Getting ready for your first Microsoft Certification

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Everyone’s learning journey is unique and the process of acquiring new technical skills can be overwhelming. It's not always clear which resources will be the most beneficial for you and your learning path. The Microsoft Learn Community and our Learn experts are here to help you build expertise, answer your questions, and help you achieve career goals. One of the best ways to validate your skills is with world-class, industry recognized Microsoft certifications.

 

Benefits of getting certified
The process of getting a Microsoft certification will take time and focus, but the proven benefits are worth the effort. Microsoft Certification continues to be the industry standard in verifying technical proficiency and demonstrating that you’re keeping pace with today’s technology. They demonstrate that learners have the skills and ability to effectively perform current and future job responsibilities using Microsoft technologies. The advantages of achieving a certification include:

 

Proof of technical proficiency
Demonstrates that you are keeping pace with technology
Showcases foundational, specific to job role, and technical skills
Learn multiple aspects of a new technology
Expand your skillset outside your current job role and build your technical profile
Demonstrate your expertise to your existing or prospective employers
Gain confidence in your skills and stand out from your peers
Learn in your own timeframe

How to get started
You must first determine which path you want to follow. If you are pursuing a certification related to Azure, then we recommend you begin with Fundamentals. Microsoft offers several fundamental certifications to get you started that do not require previous knowledge. If you are completely new to Azure, then the Azure Fundamentals certification would be a great option for you.

 

Other than the Fundamentals, there are Azure Role-based or Specialty certifications. The Azure Role-based certifications validate your skills against a specific role instead of a specific technology. You will review the features and learn how to use a range of Azure Services for each certification. If you are passionate about a specific technology, go straight to the Specialty certifications, where you can find more in-depth learning regarding one particular technology or services such as CosmosDB.

 

The best resource to see all available Microsoft certifications by category and type is the certifications poster found here. (https://aka.ms/traincertposter) By clicking on each box, you will find all the information you need to study and schedule an exam.

Here you can see how many exams are required for each certification, and in the individual exam and certification pages you will find even more detailed information about:

The prerequisites needed to understand the associated material (courses or learning paths)
Learning Paths from Microsoft Learn with relevant material helpful for studying
Announcements on recently completed or pending changes to this certification exam
Study guides and the exam demonstration
Free practice assessments
 

My recommendation is to bookmark the http://aka.ms/Traincertposter so that you always have the latest version.

 

[DylanColeman]

Certification is a great way to demonstrate your competency, knowledge of best practices, and with free recertification, Microsoft is ensuring certificate holders stay abreast of the latest and don't become irrelevant at no cost to the individual to keep their certificate from expiring.

 

On top of that, I've been able to show off my badge in my email signature which has began to make some of my coworkers wish to attain the same. This is great since we're actively moving to the Azure Cloud, Dynamics, Office 365, and Power Platform where I work! We have had resistance to change, but by actively becoming a champion of change with a badge (and more coming!) in my email signature, others are becoming more confident because they feel they have a mini Microsoft certified expert to make sure they can feel supported during the process of trying new stuff out. It may seem silly but it's a psychological thing that I've personally witnessed since being the first at my organization to get a certification. Also, it gamifies the learning experience so important in our field and I'm a millennial and a sucker for that sort of thing. We love our awards! :face_with_tears_of_joy:

 

In short, certifications provide benefits to the individuals holding them, their employers, Microsoft, and the customers consuming services written using the proven and tested standards Microsoft has spent years perfecting, documenting, and writing up for us to consume as learning modules with some of the greatest experts in their field.

 

I encourage employers to consider investing in training and certification across the organization to maximize the benefit to us all through nature of the butterfly effect alone! Many of you may already have certification discounts available in the Microsoft Enterprise Skills Iniative site. You can check by signing in with your work account. Wouldn't hurt to try and see!

 

Wishing you all the best and happy learning!

[TreyHiggins]

Thanks for sharing valuable insights on preparing for Microsoft Certification. It's true that the journey to acquiring new technical skills can be daunting, but Microsoft's certification program offers tremendous benefits.
Certifications not only validate technical proficiency but also signify an individual's commitment to staying updated in a constantly evolving tech landscape. They demonstrate a learner's ability to handle current and future job responsibilities with Microsoft technologies.
If you're interested in furthering your skills and knowledge, you might want to explore training options from providers like acuitytraining.co.uk. They often offer courses and resources tailored to specific certification paths.