AHL 15 Common Questions about the RCDD Credential

Earning the RCDD certification is a critical milestone for professionals in the ICT industry. From understanding exam requirements to mastering study techniques, this episode provides essential insights into succeeding as an RCDD.

• Overview of the RCDD certification's significance
• Requirements for qualifying for the RCDD exam
• Discussing the challenges of the RCDD exam
• Recommended study resources and techniques
• Financial considerations for taking the RCDD exam
• Potential career opportunities with RCDD certification
• Tips on maintaining RCDD certification
• Insights on passing the RCDD exam and preparing effectively
• Importance of continuous education and networking

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to let's Talk Cabling, the award-winning podcast where knowledge is power and the low-voltage industry connects. Hosted by Chuck Bowser, rcdd. We're here to empower installers, designers and industry pros with the tips, stories and best practices you need to stay ahead. From copper to fiber, standards to innovation, this is the show that keeps you plugged into success. So grab your tools, turn up the volume and let's talk cabling.

Speaker 2: 0:35

Wednesday night, 6 pm, eastern Standard Time.

Speaker 2: 0:42

That can only mean one thing Live after hours with Chuck Bowser, rcdd, your favorite RCDD. You know I'm your favorite. Don't even try to pretend like I'm not. I can figure out how to clear this thing. I think I had this problem last time, didn't I Tell me? Tell me, did I have a problem this last night? Last time I did this. How do I clear that stupid thing? Dang it man.

Speaker 2: 1:04

Well, tonight's show is about the RCDD program. The RCDD oh hey, you know what we're going to start off with. What are you drinking? Put it in the chat box. What are you drinking Tonight? Chuck is drinking chamomile tea. Chamomile tea with a little bit of honey and a throat lozenge. Yes, yes, that's what Chuck does sometimes. Yep, tyler Johnson is drinking a Diet Coke and he just started his RCDD journey. So tonight is the first RCD study group, the first RCD study group. So if you are interested in a study group, tonight is just orientation. You still have one week to join. If you still want to do that, let me open up the chat box so we can see what people are saying.

Speaker 2: 2:00

I know you're probably yelling at me, chuck, fix the screen. Fix the screen, chuck, I can hear you. I can hear you, so let's do the acronym challenge. The acronym challenge for tonight is PBB. The acronym challenge for tonight is PBB. What is that saying? For I'll give you a few seconds to figure that out. Pbb, I'll give you a hint. It has something to do with bonding and grounding. There you go, there's a hint. Let me see. Pbb Primary bonding bus bar, primary bonding bus bar.

Speaker 2: 2:40

Somebody said grounding, primary bonding bus bar, that's close, but no cigar, no cigar. So I've I gotta get them right. That's one of the things I got in a conversation with, uh with somebody on one of the social media platforms. We were talking about the um, the bonding and grounding, uh, lengths, right, the bonding, grounding links, and somebody said well, there's a chart truck and if it's got, if it's over a certain amount of feed, you've got to use this size. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I was like, yeah, that's for the telecom bonding backbone, the TBB or the GE. Actually it's not called the GE anymore, they call it now the. My mind's blown blank. The conductor he was talking about was actually the TEBC, the bonding conductor that goes from the bus bar to the rack in the telecom room and I had to actually look it up in the standards. So again drinking Camel tea, camel tea. So I've got this.

Speaker 2: 3:36

Tonight's going to be a speed session. Speed session I've got 15 questions about the RCDD program, 15 questions, and I've been stockpiling these. I answered these people already back in person in their respective platforms and stuff, but I've been saving the questions because I wanted to do it tonight when I was launching off my RCDD study group. Okay, so the first question comes from Mark in Texas. Everything's bigger in Texas, right? And Mark wants to know what is the RCDD Registered Communications Distribution Designer and why is it important? Ok, so here's why it's important. Mark, it's a great question. By the way, great question. It is one of the most respected credentials that you can get in the ICT industry, information Communication Technology Industry.

Speaker 2: 4:32

We used to call it Structured Cabling, scs. Before that we were just called Cable Dogs. So, having the RCDD, somebody asked me today how many RCDDs are there in the world. I don't know if Bixie's ever released that number. I'll have to ask them that one day. I got an email out to them. They haven't responded back yet, so I'll have to ask them that. See what that is. But they did say at the Bixie Winter Conference just last week hey, speaking of the Bixie Winter Conference, let me know if you want me to invite some guests on and do an after hours, I mean after a Big C Conference thing. Let me know if it's something you want me to do, because I'll do it if you want me to. I just got to get some input from you guys. See, if it's something of value for you, of value, let's uh, let's close. Let me see. Here, there we go. Why does it say unmuted? Hmm, this is so weird.

