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.
I would strongly recommend the official sites of Microsoft such as,
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Certifications: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/
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Microsoft Certification exams : https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-list.aspx
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Role-based certifications: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/certification-overview.aspx
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Browse Role-based Certifications: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/browse-all-certifications.aspx
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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,
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,
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Pass
Be focused and fight until you pass.
8. Golden Rules - Dos and Don'ts
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At least 200 hours preparations is essential.
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Find good study materials.
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Take notes while studying.
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Practice using the technology.
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Dump, training, and practice test, etc. are not compulsory.
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Time line should be within 3 to 4 months.
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
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Implement and Manipulate Document Structures and Objects (20-25%).
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Implement Program Flow (25-30%)
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Access and Secure Data (25-30%)
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Use CSS3 in Applications (25-30%)
2. Identify different Topics and Categories
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HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery
3. Select good Material and Resources
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Book: “Exam Ref 70-480: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3”.
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HTML5: W3Schools Online Web Tutorials.
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CSS3: W3Schools Online Web Tutorials.
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JavaScript: W3Schools Online Web Tutorials.
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jQuery: official site of the jQuery.
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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.
5. Prepare Detailed Plan
Second, you have to prepare a detailed plan and you have to plan your day by day routine in detail. This should be based on high level plan.
Summary
Now, I believe you know the best way to pass a Microsoft Certification Exam.