Microsoft 365 Community Community Demos, 21 Jun 2023

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From YouTube: How to Prepare for Microsoft Power Platform Certifications

Description

In this 13-minute citizen developer-focused demo, Keith Atherton delivers an overview on Microsoft Certification types, expirations, where to begin, certifications chart, training and certification guide, why get certified, exams, results, certification renewals, learning resources, skills measured, Exam Sandbox, exam readiness zone, sample questions, practice assessments, learning materials on YouTube, books (note last updated date), Training (Udemy, Pluralsight, LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Partner University), discount offers, employer support, study tips, preparation including spinning up a dev environment!

This PnP Community demo is taken from the Microsoft Power Platform community call – June 2023, recorded on June 21, 2023.

Demo Presenter
• Keith Atherton | @MrKeithAtherton

Community Call Conversation
• aka.ms/June21-Demo3

Supporting materials
• https://docs.microsoft.com/learn/certifications/
• https://aka.ms/community/recognition
• https://docs.microsoft.com/learn/certifications/browse/?resource_type=certification
• https://aka.ms/TrainCertPoster
• https://aka.ms/TrainingCertDeck
• https://docs.microsoft.com/learn/certifications/
• https://docs.microsoft.com/learn/certifications/register-schedule-exam
• https://learn.microsoft.com/certifications/exam-duration-question-types
• https://docs.microsoft.com/learn/certifications/exam-scoring-reports
• https://docs.microsoft.com/learn/certifications/certification-exam-policies
• https://docs.microsoft.com/learn/certifications/renew-your-microsoft-certification
• https://learn.microsoft.com/training/
• https://learn.microsoft.com/certifications/exams/pl-900/
• https://www.microsoft.com/events/training-days/
• https://aka.ms/examdemo
• https://learn.microsoft.com/shows/exam-readiness-zone/
• https://docs.microsoft.com/certifications/resources/az-900-sample-questions?azure-portal=true
• https://learn.microsoft.com/certifications/practice-assessments-for-microsoft-certifications
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpIn7ox7j7bH_OFj7tYouOQ
• https://solutionsreview.com/cloud-platforms/the-top-microsoft-azure-books/
• https://partneruniversity.microsoft.com/
• https://docs.microsoft.com/learn/certifications/partners
• https://uk.mindhub.com/pl-900-microsoft-power-platform-fundamentals-microsoft-official-practice-test/p/MU-PL-900
• https://developer.microsoft.com/offers/30-days-to-learn-it
• https://www.microsoft.com/cloudskillschallenge/build/registration/2022
• https://www.studentminds.org.uk/examstress.html

Stay connected
• Twitter https://twitter.com/microsoft365dev
• Call attention to your great work by using #PowerAppsCC and #PnPWeekly on Twitter.

Learn more
• Microsoft 365 Unified Sample gallery - https://aka.ms/community/samples
• Microsoft 365 Platform Community in YouTube - https://aka.ms/community/videos
• Microsoft 365 Platform Community - http://aka.ms/community/home
• Microsoft 365 Platform Community Blog - https://aka.ms/community/blog

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Foreign I've been a developer for over 20 years. um Also recently announced there's an MVP uh yeah.

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And also a Power Platform Community super user.

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And I get up to other Shenanigans as well. This is a solution at the end see me after, but today we'll go through some tips and tricks on Power Platform certifications, just a few things that I've picked up along the way that I'd like to share with everyone. So first up what are certifications.

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So when we see all these cool, blue badges, the current certifications are role based. So if you want to be an App Maker solution, solution, architect or whatever the role may be, it's designed around that, rather than the products themselves that that you use.

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When you do see the cool blue badges we've got some there at the top right. So with the fundamentals. This is more of a good starting point about understanding the concepts and they don't expire with, associate and expert level. These are a bit more Hands-On. They do have a one-year expiry and will cover renewals in a moment as well and there's some specialty ones as well. So Niche things like Cosmos, DB and many other things as well. You can actually drill down to quite a specific level with those and talking of cool badges.

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You've come to the right place, because this community recognition program also has its own cool badges that you can earn. So if you're, a Blog author or you get involved with sharing his caring, which is super awesome and there's going to be dates coming up for that I know or your community co-presenter like we're doing right now, there are badges available. I should say as well with all these links as well. No need to make notes because we'll be sharing the links after the session.