Speaker 1: 5:34

There we go now it's working there we go?

Speaker 2: 5:37

yes, uh, so I don't know how many there are, I did. They have been increased. They did have a banner there at the bixie conference and they said that the uh, that I think it was like 300 people got their rcdds last year. 300 people and it might sound like a lot, but when you consider how many people are in this industry, that's not a whole lot. So why is it important? It shows that you have expert knowledge in designing, integrating and managing ICT projects. That's not just structured cabling, like a lot of people think that it is. It could be network and data center design. It could be wireless networks, security and AV systems. It could be quality control. It's more than just one thing. So many employers, many government contracts, many even large-scale customers may require to have an rcdd on staff. So for me it was a game changer, game changer.

Speaker 2: 6:36

Question number two what are the requirements to apply for the rcdd exam? This comes from sarah in florida and that's a great question because a lot of people don't understand. There's actually three ways you can qualify to become an rcdd. There's three ways. Option number one and actually I thought I heard that they're actually looking for ways to expand this, but I could be wrong in it, but right published. There's three ways you can do it.

Speaker 2: 7:05

Option number one two years, two years of full-time ICT design and experience. And and you have to have some other kind of Bixie certification, like a Bixie Tech, a Bixie RTPM, registered Telecommunications Project Manager, osp, dcdc. You have to have one of those other ones as well. A lot of people like to use the tech platform, the tech class, as a precursor to getting the rcdd. I've heard that before and uh, so people, people definitely will like, we will do that, absolutely we'll do that, still messing up, still trying to fix this thing too, by the way, just so you know. Just so you know I'm trying to fix it, I truly am there we go Two years in ICT and a Bixby credential.

Speaker 2: 8:04

That's the easiest way to do that. Option number two Option number two Two years of design experience and some type of higher education, higher education what does that mean? I love Campbell T, yes. What does that mean? I love K-Miltea, yes. What does that mean? Stem school, trade school, ict-related courses, and I do believe that even some of the apprentice programs out there qualify for that as well. Tyler saying, his anniversary fell during the Bixie winter, so we compromised and went to where my wife wanted to go. That was probably a smart move, tyler. That's probably a smart move, truly truly is. The third option you can do is that and this is how I got mine five or more years of experience in design, installation project management right within the industry, and they will check, they're going to ask for references, they're going to call those references and if you think you qualify but you're not sure, you can always email directly at bixieorg or call them. There are phone numbers on the website there. I don't know. Off the top of my head, that's also another method as well, so they may actually have another option out there that I'm not aware of. Right, somebody says they're struggling to find a job.

Speaker 2: 9:27

Osp splicer. It seems like everything's been built around me. Any tips to find work? So, uh, beach dolphin, where are you located? What? What part of the United States? Because here's the thing about doing splicing work there's always hotbeds across the country, so it may not be a hotbed where you are in Chicago. Okay, there you go. Yeah, chicago is pretty built out. It truly is. You may have to go to a different part of the country or actually, with the broadband initiative, there might be some work coming down the pike too. So, um, and he says there's, it seems to be tons of work, it's all out of state. Yeah, with the broadband initiative, there's a lot of building splicing going on in the rural parts of the united states, not chic Chicago, because Chicago's got, I'm sorry, pretty much built out.

Speaker 2: 10:17

Question number three how hard is the RCDD exam? I'm not going to sugarcoat this one, john. It is challenging, it is hard. It's going to test your deepest understanding of ICT infrastructure design and it's going to test your ability to memorize. It's going to test your ability to be consistent, to pick a goal and work your way towards that goal. Just kind of give an exam. There are all the RCDs in the house. He says it's unbelievably hard. It is so hard that when I passed my RCD exam, I told my wife, if I ever crash my motorcycle and I'm in the hospital in a vegetative state, keep paying my dues until you bury me in the ground Because I don't want to take that test again. I don't. There's 100 questions on that test and you get two and a half hours to take that test and it's going to cover everything from design to pathways to wireless to data centers, industry standards, some keys to help passing that.

Speaker 2: 11:21

Number one study, the TDMM. Don't be one of those people that says, well, everybody says that all the questions were in project management and that's all I'm going to read. No, read the entire thing, read the entire thing, read the entire thing. When I was at the Big City Conference last week, sitting in the TI and M meeting committee meetings, they talked about potentially starting the revision to the 16th edition TDMM 16th edition, talking about already revising it. The 15th edition has only been out one year. What that means is if they are to start and I don't know if they will or won't yet because there's been some pushback and I don't know what the final decision is but if they do proceed like they wanted to in Q2 of this year, that means the 16th edition will probably get published in about 12 to 18 months. So if you are thinking about getting your RCDD, if you're not thinking about getting your RCDD and you thought about it once, don't procrastinate. Do it now, because the 16th edition is coming out soon.

