How to Obtain Microsoft Certification

Remember Power BI is just a foot in the door! Even though there are well paid jobs which just advertise for Power BI skills, there is no such thing as a Power BI job. So when you deliver excellent dashboards in Power BI you will find customers challenging you on the accuracy of the results of these dashboards. Meaning you will have to dig into where Power BI gets it’s data from. So you will have to dig into the data source and to do this digging you will need further data engineering skills.

Don’t just settle for a job where you are banging your head on a desk meaning don’t just aim for Power BI certification, aim for Data Engineering Certification as well.

Consider Power Platform

You may be asked to report in Power BI on data which does not exist yet. So creating a PowerApp to provide a user interface for entering this data without getting into heavy software development could be an option.

How I achieved this certification in order of importance…

• Digest the study guide, e.g. Study Guide for Exam DP-700: Implementing Data Engineering Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
• Work through the Microsoft Learn material for the exam, e.g. Microsoft Certified: Fabric Data Engineer Associate – Certifications | Microsoft Learn
•  Don’t Compare Yourselves to Others
• Get work experience which covers as much of the exam structure as possible
• Self Study
• Help Others
• Learning Media
• Digesting Information when you have small pockets of time
• Buddy up
• Re-discover your learning style
• Boot camps

Don’t Compare Yourselves to Others

• So it all boils down to time management and self-motivation.
• You cannot create time, you can only make better use of your existing time. Which is what most of this presentation is about.
• A huge barrier to self-motivation is comparing yourself to others.
• If you compare yourself to someone who left the starting block ahead of you. You will become despondent.
• If you keep your eyes fixed simply in what you can do with the time and resources you have, you are much more likely to achieve your goal.

Get work experience which covers as much of the exam structure as possible

• You cannot pass with self-study alone.
• Although evidencing that you are working towards this certification on your CV does impress potential employers.
• ‎You may need to travel further to get relevant work experience.
• You may even need to accept work at a reduced rate of pay to get relevant work experience.
• Voluntary work is another option
• Fight very hard at work to avoid a situation where you are taking work home with you.
• Only take home work if it is genuinely essential. Taking work home with you regularly will certainly result in you being less productive in the long run.

Self Study

• Self study is no substitute for relevant work experience.
• However the reality is you won’t find a job which covers all the exam content.
• So self-study is essential to cover the exam structure not covered by your work experience.
• Example self study resources are..
  
  • OReilly,
  • Subscribe to blogs, e.g. https://radacad.com, Power BI Blog, Chris Webb, https://sqlbi.com, https://sqldusty.com,

Help Others

• Forums, e.g. Community Fabric
• ‎Training
• ‎Mentoring in the work place
• ‎Blog on your experience, invite constructive feedback

Learning Media

• Memory Cards
• MP3 /IPOD
• Smart Phone
• MP4
• PDFs
• Kindle
• ePub

Digesting Information when you have small pockets of time and / or you are tired

• Traveling to work
• Waiting time, doctors, queues, dentist
• Relaxing, e.g. in a bath whilst memory cards of potential exam answers are read out to you from a battery powered speaker.
• This will be covered in more detail later as I cover a day in my life

Buddy up

• Advertise for a friend at work, Facebook, college, LinkedIn where you can study together.
• You may find that a successful student partnership will turn into a successful business partnership later.

Re-discover your learning style

• The chances are it’s a while since you were at school, plus the tools available to self study are now hugely beneficial.
• When managing expectations in terms of how long it will take you to be ready to sit an exam. Be mindful that learning or re-learning how to learn is a project in itself.
• Once you have found a way that works for you, you will find it much more easy to sit and pass future exams.

Boot camps

• Boot camps are great when you need to hit the ground running for a new technology and the boot camp is funded by your employer.
• The quality of the learning material and tutoring is often very high.
• However since Microsoft set the bar very high the ratio of students actually passing the exams at the end can be quite low.
• Boot camps also tend to be quite expensive.
• Boot camps can get you over the finishing line however they don’t replace the right combination of work experience and self study.
• So if you get an offer from your employer to pay for a boot camp for you awesome…
• Try and arrange your work load so that you cover the exam structure in the work place.
• Be proactive in recommending projects in this area to your boss. Study in you own time leading up to the boot camp.

Further Points to Note or Re-iterate

• Studying for certification will sharpen your skills even if you never pass any certification exam.
   ‎ Once you gain a certification it is much easier to maintain it.
• Just make sure you continue to learn the latest versions.
• Exam questions are generally biased towards the latest features.
• Although since Power BI is re-released every month it is unlikely that the exam question writers will be updating the exams every month.
• Shooting from the hip hear I recommend that you revise up to the Power BI version which was released 3 months ago.

A Day in My Life

I can achieve the following on a good day, when I have slept well the night before and I am not too stressed with work, etc.

6:00 am Wake Up
6:00 to 6:30 Breakfast and Quiet Time
6:30 to 7:00 Attempt Mock Exam Questions

• Attempt part of a mock exam.
• Identify your weakest areas based on the exam questions you answer incorrectly.
• Research into the correct answers for the questions you previously answered incorrectly in a mock exam.
• Research wider than just simply answering the question. For example if the question related to Access on-premises data you may decide to add a Power BI Gateway Overview to your reading list …
• So enter the correct answers into a word document.
• Email this work document to the email address of your Kindle device (???@free.kindle.com) from the email address you registered your Kindle with,
• You will then be able to read these answers or listen to these answers on your Kindle whilst travelling.