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So when I started with certifications, I must admit. I was a bit overwhelmed because there's a big choice, I didn't really know where to begin I didn't know many people who'd taken them either, but one thing that was really useful was the certifications chart. So you can see all of the the platforms there. We've got Power Platform, of course, as well as Dynamics Azure and the other ones there and on the right hand, side. We've got the zoom in of the Power Platform ones available.

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So we do have the fundamentals and then there's five Associates and one expert level at the moment. Another thing that works well as a companion with this is the training and certification guide as well. So if you're aiming for a certain role, you know dealing with Solutions, uh you're, architecting them or just getting started. This does give you a bit of a road map and Direction Where to go with them now, everyone's reasons for taking certifications will be personal to them. This is a good article on Microsoft, learn with some statistics.

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You know improving your skills or getting that next job. Perhaps but everyone's got their own reasons for doing this. For me, initially it was to get a role. Was it actually going to be using these skills? I didn't just want to learn for the sake of it now to get the certification, it might be one or more exams, and when you go ahead and book these you've got two options. You can either take them at a test center, which is my preferred option.

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It just gets me an exam mode when I'm there, but you can take it at home as well as an online proctored exam. So there's a couple of options: whatever works best for you time you get for an exam can vary depends. Is it fundamentals, a social expert? If there's Labs involved as well, you might have some performance-based testing where you do some labs and you get a bit extra time at the seat as well for reading the NDA at the store, leaving feedback on questions at the end.

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If you need to do that too, so when you do take an exam, you get your results pretty quickly. In my experience, you do get your results there. All the technical exams have got a thousand points and you do need to get 700 or more to pass and the useful thing is you get a bit of a rough breakdown of the different skills measures they're looking for so, if you let's say on 40, did fail it.

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You know maybe where the weaker areas are that you can then focus on for your retake if you're lucky enough to pass an exam and get a certificate, you do get an email with instructions on how to get that badge and at the moment that not for much longer, you can share it on the credly platform as well. So this is where you can put it there share it on social media and I should say as well that this uh Microsoft certification partnership with credly is ending this month.

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So after the end of this month, they won't be going up there anymore, Benny, badges that you currently have. There will stay up there for a period of time, but also the community recognition program will keep hosting badges up to the credly platform going forward, don't pass the exam. You know what it's not the end of the world. You can just go ahead. Do a bit more study again focus on the areas that you need to do retake book, the exam again.

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So when you do have something that needs renewed again, the associate level upwards as well um renewal. These days is a bit more straightforward: you can do it for free online at home. uh It was a bit different. Previously, you had to take the full exam all over again get another two years: uh validation on that certification, but these days it's a bit more straightforward. It's a lot shorter assessment to do as well, and you can take it up to six months before the expiry date.

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Okay, next up, let's look at some learning resources and number one for me is always Microsoft learn there. This has sort of improved a lot in the last few years, really tailored quite closely to the exams themselves and it's broken down into various modules and you get trophies and badges and things like that and it's free and it's just super awesome and included on there as well. We've got some skills measured, so this is what they'll be looking for in the exam. So these bullet points we've got right here is for the Power Platform fundamentals.

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You've got a breakdown of the percentage that they make up with the exam, but when you go on the skills measure, there's a bit more detail of what they're looking for as well. You know the kind of things they'll be asking for in the exam, so it's really useful.

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Another great option is Microsoft virtual training days. These are webinars. You can book the date and time for the ones available and actually see like a pre-recorded video by an expert trainer and if you're new to exams as well. The exam box is really useful. This will show you the UI that you're actually see in the exam as well. So it's useful if you've never done one before you just want to be familiar with.

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You know what the progress bar looks like you know, the kind of the build lists and multiple choice, kind of options that you get another fairly recent option is uh exam reading a stone. These are plenty of videos on exams in general, as well as exams, specifically as well, and it keeps getting added to as well.

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Another thing is from example, exam sample questions, so this is typically 20. Multiple choice, questions. uh They give you some options. They show you the correct one, but also links where you can learn more about them as well. So it's almost kind of like a like a free short practice test before you take the final thing along the similar lines as well is practice assessments. uh Power Platform has got plenty available now they keep adding to these, and this is where you take it throughout the UI. You submit your answer.