Speaker 2: 12:30

Another key for passing that exam is practice exams. There's lots of resources out there that you can look up. I even have practice exams, although I got to update mine for the 15th edition but I've got practice exams that I use for my study groups and that you know. The key here is immersion Immersion. Lisa from New York wants to know what study materials do you recommend? Okay, well, first, I already said you have to have the TDMM.

Speaker 2: 12:58

Take the Bixie RCD test prep course. Bixie actually started doing one like a year or so ago, right. And flashcards. Now here's the thing about flashcards. Bixie does have flashcards for the RCD exam. It does.

Speaker 2: 13:15

But I found the more senses you incorporate in the learning process, the better chances you have of learning. So write your own flashcards. Write the question on the front, the answer on the back. Now you're writing. As you're reading, you're doing multiple senses. That helps with retention. And while you're driving to the job site, hand the flashcards to your helper in advance and say, hey, quiz me and they can quiz you. While you're driving to the job site, hand the flashcards to your helper in the van and say, hey, quiz me and they can quiz you while you're driving. Why not use that downtime in traffic to help you pass that exam? It's also going to make your helper a little better too. So practice exams with flashcards. Question number five how much does it cost to take the RCD exam? This comes from Mike in Chicago. Yeah, hey, who was that? Beach Dolphin. Do you know Mike in Chicago? Because he asked the question.

Speaker 2: 14:09

Somebody said they didn't know that they had flash cards. They do. They do have flash cards. They're not paper flashcards, they're computer on your screen. And I think when I got mine last year I think I seem to remember it was only a subscription for like one year or something. So if you write your own, they never expire, right? So Mike from Chicago wants to know how expensive is the RCD exam? It ain't cheap. By any stretch of the imagination. It's not cheap.

Speaker 2: 14:39

And it depends whether you're a member, a Bixie member or non-Bixie member. I had a funny story happen to me last week at the Bixie conference. You have to be a Bixie member to participate in some of the committee meetings, and so I was walking by one of the Bixie booths and one of the personnel says Chuck, you're not a Bixie member, you got to be a Bixie member to be on the committee. I'm like, I am a Bixie member, what are you talking about? They said no, we looked you up, you're not. So I had to go to the other Bixie booth and they had to look me up and I had two Bixie numbers, two Bixie profiles, right, one that I created many, many years ago. I'm still current. I'm current until June of this year. The other one wasn't. So make sure you don't have multiple Bixie profiles. That's my point there.

Speaker 2: 15:24

Anyways, if you are a Bixie member, the exam fee is $510. For non-Bixie members, the fee is $725. That's not counting the cost of the TDMM. Okay, that's the exam fee, and if you failed it, then you've got to pay to retake it. For Bixie members it's $230 to retake it. For non-Bixie members it's $355. Pro tip here maybe see if your employer will reimburse your exam fees or re-exam fees. I know my employer paid for my exam fee and one re-exam fee because they knew that a lot of people didn't pass it on the first time and and so they gave me two of them and I was able to do that. So there you go.

Speaker 2: 16:10

Next question, let me flip back over that screen. Question number six is the RCDD an open book exam? This comes from Jessica in Denver. No, it's not an open book test. It's not, and, as I mentioned before, it's time limited, so you only have two and a half hours to take it. So you got to be intimately familiar with it inside of it and it's going to require you to apply many of the concepts that you learned in that book. It's not an open book exam.

Speaker 2: 16:39

Question number seven what happens if I fail the exam? This comes from Dave in Atlanta. Dave says I'm telling Dave right now I failed the first time. It's not the end of the world. If you do fail, you have to wait 30 days to retest. Okay, 30 days to retest. If you fail again, you have to wait 30 days to retest. Okay, 30 days to retest. If and you got if you fail again, you know, wait 30 days again. You know, if you fail again, you wait 30 days again after three attempts. Then you got to wait 90 days before you can take that test again. So that's why I always tell people don't wait to the last minute To schedule your exam. Schedule it with time, especially when you're getting near a revision, because if they change the test you're going to be up the creek without a paddle. I know of a guy that literally took that exam 12 times, 12 times Right, 12 times.

