Best Way To Pass Microsoft Certification Exam

Pankaj Patel
Apr 27, 2020

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Article Overview

Background
Prerequisites
Best Way To Pass Microsoft Certification Exam
Complete Example
Summary

Background

There was a situation where I had to pass various Microsoft certification exams and I also had to make one team of Microsoft Certified Professionals. I did not know the ABCs of such examinations.

So, it was a very good, challenging and interesting experience which is why I am sharing with you here. I trust this will help you. This is for both beginners and professionals.

Prerequisites

It will be good, if you have some hands on experience of Microsoft Technology or Tools for which you would like to pass the exam.

Best Way To Pass Microsoft Certification Exam

Following are the important activities and best ways to pass the Microsoft certification exam,

Have Desire - Self Commitment.
Do Proper Homework - Microsoft sites.
Prepare Best Plan - Plan, Execute, Monitor, Control, and Revise.
Find Good Study Material - Book, Tutorial Sites, Googling/Internet, Videos, Dump, and Practice Tests.
Practice using the Technology & Tools - Enough practical/practice is MUST.
Take Notes while Studying - Best for revision.
Take Exam - Purchase voucher, Schedule exam, and Pass.
Golden Rules - Dos and Don'ts.

Now, let’s discuss each topic/activity one by one in details.

1. Have Desire - Self Commitment

The first and most important basic thing is self willingness and desire for the certification. If someone is forcing you to get certified then there will be less probability to pass the exam. So, let us first self commit to it.

2. Do Proper Homework - Microsoft sites

Remember our school days, where we had to do lots of homework before the actual exam? The same is required here.

So, before beginning you have to understand the various available exams, road map of it, which exam is best for you, what will be the benefits to you after that exam, what is the exam pattern and scoring methodology, when it expires, materials resources for that exam, voucher schemes and purchase benefits, etc.

“Tips to Become a Microsoft Certified Professional” is one of the good articles for this.

I would strongly recommend the official sites of Microsoft such as,

Certifications: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/
Microsoft Certification exams : https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-list.aspx
Role-based certifications: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/certification-overview.aspx
Browse Role-based Certifications: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/browse-all-certifications.aspx
Offers: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/offers.aspx

3. Prepare Best Plan - Plan, Execute, Monitor, Control, and Revise

A plan is important because it's the foundation to help your project objectives and achieve your ultimate goals.

So, let us make the best plan,

First, you have to decide the time line for the preparation and examination. I would recommend to making it 3 to 4 months instead of making it a long time.
Second, give proper weight to each of the exam topics/skills and sub-topics according to your capability/experience and weakness.
Third, align proper time for the book reading, dump practice, internet material, for the practice, and etc.
Fourth, keep some buffer time for additional unknown preparation.

Now, once your plan is ready it’s time to execute it, monitoring and controlling is required to stick with a plan. Sometimes you may have to revise the plan.

Note that, here below in “Complete Example” part I have given one real time example of the plan.

4. Find Good Study Material - Book, Tutorial Sites, Googling/Internet, Videos, Dump, and Practice Tests

Now, it’s time to start preparation. So, find good study material from a trusted resource. Basically, you need various types of material instead of a single one.

Following are the key categories,

Book
My first choice is the official books published by Microsoft, because it includes all the topics step by step according to the exam topics. It includes theoretical concepts as well as practical scenarios. So, first let’s start with it.
Tutorial Sites
There will be different topics and sub-topics in the exam. Hence, according to topic you need to go through its official sites or tutorials.

Note that, here below in the “Complete Example” part I have given one real time example of this.
Googling/Internet
There will be chances that some of the topics you cannot find in book or tutorial sites or you may need additional research. So, do it according to your need.
Videos
Sometimes it’s easy to learn from videos for some people or for some topics. But, it is not mandatory to go through the videos.
Dump
It is not compulsory to have dumps. But, it is very helpful to know the way of asking the questions as well as to know the pattern of questions. It also makes you speedy in terms of reading questions as well as to select correct option(s). So, if you have around 200 distinct (unique) dump questions with then it will be your advantage to crack the exam. One of the most important things about the dump selection is it should be the latest and must be taken from trusted resources.
Practice Tests
Practice tests increase your confidence as well as speed up you for completing an exam. But, it is not mandatory to give practice tests.

5. Practice using the Technology & Tools - Enough practical/practice is MUST

Practice makes perfect. So, do as much as practice and practical work as you can. You must do actual practicals/practice for each of the topics instead of only dumps or reading. This will not only help you a lot during the exam but also in the future while doing actual implementation or development. This will also help you in your professional life.

6. Take Notes while Studying - Best for revision

Taking notes while studying will help you a lot for doing quick revisions before exams. So, take notes during the whole preparation time from beginning to the end of exam.

7. Take Exam - Purchase voucher, Schedule exam, and Pass

Now, it’s time to complete your mission and that is to take and pass the exam.

For that, you need to do the following things,

Purchase Vouchers
First of all you have a voucher to take an exam. There will be various offers and discounts on the voucher purchase. So, you have to select which one is the best offer for you.
Schedule Exam
Second, you need to schedule an exam on the particular day and time. So, schedule it according to your suitable time and place.
Give Exam
Be available earlyon the exam day. Be relaxed on exam day as well as during the exam. It may happen that by going though a couple of questions you realized that you will definitely fail. But, do not predict such negativity and do not put your weapons down until completing the battle. So, be calm, cool, and confident until the last question. Manage your time and yourself while taking the exam.
Result - Retake
You will get the result immediately after completing the exam. You may fail in your first attempt. So, do not get nerves and accept it. Think and focus on the weaker skill areas in the result score card, restart the preparation and retake until you pass.
Pass
Be focused and fight until you pass.

8. Golden Rules - Dos and Don'ts

At least 200 hours preparations is essential.
Find good study materials.
Take notes while studying.
Practice using the technology.
Relax on the exam day.
Dump, training, and practice test, etc. are not compulsory.
Time line should be within 3 to 4 months.

Complete Example

Let’s assume that you want to pass “Exam 70-480: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3”.

Let’s prepare your plan by following the below steps,

Understand the Skills Measured.
Identify different Topics and Categories
Select good Material and Resources.
Prepare High Level Plan.
Prepare Detailed Plan

1. Understand the Skills Measured

Implement and Manipulate Document Structures and Objects (20-25%).
Implement Program Flow (25-30%)
Access and Secure Data (25-30%)
Use CSS3 in Applications (25-30%)

2. Identify different Topics and Categories

HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery

3. Select good Material and Resources

Book: “Exam Ref 70-480: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3”.
HTML5: W3Schools Online Web Tutorials.
CSS3: W3Schools Online Web Tutorials.
JavaScript: W3Schools Online Web Tutorials.
jQuery: official site of the jQuery.
Dumps: some relevant sites according to the search.

4. Prepare High Level Plan

First, you have to prepare a high level plan to cover preparation hours for the material and topics according to your skills capability and experience.