features and ideas of SmartSheet to me. In the weeks proceeding the test, I was able to implement SmartSheet in other parts of my work, all because of the way the test questions made me think. It felt great knowing that my $99 was not for nothing, and even if the certification itself is simple, it forced me to learn more.

Now, you may still be wondering why in the world I mentioned I took the test twice.
Well...I had to step out of my house for a bit. When I came back, the web browser had to refresh for me to continue with the test and all my previous work vanished. I was 3/4th of the way completed. It was upsetting because I had to re-do all of this effort, but it went much faster the second time around because I remembered a lot of the Q/A, even though I still had to look up (google) a good number. This again forced me to remember more, so it wasn't all a loss, just a lot of time.

I recommend taking the test if you want to prove to yourself you know as much as you think you do about SmartSheet and to actually learn new things.
The certification only lasts a year, and it seems that it is another $99 and the same test, which does not seem right. As SmartSheet is always enhancing their product and business, perhaps this may change by the time I need to renew, and there is a good chance I will renew.

Good Luck my SmartSheet professionals!