So I Failed My First Bloc Assessment...

So I had my first Bloc assessment on Christmas Eve (Saturday), and I did not pass it. Close, but no cigar. Passing is a 7 and above and I received a 6.5. What a let down!

Immediately afterwards I felt really discouraged. My score was so close. I began to wonder, do others struggle with the first one or do other students breeze through it? Am I only one of the few who do not pass this first assessment? I don't know……..but I do know this is probably not the right attitude to have about it.

Bloc has a number of assessments that serve to check that you are retaining what you are learning as well as prepare you for future job interviews. This is a great thing!

(This was not an assessment to get into the course, but an assessment within the course.)

In Preparation…

Before this first Bloc assessment, I honestly was not sure what to expect. I had finished the work for the week and felt somewhat confident in my understanding of JavaScript. They had told us there would be personal as well as technical questions, but one has to wonder how technical the technical questions would be. Well, there were a few technical questions, and they were not exactly a walk in the park. But, to be fair they were ones that were covered in the intense week of JavaScript.

In Retrospect…

Afterwards, I looked back at the 20 questions and answers (they provide you with a follow up email with a list of the questions, how you did, as well as a video of the interview) and realized some of my mistakes. One question I got wrong because I had still a little bit of the weekly assignment to finish, and that information was in that yet to be watched, next, video. The others I should have taken more time on. I also found that I am a lot better at figuring out solutions to provided functions than I am writing a function when a problem was presented.

So part of me was really discouraged. Another part of me was almost a bit relieved (for lack of a better word) in that I do need to tighten up a few things before moving on. I plan to dig in this week and hopefully retake the assessment by Wednesday or Thursday.

I think I will be a bit more prepared in the next one. I let you know how it goes.

Addendum: On retake, I passed only missing half of one question.

Have you taken the Bloc assessment or assessments? How did you do?