How to prepare and submit.
Hello, my name is Margarita, and in this article I would like to talk about the features of Microsoft exams, share my experience and give useful advice to those, who decide to get certificates.
Each specialist chooses motivation for himself and decides whether he needs certification, but here is what Microsoft themselves write about its advantages:
"After being certified, 67% of technicians feel more confident about their ability to get the job done, 41% are more satisfied with their job, and 35% report a pay increase." – Pearson VUE (2018) IT Certification Value Report.
My motivation was the following:
* open the mind;
* avoid stagnation in development. Obtaining a certificate is an objective metric and a convenient goal;
* declare your and team competence in order to compete for more interesting projects. It's like planting seeds that will sprout when a qualified person is needed.
Overview of Microsoft Certifications
Since January, Microsoft has completely switched to a new approach to certifying specialists. Now, instead of many different exams with the code 70-***, aimed at individual technologies or products, the so-called role-based certifications have been introduced, which imply that a single certificate confirms the broad skills of a specialist in a particular area. So, for example, to get it on the Azure platform, you need to pass exams with the code AZ-***, for Power Platform - PL-***, for a security specialist - SC-***, and so on.
Recently, a colleague asked why he received a certification badge with only one asterisk - does this mean that he passed badly? The thing is that certifications in different areas are divided into three levels of complexity: Fundamentals, Associate and Expert. This is a kind of certification like gamification.
The beautiful badge of the Fundamentals level certificate has one star, the Expert level has three. Narrow specializations stand a little apart. Windows Virtual Desktop Specialty, for example, does not fit into the general hierarchy and does not have asterisks at all.
Another point that often misleads people, who are faced with certifications for the first time is that passing an exam successfully does not mean obtaining a certificate. Often, this requires passing one or more exams from the prerequisites for this certification. For example, Azure Solutions Architect Expert requires two exams with codes AZ-303 and AZ-304.
When registering for the exam, you are given options for choosing a language, it is recommended to take the exam in English. The original questions are in English and may not always be localized.
The validity period of the certificate depends on its type and date of issue. Fundamentals do not have an expiration date, larger ones do the opposite. Those who passed the exam before June 2021 received certificates that are valid for two years. Those who pass the exam after this date will receive a certificate that will be valid for one year. But the good news is that Microsoft has developed a certification renewal process right on the Microsoft learn portal. It is free and only requires you to complete a short test. It can be done repeatedly with an interval of one day, if it didn't work out on the first try.
Why is this certification required?
Obtaining a Microsoft certificate will give you an acceleration in your career, interesting projects and, of course, higher wages.
In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to soft skills, working with clients, organizational issues, but I believe that it is very important to update technical skills. Certification is a great way to improve your own knowledge. In addition, certifications provide additional bonuses for Microsoft partners.
It was easy for me personally to choose certification. Since I have a developer background in the past and I like the Azure platform, I decided that the goal would be the Azure Developer Associate certification, respectively the AZ-204 exam. Already in the process of preparation, I found out that there are certificates of different levels, and I decided to first pass the AZ-900 to receive Azure Fundamentals, which seemed like an easier start. As a result, we did just that, and then returned to our main goal.
Training
10 years ago, when I took my first exam, the main source of information was a paper book. As it turned out, although the book is a good source of information, it is still not suitable as the main resource for preparation. This is rather an optional addition, since the content of the book is very fragmentary, although it repeats the sections of the exam structurally.
Since I like listening to podcasts, I tried to find something on the topic of certifications. I came across mostly releases from trainers selling their courses, but thanks to the overview information, I got an idea of how much time it would take to prepare. A preliminary estimate of two months turned out to be erroneous - by twice.
But thanks to the Internet, I found a great and perfect solution! Ekascloud online trainings, and chose the best training option:
* we divided the preparation into three approximately equal stages: theory development, practice, tests, and all this with an individual trainer in one-on-one classes.
Theory
At this stage, I tried to get as much as possible of a general idea of each of the sections of certification, especially paying attention to topics in which I had the least experience.
