How to Study for a Microsoft SharePoint Certification Exam - presented at SharePoint Saturday Chicago Suburbs May 2014

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How to Study for a MicrosoftSharePoint Certification ExamMICHAEL BLUMENTHAL, MCITP, MCPD, MCSE, MCDBA,

MCTS

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Who is Michael Blumenthal?

• Sr. Solution Architectat PSC Group

• CSPUG Co-Leader• 19 years in IT Consulting• 11 years of SharePoint • MCP Since 1995• Passed 25 exams• MCPD• MCITP• MCSE• MCDBA

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This is about you

• Devs?• Admins?• MCPs?• Last time you took a test on a computer?• Work for an MSFT Partner?

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Agenda

Goals

Strategy & Exam Tactics

Rewards• Of Certification; Also Session Raffle

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Goal Identification

Knowledge

Resume Builder

Pick a Tangible Reward

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Strategies

A+ or Pass

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Exams are divided by role

IT Pro

Dev

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Exams are Paths to Titles: IT Pro Path

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MCSE SharePoint

MCSA Win2012S 70-331 70-332MCSA Win2012S

2013 Core Solutions

2013 Adv Solutions

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MCSA Win2012 Server

70-410

70-411

70-412

70-417OR

Install Config Admin Advanced

Services

Upgrade

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Exams are Paths to Titles: Dev Path

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MCSD SharePoint Apps

70-480 70-486 70-488 70-489CSS, JS, H5

MVC4 Web

SPDev Core

SPDev Adv

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Recertification

MCSE SharePoint

•3 yrs

MCSD SharePoint

•2 yrs

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Now you’ve picked an exam

Syllabus Playground Guided Study

Practice Exams

Schedule & Go

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Syllabus – the skills measured

• http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/exam-70-331.aspx

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You need a playground!

Create or rent a Virtual Machine!

Cloudshare

Hyper-V or VmwareAzure

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Finding Study Books

Exam Web Page will list MS Press books

Search Amazon by 70-xxx exam

number

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11/21/13 ->1/31/14 -> 7/1?

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Use the Source, Luke!

TechNet

MSDN

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Study Videos

• http://bit.ly/1jpdKA8• Watch for Shannon Bray,

@noidentity29

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Practice Exams

Braindumps Bad!

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Legitimate Practice Test Providers

• Not all exams have practice tests. As of 5/16/2014:• MeasureUp has ITP 2013

exams, has 4 2010 exams

• Transcender has no 2013 exams, has 3 2010 exams, has 70-480

• SelfTest has no 2013 exams, has 2 2010 exams, has 70-480

MeasureUp.com

SelfTestSoftware.com

Transcender.com

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Taking the exam

Schedule at Prometric.com• $150 or Exam Vouchers

Find a location and time that works for you

More secure than an airplane• Bring photo ID

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Prometric makes TSA look 2nd Rate

• Video at http://vimeo.com/74953443

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The Testing Kiosk

• Locked Down• Assisted sign-in• Profile Questions• The actual Exam • Comment Period

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You vs the Computer for 3 hours

• Active screen • Build list • Case studies • Create-a-tree• Drag and drop• Hot area

• Multiple-choice• Repeated answer

choices• Simulations• Short answer code• Best answer

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Active Screen

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/activeScreen.wmv

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Build List

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/buildList.wmv

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Case Study

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/caseStudy.wmv

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Create a Tree

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/createTree.wmv

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Drag and Drop

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/dragDrop.wmv

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Hot Area

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/hotAnswer.wmv

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Multiple Choice

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/multipleChoiceCodeColor.wmv

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Repeated Answer Choices

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/repeated_answer_series.wmv

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Simulations

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/simulation.wmv

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Short Answer Code

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/shortAnswer.wmv

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Best Answer

• http://mediadl.microsoft.com/mediadl/www/l/learning/video/certification/exam/bestAnswer.wmv

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Standard Strategies Apply

• Do all the easy ones first• If it will take more than 2 minutes, mark it, skip it,

return to it• Answer every question• Eliminate bad answers

• Case studies take longer• Time is NOT your friend

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The Score Report

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Email from Microsoft

• Arrives a few days later• Confirms MSFT has received results from Prometric

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MCP.Microsoft.com

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Transcript

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Reward Yourself

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Frame a Certificate

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Trying Again

• Second Shot• http://

www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/second-shot.aspx

• Free until May 31, 2014• Also saves you 20%

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In Review

Syllabus Playground Guided Study

Practice Exams

Schedule & Go

Set Goals Pick Exams

Pass Exams Reward Yourself

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Raffle

• Win Exam Ref Books!

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Come to our both for a chance to win!

• ASUS Transformer Book T100TA-C1-GR Touchscreen 2 in 1

• Sells for $399!• 10.1-inch HD

touchscreen• Up to 11 hours battery

life

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Questions& Raffle

• Michael BlumenthalSharePoint ArchitectPSC Group, LLC

• [email protected]• psclistens.com• www.cspug.org• Blog.blumenthalit.com• Twitter: @MichaelBL• SPYam & MWC Yam

Thank you for your time today.