Software Development, Mathematics and Other Writings

Microsoft Certification – Study Strategy Podcast
Lenght: 11:58
File Size: 11,235KB
Created: 5/27/2007

If you are new to the Microsoft certification exams, one of the questions you’ll probably develop quickly is what areas should I study? I’ve outlined a study strategy I use and that can be applied even if you aren’t using the same materials.

Materials:
- Microsoft Study Kit books (includes practice exams)
- MeasureUp.com practice exams
- msdn.com

As long as the book you are using has some type of practice exam software and you are using an additional practice exam service, this strategy should apply. Scoring 90% should be a minimum on any of the sub test, full practice test and certification mode test. Of course, the closer to 100%, the better.

Start with the book

Look at the practice exam software included in the book. There will be different modes for taking a test – practice and certification. Additionally, the software will allow you to test by certain sections. Choose a test category from the software and read over those corresponding chapters in the book. While going through each lesson in the chapters, be sure you feel confident in answering the end of lesson questions.

Once you have completed all chapters pertaining to a section in the book software, take the test just for that section (sub test). After completing the test, go through every question and research any unfamiliar areas on msdn.com. Especially spend time to understand why you missed questions and follow them to msdn.com. To save time searching the large MSDN library, try any of the echo $content; ?> for your particular exam.

The use of msdn.com is important since the book will not cover everything. The book provides a good overview and lets you know what areas you should research further on msdn.com. Always ask questions while you are reading the book and test answers. Follow those questions up with research on msdn.com. Keep drilling down at msdn.com on the topic in question. In the end, you should be comfortable with the topic.

Keep going along at this pace of reading a few chapters (sometimes a single chapter) from the book and taking the corresponding sub test. Eventually, you will complete the book and have taken all test. At that time, you will start taking test with 45 or 50 questions from all sections. Have the software choose questions you have missed and skip those you have gotten correct. The software isn’t perfect and will make mistakes here. As new books are published, hopefully the software will become more accurate.

It’s important to not take test back to back. If your score was below 90%, don’t do a little reading just on missed questions and take another test. This is a waste of tests. Additionally, there is still fundamental knowledge and understanding that you lack at this point. It should be a big event when a test is failed. Think of it as failing a real certification exam test. Rather than just reading, be hands on with areas you don’t understand. Write small code snippets to solidify the area in question. Keep reading about the topic on msdn.com. Keep following links on the topic. The rabbit hole is deep but the time spent here will pay off.

Now begin using the practice exam service

Once you are getting above 90% consistently, it’s time to begin using the exam service. You’ll be coming into these last set of practice exams with a good foundation. At this point, you shouldn’t feel completely lost on any area but not quite an expert either. Here’s where you become an expert.

MeasureUp.com software is nearly the same as the book software. In fact, MeasureUp probably wrote the book software you are using (you’ll see their logo if so). Starting here with a small number of questions, maybe 15, is a good choice. You’ll probably miss questions but you won’t have so much to focus on vs. if you started with 45 – 50 questions. That will come later. For this small set, you’ll be able to focus on finding out why you missed questions. From here on, msdn.com will be your source. Be sure to have the test software not show questions you got correct and show those you have missed. As with the book software, this software isn’t perfect in this area either.

Once you are feeling confident with the smaller exams, move on to 45 – 50 question exams or certification mode. You should be scoring well at this point. Remember not to take exams back to back. Spend much time researching areas you missed. Always ask questions and then research those questions on msdn.com.

Hopefully by now, you’ve taken several full length exams from the book and done well. You’ve done the same with a test service. Being ready for the exam is a matter of how confident you feel. If you feel as though you can’t take any more practice exams, have been getting high scores, by all means, go for it! It’s a matter of how you feel.

It’s Time

Each exam covers much material. You may in fact see questions on the real exam that you just aren’t sure of the answers to. Don’t be intimidated. Fall back on what you know. You’ve learned a lot and it is all there fresh in your head.

Mark any questions you aren’t sure of and move on. If you finish before time is up (very likely you’ll have plenty of time to spare), go back and look over your marked questions. Now you have time to think more about the problem. What looks familiar or what makes the most sense? Can A really work with B – that doesn’t look right? Use all of the time you have left if need be. It’s free time at this point.

Again, being ready is a matter of how confident you are with the material. The above outline is a good path for getting you there.

Enjoy the studying and good luck!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 11:53 pm and is filed under Microsoft Certifications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.