Practice
I have heard more than once that certification does not guarantee the availability of skills and in general you can prepare for dumps (more on them below). The study of practical tasks just allows you to get real skills, consolidate theoretical knowledge and close the gaps, if any, remained after studying the theory.
The ideal scenario is when you can get practical experience from real projects, but if this is not possible, there are a huge number of practical tasks in the public domain. The Microsoft Learn portal has an excellent selection of materials for the AZ-204 exam and many others. Each module is a training scenario, there is a set of services and instructions for execution. Some modules are purely theoretical, others require a real Azure subscription, often a free trial subscription for the duration.
Another source of practical assignments is the labs on GitHub in the account. This approach is slightly less interactive, but not inferior in quality, since the content is detailed and understandable.
Practice tests
If theory and practice largely make us better as professionals, then taking practice tests teaches us to take tests to a greater extent, which in itself is not so valuable. But still, I learned from the tests. Many nuances became clear after reading specific questions and finding the right answers.
Perhaps this part of the preparation most affects the success of the exam. There is an opportunity to get acquainted with the structure, understand the level of complexity, pull up some topics, close the remaining gaps, if any. All tests have explanations for questions and links to documentation.
Many questions in the tests were similar to questions from a real exam, so it makes sense to take them several times, especially if the first attempt failed to get a passing score.
How can I pass the exam
There are two options for submission: at the certification center or online. In the past, confidence in online exams was low due to many technical difficulties, sometimes biased proctors - the people who oversee the process - and ambiguous requirements for preparing the site for delivery. Therefore, many experts sought to take it offline.
Now, the opposite picture is observed, largely due to the epidemiological situation: people want to take online tests, technical failures are less common, the procedure for preparing a workplace is described in detail and clearly, and, in my opinion, this is the preferred option. Microsoft does not directly examine specialists, it is done by third-party providers: Pearson VUE and PSI.
When registering, you need to choose a convenient date and time, after which instructions are sent to the mail. It contains information on how to prepare the workplace, a non-disclosure agreement that you should read in advance, and a link to the workplace testing program in accordance with official requirements.
The requirements are quite strict: during the passage, you can use only one monitor, the others must be either disabled or removed; within reach there should not be any foreign objects; before the exam, you need to take a photo of the workplace from all sides; during the entire exam, the webcam must be turned on and you must not leave the visibility zone; you can't take notes on paper (there is an electronic whiteboard in the software itself for this); you can't say questions aloud and even move your lips; you can not wear a watch; during the exam, outsiders cannot enter the room.
All requirements are aimed at fighting cheaters. Violation of the rules may lead to the cancellation of the exam, payment is not refundable. It is also recommended to connect to the router directly via a cable to avoid possible interruptions in Wi-Fi, and it is forbidden to use mobile Internet when taking the exam under Windows OS. There are many other nuances described in the instructions. If any points are missed, during the exam, the proctor will contact you via chat or call your mobile phone and ask you to follow the instructions.
The duration depends on the type and level of difficulty. For example, the AZ-204 (Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure) exam lasts two and a half hours and contains 40 to 60 questions. In addition, additional time is given before and after the exam to complete workplace preparation and give feedback on the exam or individual questions, if there is something to share. The AZ-900 (Microsoft Azure Fundamentals) exam is only an hour long.
You can see how much time is left on the screen. Since questions can be of different difficulty levels, it is worth keeping track of time so as not to linger too long on any one. It makes sense to start preparing half an hour before the scheduled start in order to go through all the procedures in a calm mode.
The maximum score for the exam is 1000 points, while a score of 700 or more means a successful pass. It is important to understand that points are awarded for each correct answer, but are not deducted for incorrect ones. Therefore, if you are not sure which option to choose, it is better to choose the one that seems most suitable than to leave it completely unanswered.
Exam questions can be divided into sections. After moving to a new section, it will no longer be possible to return to the previous one, view everything, change answers, or correct something. At the same time, there is only one section in AZ-900 (Microsoft Azure Fundamentals), while there can be several sections in Associate or Expert level exams. This is worth considering.