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It tells you, if you're correct or not and again, there's a link where you can. You can go and learn more if you need to.

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So there's also plenty of uh learning material online YouTube's got a lot of great uh material out there. Some really good instructors um books, there's plenty of books, I, would say with books and anything else as well, just bear in mind how to date, the material is. You know if your exam has been updated three months ago, but you're studying from a box that was published five years ago. It's worth considering help to date that information is udemy's, got plenty of Great Courses. uh You tend to pay per course.

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You keep it for the lifetime and plural site's got some really good options as well and uh Pro tip, as well with the premium options. Some of them have got exam prep courses with practice tests. So if that's, why you're on plural site, it may be worth the extra money LinkedIn learning? It's got some Great Courses too. uh Full disclosure I'm a LinkedIn learning instructor myself, but I was a fan and a subscriber for years before becoming an instructor with them as well. They've got some Great Courses.

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If you work in partner land like I, do Microsoft partner. University is another great set of videos tailored per the exam again yours may be available, could be really useful and maybe a bit more uh high cost option is going with a Learning Partner, which is typically a third-party training organization. They'll have an instructor on hand, so you can ask questions. You can draw a bit deeper into areas if you need to depends on your budget or your. Your company's budget Microsoft also have official practice tests themselves.

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So there's plenty of options there, they're all unofficial practice tests available, uh they may vary in quality. I will see. It's applies this way. I can put that one.

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And what we'll do is we'll look briefly at some discounts again. I know this is going to be a bit of a speed run, but we can share the links afterwards. So there's things like 30 days to learn it where you can take a challenge of going through some Microsoft learn modules, and if you do it within 30 days, you can get 50 exam voucher. The Microsoft build Cloud skills challenge which unfortunately, has just ended, but it seems to come around quite often again.

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You get several challenges available in this case, if you complete all the modules by the deadline, you do get a free exam, voucher and also worth checking with your employer. You know: do they provide support like money towards online trading towards the exam costs? uh Many of us are quite busy, so it could be the the time during work hours to study or, if you're on the bench um as well, so bear in mind.

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If you put the case together, there are benefits for your employer, they might be working towards becoming a Microsoft partner or they just want trained, enthusiastic employees who knows we'll finish up with some study tips very briefly, and first up is managing exam stress. It's Perfectly Normal affects everyone differently, but, looking after your mental health and well-being is critical, so you know there's plenty of support out there plenty of people. You can speak to plenty of guidance online as well.

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So it's it's worth putting that first I would say: we've gone through ways of preparing, so there's lots of ways we can study, but also you can spin up a free, Dev environment. You could go and have a play with some of these features. You know get yourself as prepared as you need to for the exam, and if you are prepared, then be confident right. You know, maybe not overconfident like that.

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You know. If you've done all you can you're ready for this exam, then don't doubt yourself just go for it. Another thing is reading the question properly. uh Yeah I don't find any of these exams tricksy in any way, but it may be worded as you know, what service would you not use in this example? So it's worth just taking the time, don't feel rushed and talking of not feeling rushed as well use all the available time.

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uh You know in some cases you can go back and review questions so if you've got some time at the end, and you can do that and you feel that's worthwhile. It's worth considering um also don't skip any questions. You don't get penalized for any wrong answers. So your best chance of success is to answer everything, even if it's an educated guess and finally, one that works well.

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For me, it's different for everyone is when I see the question, I, try and think of the answer before I see the options, otherwise I might get a bit biased. So hypothetically, if I was asked Hugo used to have a different job. What was it now? I know something about food or some I. Don't know something rings, a bell, I know I know, do you know, do you know it? Well, let's see the options, then so did Hugo used to be a stunt? Man he's still a star man.

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Okay, yeah did Hugo used to be a movie star. I could see that no I mean it's possible. uh Did Hugo used to be a chef.

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Okay right or an American football player, you know I, think it's chef and if you did too you'd be correct.

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So again, a bit of a speed run so hit me up on LinkedIn or Twitter always happy to help if you've got any questions at all. But apart from that, thank you for your time.

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All right, everybody that was fantastic, so lots information there, foreign.