7:00 to 7:30 Cycle to the Train Station

• It’s so important to push your body hard when you need to push your brain hard.
• I genuinely find I can only keep fit and maintain a healthy weight when my exercise becomes part of my daily routine.

7:30 to 8:15 Train Journey to Work

• Based on the weakest areas identified by your mock exam attempt…
• Read a relevant chapter in a book including working through the relevant practical’s.

8:15 to 8:30 Run from Train to Tube

8:30 to 9:00 Tube Journey

• • • Listen to / browse answers to mock exam questions on your Kindle

9:00 to 12:00 Work

12:00 to 13:00 Lunch and Dentist Appointment

• • • Browse memory cards whilst waiting for your dentist appointment.
    • Create new cards based on your mock exam results.
    • Throw away cards based on material which you now understand and are fully established in your memory.

17:00 Leave Work
17:00 to 17:30 Tube Journey

Browse a white paper which relates to one of your weakest areas on your kindle.

17:30 to 17:45 Run from Tube to Train
17:45 to 18:30 Train Journey to Local Station
18:30 to 19:00 Cycle Home from Location Station

It’s so important to exercise regularly. If you don’t push your body and brain in equal measure then your head will be spinning whilst you are trying to sleep.

19:00 to 22:00 Chill out with Family

You are also preparing to get to bed during this period of time. Getting good sleep is so critical to all of this. So stay away from screens from 7pm.

22:00 Bedtime

I sometimes have my exam notes speaking though earphones whilst I sleep. This sounds a little sad. But I believe it works. If it does it means that I am revising whilst I dream. Actually, not that sad at all! If this does not work for you then don’t do it.

Invest in black out curtains, ear plugs, eye masks, comfortable bed and pillows. Also try and keep your bedroom at the right temperature.

Weekends, Managing Interruptions, Switching Off, Relaxing

I try to avoid revising for exams at the weekends. I try and protect weekends to spend with my family. Although I am sometime unsuccessful in this.

Avoid hobbies which are too similar to work! Avoid gaming! Avoid that deadly combination of having to concentrate and stare at a screen too many hours in the day.

Take email, WhatsApp, any form of social media off your Smart Phone.

How likely is it really that you will get an urgent work email when you are on your way to work? Which you must respond to before you arrive at work?

If family / friends want to contact you urgently they will simply ring you.

Try and have a good long walk in the countryside at least once a week.

When am I Ready to Sit the Exam?

• • • A good indicator that you are ready to sit your exam is when you get 100% in your mock exam. I personally don’t attempt and exam until I have achieved 100% in the mock exam 3 times in a row, example mock exam … Practice Assessment | Microsoft Learn
    • This does not guarantee that you will pass. Since the mock exam will have a finite number of questions.
    • The cost of taking a days’ leave and the financial cost of sitting an exam often cause people to delay taking their first attempt.
    • However if you have never sat a Microsoft exam before I would recommend that you sit the exam just to get the experience of sitting a Microsoft exam before you are ready to pass. Where you don’t have the expectation of passing.
    • You will then be able to use this experience to make a more determined and informed attempt at passing in the future.

Exam Day, Before, During and After

Before the Exam

• • • Book the whole day off for the exam.
    • Book the exam for mid morning, around 10:30 am.
    • Have a nice slow start.
    • Take a relaxing bath.
    • In the back ground have a (battery powered) MP3 player speaking to you answers to questions in your weakest areas.
    • If you sit the exam home. Make sure your study area is completely clear. I mean completely clear. Microsoft is very OCD about this.
    • They will make you point a camera all around the room to make sure there is no way you can possibly cheat.
    • You have to be sat at your computer continuously for 2 hours +.
    • Have a meal which has mixture of slow and quick release energy, e.g. a bowl of sugary porridge.
    • Take a comfort break minutes before the exam.
    • Drink just the right amount of water leading up to the exam.

And good luck!

The Actual Exam

• • • There are a lot of questions to answer. However if you have revised all the content. You basically have plenty of time to answer the questions.
    • So read each question slowly before answering.
    • It’s amazing how many people answer questions incorrectly because they don’t read the question properly.
    • Some of the questions are a variant of multi choice. So you may be able to derive the correct answer by just know the other available options are not correct.
    • Do a time check for each quarter of your exam time to make sure you are answering the questions at the right speed.
    • Don’t finish the exam early. I assure you, you will not get 100% percent!‎

After the Exam

• • • If you pass you win, if you fail you win.
    • If you pass your exam. Well done, celebrate and give yourself a little treat. After no less than a week think about your next exam and start to study for it. Otherwise your healthy life long learning pattern will begin to slip.
    • If you fail your exam. Well done for attempting. You will receive an extremely valuable transcript which will detail your weakest areas. This feedback will be the foundation for your future revision strategy to resit your exam.

Summary

This chapter covered how a dyslexic can obtain multiple role based Azure certifications and how you can achieve Microsoft Certification too. I am keen to give presentations including Q and A in any Data Analytics based event or user group on this subject since I genuinely believe I can and will transform lives by empowering others to achieve this certification or indeed study for any examination. The formula I used described in this chapter worked for me. It’s not magic just a mixture of structured common sense plus determination.