Speaker 2: 17:30

Question number eight what jobs can I get with an RCDD? Well, daryl, the RCDD can tell you he's got a good job. I've got a good job. Now this is asked by Tom in Phoenix. Here's the thing. It depends on what interests you. You know you can continue doing what you're doing.

Speaker 2: 17:50

I've had many people who are techs in the field. They got the RCDD and they continue to work in the field. There's nothing wrong with that. You can go into ICT as an IT consultant. You can go as a network designer, estimating projects. It'll help you launch a career in project management. I already kind of mentioned estimating Maybe even a data center engineer. You can even go into QA, become an instructor, do QA inspections right, and many of those, many, most of those roles that I've already talked about have higher salaries, especially if you get the RCD. When I got my RCD, I got a raise literally within a month, a significant raise. I won't say what the dollar value was. It was a good raise, I'll tell you on another day. Maybe, if you ever see me in person and you buy me a beer, I'll tell you the story behind it, because it's a really long, long story.

Speaker 2: 18:47

Question number nine this comes from Eric in Seattle. How do I maintain my RCD certification? As I mentioned, you don't want to let it expire, you don't? It's valid for three years once you get it, and every three years you have to do two things you have to attend at least one Bixie conference. At least one Bixie conference, it's all about networking and you have to get 45 continuing education credits. Tj's in the house, bixie's member of the year is in the house yes, so you have to have one Bixie conference and 45 CECs. 45 CECs that sounds like a lot but it's spread over three years. If you go to a Bixie conference, you get something from going to the concert. A concert, yeah. Where's my mind at tonight Conference? Yes, I was talking to tj at the, at the at the conference when he was telling me he had, like I don't know, an ungodly number of ccs already under his belt this year. I already, I think, when I looked at mine, at 120 already. So 45 ccs, as tj says in the house, it is not hard to get, especially in today's environment. You know there's a lot 181 there it is. That's how many cecs he already has. So he's good to go you.

Speaker 2: 20:04

There's a lot of manufacturers do webinars one hour webinars. You can get cecs for that. Um, you can get them from going to the bixi conferences tech fest which is happening in april. I know that for a fact that they're working on getting that event recognized for CECs. There's no reason Cable Installation made this magazine. They do one-hour webinars every month. There's no reason for you not to be able to get 45 CECs. So when it comes time to renew, you do have to pay to renew. If you're a member it's $225. Non-member it's $385. The key is don't wait until the month before you expire to check your CECs. Get them, stay on top of them, know how many you've got. I look at mine every quarter and I just renewed my RCDD and I just attended a conference, so I know that I'm already at like 35 or so already just for this year.

Speaker 2: 21:01

Michelle in Nashville, what's some best advice for passing the RCDD? So I have three tips. Number one master that TDMM, the Telecommunications Distribution Methods Manual. Read the entire thing, not just the project management chapters. Read the entire thing. If you have questions going through the things, ask your peers. Management chapters Read the entire thing. If you have questions going through the things, ask your peers. Heck, you can even ask me, shoot me questions. I answer them online all the time. I'll answer them on LinkedIn, facebook. I might even make a video out of it, just if it's good enough.

Speaker 2: 21:33

Take practice exams. I already mentioned that earlier. There's plenty of them out there. I have practice exams and then make sure that you understand what you're reading and how it applies to the real world. Ok, don't just memorize. Apply it as you're reading through the TMM. Think about how that's going to impact your job or how your job could have been better had you read that before.

Speaker 2: 21:54

Question number 11. How long should I study before taking the RCD exam? This comes from Brian in Los Angeles. Great question, brian, great question. And it depends. It truly depends. Now, if you go by what Bixie recommends. They recommend 150 to 200 hours if you have experience in ICT, or 200 hours if you're new to ICT.

Speaker 2: 22:21

When I studied for mine, I had 20 years of experience. I studied way more than 200 hours because I had to battle 20 years of being taught how to do it incorrectly to doing it correctly. And in high school I was actually labeled a junior I'm sorry, junior. I was labeled SLRD Special Learning and Reading Disabilities. I could argue that I got that label because I was too lazy on an exam one day. So I'm always battling that.

Speaker 2: 22:51

I have to put my hands on stuff to learn stuff. And when you're taking your RCDD, that's why I said highlight it in the book Do color. Tj likes doing color coding stuff. When he does his fiber optic enclosures, highlight with different color Sharpies, write on those flashcards that you're going to make, write the answers on the back by incorporating all those different senses. It's going to help you memorize. Help you memorize. Tj, you need to get your RCDD this year. I'm challenging you to get your RCD within the next 12 months. Question number 12. Can a military veteran use the GI Bill to pay for the RCD exam? This comes from James in San Diego. Now, I don't really know the answer to this, because I am not a veteran.

