What to study for the LambdaTest Selenium Java 101 Certification
Tags: selenium, certification, testing, lambdatest
Published: 2022-10-18 12:53:26

[LamdaTest](https://www.lambdatest.com/certifications/selenium-101) has a certification to test your Selenium skills. The exam is free, and it can be done all online.
Below, I will share my experience taking the tests to get the certification.

#### TL;DR;

If you want to take the Selenium Java 101 certification:
- For the multiple-choice questions section
  - there will be questions about Java
  - there will be questions about JUnit and TestNG
  - there won't be questions about Selenium
- For the code assignment
  - the implementation needs to use JUnit or TestNG
  - the implementation needs to run tests in parallel and in different browsers (some LambdaTest knowledge will be required)
  - the implementation of tests will require to use the LambdaTest playground and will need to use different selectors (`id`, `xpath`, `cssSelector`, etc)

## How it is structured

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/v37fsq95yvwfj315nwlg.png)

The certification page explains clearly how the test is structured. It is composed of 2 rounds:
- Round 1:  40 multiple choice questions to be completed in 45 minutes
- Round 2: code assignment to be completed in 36 hours

## What to expect from the MCQs

When I started the MCQs session, I was very surprised. Since I did not study much for the content of the certification, I did not realize something obvious:

> You do not use Selenium for testing **without** a testing library.

The certification page has a section called Learning Material that mentions ONLY Selenium.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/3x1e1kqumgg6b192f4ap.png)

I was expecting to see questions about selectors, how to deal with iframes, cookies, instantiate local x remote WebDriver, but...

> The MMQs **have ZERO questions about Selenium**.

I work daily with Selenium and use [ScalaTest](https://www.scalatest.org/) as the testing library, but for the Selenium Java 101 certification, you need to know [JUnit](https://junit.org/junit5/) and [TestNG](https://testng.org/doc/).

The MMQs, in my case, were **all about** Java, JUnit and TestNG.

#### Java 

I remember very few questions about Java, and they were not trivial. I recall questions about Threads and some expected outputs from a piece of code.

#### [JUnit annotations](https://junit.org/junit5/docs/current/user-guide/#writing-tests-annotations)

It is important to know them, how to use them and the internal parameters they receive.

The ones I remember to see questions about:
- `@Test`
- `@Before`, `@After`
- `@Parameterized`
- `@Timeout`

#### [TestNG annotations](https://testng.org/doc/documentation-main.html#annotations)

Like in JUnit, it is important to know the annotations and their parameters.

The ones I remember to see questions about:
- `@Test` 
- `@BeforeTest`, `@AfterTest` 
- `@DataProvider` 

## What to expect from the code assignment 

The code assignment is sent to you after you complete the MMQ session. You only receive the code assignment if your score is at least 50% in the MCQ.

My assignment was composed of 3 tasks. All of them were to implement Selenium Tests for different scenarios using the [LamdaTest playground](https://www.lambdatest.com/selenium-playground) website.

The tests to be implemented were not complicated, but in the end, they all must be executed inside LambdaTest platform.

Some assignment requirements:
- implement tests using different locators (`xpath`, `css`, `id`, etc).
- run tests in parallel

I was not familiar with LambdaTest platform, so it is good to consider some time to learn a little bit about how it works.


## FAQ

There are a few questions and answers on the LambdaTest [certifications page](https://www.lambdatest.com/certifications/).

The ones that I think are important to know in advance:
- the results "should" be sent to you in 48 hours (my results came after a week)
- there is a 45 days retake policy ("Can I reappear the certification?")

## Result

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5cwoophrp8w2x03vjtip.png)