Posts Tagged ‘Certification’

Robbert Verbeek pointed me to the latest Microsoft Credential : Microsoft Certified Non-Professional. To achieve this credential you have to pass both the 70-401 (SCCM,Configuring) and the 70-656 (MDOP, Configuring). I’m not sure why Microsoft should name it Non-Professional, but as you can see below…it does exist!
 

I already forwarded this screenshot to the guys over at @MSLearning, when I receive a respsonse I’ll let you know

ps. Back in September 2009 Eric Denekamp also received the ‘Non-Professional’ Certification

The environment is a hot issue nowadays and everybody is doing what they can (are they?) to reduce their carbon footprint. Microsoft Learning is doing the same. Because of that the MCP Certification Welcome Kits will only be available the digital way from June 30, 2009.

It is still possible to order a paper certificate (available again from July 7th) trough the MCP Member web site, but you have pay a shipping and handling fee to receive them.

To download your MCP Digital certificates (even the ‘oldies’ are digitally available from June 30th) just visit the MCP Digital Cert homepage.

Source: MCP Flash (June 2009) / BornToLearn Blog

You maybe have read about it, but yesterday (April 27) was the day you could register for the Windows 7, Configuring Beta exam (71-680). Somebody compared the exam with the concert of a famous pop star : All seats booked in an hour!

Because the exam was so popular and almost everybody from Europe and America were unable to register, Microsoft chose to open up the registration again and (I quote JSeymour on the Beta Exams blog) ‘I then *quadrupled* the number of beta slots we normally have and you still burned through those in several hours.’

Still a lot of peers were unable to register for the beta exam, but Microsoft is now expecting more data then they can crunch before the release. So all you guys/girls that are attending the exam, of course you’re all giving a lot of comments on the exam, but do me a favor. Please (just to do Krista W. a favor ) place a ‘Helmer says hi to Krista W.’ text in one of your comments….thanks in advance!! Of course I do expect that all the other comments are of the serious kind!

(Let’s see how many of my readers are attending the exam )

The credits go to Koen Wijnstok for blogging about this game in Dutch at the Dutch Microsoft IT Pro Community blog.

At http://www.areyoucertifiable.com you can find a nice game with 400 questions about Windows Server 2003, 2008, Exchange 2007, Window Vista, etc. You can even ask your colleagues to join you. You can add your friends to a Friends Score-list so you can easily see who is the brightest!

Yesterday I received an e-mail Radomir about my earlier posts (Post 1 | Post 2 | Post 3) about this subject. At that time I didn’t know that Trika would blog about the new pilot period just a few hours later.

Just to be sure you know :

• It’s a pilot exam, not a beta. So you won’t get a score by taking this exam and it will not show up on your transcript.
• Not all Prometric centers offer the exam, so I’m not sure if it’s available in your region.

You should be familiar with Active Directory, that’s the subject matter.

Here’s the invitation (as it’s posted on Trika’s blog

—————————————

Register for New Performance Based Testing Pilot Exam 70-113: TS: Windows® Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring

Microsoft Learning is testing a new Performance Based testing system that will be integrated into the existing certification programs in order to better evaluate and validate candidates’ skills using Microsoft products and technologies.

The Performance Based testing method we are piloting is an exam which emulates a Windows Server 2008 infrastructure. In this infrastructure you will be tasked with completing a series of tasks. Once complete, the system will evaluate each tasks end-state to determine if the tasks have been completed and correctly implemented. This process is different from simulations because you will have every tool and path available that you would normally have in a real world scenario. Simulations restrict you to a small number of expected paths, whereas emulations allow for any path, as long as the end result is correct.

This pilot exam will not provide you with a score as with normal beta exams. This pilot is a test of the exam experience, delivery system and infrastructure, so only a portion of the final exam will be presented to you during this pilot. This pilot exam will not be added to your transcript and you will need to take the exam in its released form in order to be awarded the credential.

By participating in this pilot exam, you have the unique opportunity to provide the Microsoft Certification program with feedback about your exam experience, and exam content, which is vital to the future development of Performance Based exams in their released version. We depend on the contributions of experienced IT professionals as we continually improve and expand our certification program and testing technologies to grow the value of Microsoft certifications.

Upon completion of this pilot exam, the first 3000 candidates will receive a free exam voucher that can be used to register for any Microsoft Certification exam delivered at a Prometric testing center.  The voucher will be distributed electronically 4 weeks after the end of the Pilot.  If you have not received your voucher within this timeframe, then unfortunately, you were not part of the first 3000 candidates.

• Registration begins: July 29, 2008
• Pilot exam period runs: July 31, 2008– September 12, 2008
• In order to facilitate exam availability in as many testing centers as possible for this pilot, registrations must be made 7 days in advance.
• Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in this pilot; we recommend that you register immediately. This pilot will have limited availability and are operated under a first-come-first-served basis. Once all pilot slots are filled, no additional seats will be offered.
• Testing is held at Prometric testing centers.

• You must register at least 7 days prior to taking the exam.
• Please use the following promotional code when registering for the exam: H640
• Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the pilot; we recommend that you register immediately.
• To register for this pilot: Go to the Prometric Website: http://www.register.prometric.com/ClientInformation.asp
• Find Microsoft exam 70-113: TS: Windows® Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring
• Use Promo Code H640
• if you have any issues registering or taking this pilot exam please email Performance Based Exams (pbexam@microsoft.com).

• You are invited to take this pilot exam at no charge.
• You will be given four hours to complete the pilot exam. Please plan accordingly.
• Though not all of the exam will be presented to the pilot candidates, we would appreciate it if you were familiar with the exams objectives. This will help us better evaluate the data from this pilot.
• Find exam preparation information: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exams/70-640.aspx