Speaker 2: 23:33

But I know somebody who is and I will ask them. I'll probably see them tomorrow night, so I'm going to defer this question until then. I have a feeling. I have a feeling TJ says agreed, it's happening this year. Tj, if you need help, you know somebody. You know somebody. So my feeling is it probably does. But the best thing to do is check the VA website and then also you can also go to the Bixby website and I think they've got a special page off of that that's going to help that as well. So Daryl says I work with veterans every day, and yes, they can. So Daryl says he works with veterans, and yes, they can. So there you go, thank you, daryl. I appreciate that. I appreciate that.

Speaker 2: 24:10

Question number 13. What are the most difficult topics on the RST exam? This comes from Ethan in Toronto. So again, it really all depends. People with background like me maybe TJ, maybe Daryl where we work with day in, day out, pulling, terminating, designing cable plants, we're going to fly through the fill ratios and the bend ratios and the conduit sizing, but we might have problems when it comes to wireless or DAS systems. Talking about the coverage design, antenna placement, somebody like me who's done a tiny bit of outside plant, I might struggle with that. I might struggle with the data center chapter. So it kind of really all depends on your background and what you're used to. The key is, if you fly through the easy stuff, okay, fine and dandy, double down on the tough stuff. Double down on the tough stuff.

Speaker 2: 25:02

Question number 14. What is the difference between an RCDD and a Bixie Technician certification? Bixie Tech this comes from Kevin in Dallas. I used to live in Dallas, I used to live in Plano. So I am both. I am an RCDD and a Bixie Tech. You can see the certificates back there. That's the RCDD, that's the certificate, that's my tech. So the biggest difference is the RCDD focuses on designing right, designing structured cabling, designing pathways, designing outside plant data centers. It's designing outside plant data centers. The Bixie tech really focuses on hands-on stuff installing, terminating copper and fiber and some project management skills, like for lead project or for running crews or stuff like that. So the tech is more hands-on. But, like I said, many techs will pursue their tech first and then get their RCDD afterwards.

Speaker 2: 26:01

Question number 15. I told you I'd get through all 15. What happens if my RCDD expires? This comes from Tom in Atlanta. So the first thing I'm going to say to you, tom, is why did you let it expire? Don't let it expire, yes. So if it does expire, you do have some options, and Bix has gotten really good about sending emails ahead of time that your RCD is about to expire or your text is about to expire. Don't ignore those. Don't ignore those.

Speaker 2: 26:32

As soon as you get that, go check your CECs. Make sure you have them all online, right? So you do have a grace period. I believe the grace period is 90 days to submit your CECs and renew. But the thing is, I do believe those CECs have to be before your RCD expired, though you can't expire and then go get the CECs within a 90-day and then try to get it. You need to have them done before. If you wait past the 90 days, your RCD becomes inactive. If you wait up to a year, you lost your certification. You got to retake the exam again and that's not fun. That is not fun. So make sure that you track your CECs, always keep an eye on them.

Speaker 2: 27:14

Jacob's in the house. He said he just started studying and there's definitely a lot of unlearning to do to pass that test. Amen, brother, I agree with you. 150%. I truly, truly do you know? I'm thinking maybe next week, next week, maybe I might do the same thing. Here they are, maybe I might do the same thing. Here's my Bixi RCD sticker, my Bixi RCD sticker that I got at the conference. It's in concert again Dang it man. Yes, I might do this next week for people who are pursuing their Bixie Tech certifications. Let me know if that's going to be of value. Tell me in chat boxes. Would something like this be of interest if I changed it and talked about the Bixie Tech next week? Okay, let me know. All right, everybody of interest if I change it and talk about the bixie tech next week? Okay, let me know. All right, everybody.

Speaker 2: 28:04

It is 6 31. Mama's cooking dinner out there. Tyler johnson says yes, uh, mama's cooking dinner out there. She's making hamburgers. I think, oh, it smells good, mmm smells good. So I'm gonna sign off. And, uh, go get me some hamburgers and get geared up for the study group tonight. Take care, everybody. Remember knowledge is power.

Speaker 1: 28:24

Thanks for listening to let's Talk Cabling, the award-winning podcast where knowledge is power and the low-voltage industry connects. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with your crew. Got questions or ideas for the show? Chuck wants to hear from you. Stay connected, stay informed and always aim for excellence. Until next time, keep those cables clean, your standards high and your future bright. Let's talk cabling empowering the industry, one connection at a time.