Also, in the process, you can mark questions so that it is easy to find them during the review.
Questions are of several types:
* with one answer option;
* with several answer options, it is usually indicated how many options you need to choose;
* choosing the correct and placing in the correct order options from the list;
* filling gaps in a diagram or code;
* Scenarios (Case Study) - a set of several questions to a general extensive scenario, where it is understood that you need to make the right decision after reading the description of an existing or planned solution. My AZ-204 exam had two Case Studies in separate sections.
General recommendations
If you have made the decision to certify, there is a huge range of opportunities to prepare. Even if you have extensive experience, it is worth taking a practice test before signing up for the exam itself.
As a minimum set, I would recommend purchasing a course for the selected exam in Elascloud training. Of course, there will be expenses for educational materials, but this will allow you to get more structured training and increase your chances of success.
The story would be incomplete if I didn't mention dumps. A dump is a set of questions that someone remembered during the exam, wrote out and posted in the public domain. In my opinion, this is pure evil for several reasons:
* Dumps are cheating.
* Even if we assume that the dump recreates the question with perfect accuracy, for example, compiled by a person who owns mnemonics, or simply collected using a hidden camera, in any case, only the compilers of the exam know the correct answer. Thus, by memorizing the wrong answer, you can do great harm to yourself.
* We all want to work in a professional environment, while people preparing for dump exams discredit the value of certifications and indirectly may even discredit the products for which they are certified, making questionable decisions, hiding behind a certificate.
Despite the fact that the price of the exam is very moderate compared to the time spent on preparation, even here you can save money. For Fundamentals level exams, Microsoft conducts virtual trainings, the so-called Virtual trainings days, in the format of one or more webinars. By attending such a webinar on a selected topic, you will receive a voucher for free change.
For higher-level exams, Microsoft runs challenges. Some pass constantly, and some are tied to events. For example, recently there was a large-scale challenge tied to the Microsoft Ignite conference. This is a set of learning modules on Microsoft Learn that must be completed in a month. Depending on the type of challenge, after it you will receive a discount or a voucher for a free exam.
I think such initiatives are great motivation, and programs are worth participating in. In addition to giving knowledge, gamification matters, where the discount is a kind of achievement. It is valid for a limited time (usually 1 or 3 months), which will also be an additional motivation not to put off putting it on the back burner.
It makes sense to delve deeper into topics that will be useful in work or preparation for subsequent exams. For example, the AZ-900 only scratches the surface of working with Azure Storage, but it will still be a good help in learning the nuances and will definitely come in handy in the future.
Last words
I would advise everyone, who is just at the beginning of the journey, not to ignore certifications and training in Ekascloud. They are very structured, simple and allow you to prepare yourself as much as possible by doing one-on-one individual training with a trainer. This allows you to fully focus on the educational material and not worry.
I strongly recommend that anyone who is preparing to take the Microsoft Azure platform exams get their own subscription, as many topics are difficult to work through without access to it. Microsoft provides a free subscription for a month, but even after this period it is worth continuing and switching to Pay-As-You-Go, and if possible, use a student subscription or a partner option. If you use a personal subscription only for training and remember to delete resources after experimenting, the monthly fee rarely exceeds a couple of dollars. This, in my opinion, is quite a moderate cost for the experience gained. In addition, many things can only be checked through free resources.
The experience of passing the exam itself was very interesting for me. It was as if I had returned to the time of my studies at the institute: pleasant excitement, waiting for the exam, the result.
There is a fine line between passing an exam and failing. There are many stories on the Internet about how people scored a little less than 700 points on the first attempt, took a couple of days of respite and passed successfully on the second attempt. I think a failed attempt is also a valuable experience. To some extent, even more valuable than passing the first time, because, in addition to the need to find internal motivation to overcome oneself and achieve the goal, this demonstrates the complexity of certification and the value of obtaining it.
I would advise anyone who is interested to find the opportunity and resources to achieve Microsoft certification, and not only on the Azure platform. This is a valuable experience that everyone will benefit from. After all, we all want to be surrounded by professionals!
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