5 IAPP Certification Exam Tips to Help You Prepare (By an IAPP Training Partner)

For any IAPP certification, real-world experience is an advantage – but sitting an exam is still a skill. As with any skill, you benefit from careful preparation and practice. In this article, our lead IAPP training partner Dr Jodie Siganto shares her 5 best tips for privacy professionals preparing for your IAPP certification exam: 

5 Helpful IAPP Certification Exam Tips 

Tip 1: Use the Exam Blueprint and Body of Knowledge to Guide Your Study.  

The IAPP provides two resources to guide test takers through their studies: an Exam Blueprint and a Body of Knowledge. Here’s how you can use them to guide your study:  

1. Read both documents very carefully. 

1. Create a version of the Body of Knowledge document you can mark up (either print it or download it and open it in a PDF editor).  

1. For each domain, rank your understanding of the content as being low, medium, or high.  

1. Then, mark in the range of scores attributable to that domain from the exam blueprint.  

1. Focus your studies on areas where your knowledge is low or medium and the number of points attributable to that domain are high. (Though, be sure to still read the IAPP textbook for all areas of study.)

The IAPP also publishes an exam handbook each year. Be sure to read it so you know what to expect on exam day! Here’s the 2022 IAPP Exam Handbook. 

Tip 2: Choose Your Exam Location Carefully – Do You Want to Take an Online IAPP Certification Exam or an In-Person Exam?  

With online testing now available, test takers need to consider whether an online or in-person exam will bring out their best.  

If you elect to take your test online, you’ll need to be able to meet the requirements for online testing, including: 

• System requirements 
• Location requirements. Your space should be private, secure, and clear of any study materials.  
• ID requirements.  

You will be recorded, and your camera and audio will be monitored by your online proctor while you take the exam, so you also need to be comfortable with that.  

If you feel you’ll perform best in a formal in-person exam environment, or the online testing dates are not convenient for your schedule, in-person testing is still available. 

Tip 3: Make Privacy Awareness Part of Your Everyday. 

A broad understanding of the real-world implications of privacy is an asset going into any IAPP certification exam. It’s a useful tip to make considering privacy part of your everyday so your knowledge and understanding is as broad as possible going into your certification exam (and ideally afterwards too!). 

The IAPP recommends:  

IAPP’s Privacy Perspectives 

The Privacy Advisor 

Privacy Tracker 

Privacy Tech 

IAPP’s Daily Dashboard 

Here are some additional privacy resources we find valuable: 

The Privacy Pros Podcast 

The Serious Privacy Podcast 

The Privacy Kitchen YouTube Channel 

Informm Blog 

Tip 4: Get Comfortable Giving ‘Most Correct’ or ‘Least Incorrect’ Answers. 

The IAPP certification exams are designed to be challenging. Our examiner and test-takers often comment that there seems to be more than one ‘correct’ answer to a multiple-choice question. In these cases, you’ll need to provide the answer that’s most correct based on the IAPP’s view of privacy. It’s these questions that really require those taking the IAPP certification exam to know how to do tests well. 

Tip 5: Join a Training Course! 

As an IAPP training partner, we may seem biased. But working with a training provider comes with a host of benefits you won’t find elsewhere.   

• Dr Jodie Siganto, our lead instructor, has been delivering privacy and security training, both online and face-to-face, for clients located across Australia and New Zealand for 20 years.  Dr Siganto is recognised as one of the leading privacy professionals in Australia, to view her biography click here. 
• With all our certification classes, you gain access to special resources available only to Privacy 108 students. While the precise resources vary depending on the course, we often provide crib sheets, access to our bank of practice exam questions and online quizzes, and more. 
• Glean insights into how to answer the exam questions. Real-world knowledge is valuable, but test-taking is a skill. Our instructor will work with you to hone your test-taking skills and share information about how the IAPP want their questions answered.  

But remember: joining one of our training courses does not guarantee that you’ll pass the IAPP certification exam. You’ll still need to study to pass the exam – even if you have real-world experience.  

Interested in joining an IAPP certification exam training course?  

Sign up here or ask us for more details.