I work as a DBA for a government contractor. I've been in the same seat for almost 4 years, but, since government contracting follows a different set of expectations, I'm currently on my 3rd employer. My first company wanted me to get an MCSA: SQL <WHATEVER>, and I began it on the SQL 2012/2014 path: 70-461, 462, 463.
Final Score: 824 :-)
At the time, we were using SQL Server 2008, 2008R2 and 2012. I passed 461, then missed 462 by a couple of points, and while I was studying up to retake 462, we upgraded to SQL 2016 (another fun adventure that I need to write up) and got rid of anything lower.
For an MCSA on SQL 2016, it only required 70-764 and 765, so it was also 2 more tests. I figured that route would be much more applicable to my work, so I abandoned 462 and switched to studying up for the SQL 2016 certs. Then there was some shuffling at my original company, and I ultimately got traded to another contractor earlier this year. The MCSA was no longer a requirement, and I had a lot of other priorities that caused me to keep procrastinating on the cert.
Big mistake. I should have finished it, but it is what it is.
In late July, I got traded again, to my current contractor. They wanted an MCSE: Data Management and Analytics. That's when the real fun began.
When I dug back into the certs, I found out that Microsoft decided to retire their MCSA and MCSE certs in June. However, because COVID-19 has made 2020 a bit of an "interesting" year, they extended the retirement to January 31, 2021 (after a non-trivial amount of complaints from those currently in the testing cycle). Despite the retirement, my company still wanted the MCSE. Thus restarts the adventure.
Chosen Path:
To earn the MCSE: Data Management & Analytics certification, complete the following requirements:
- Earn one prerequisite certification:
- Prerequisite Option 2: MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development
- Prerequisite Option 3: MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration
- And pass one of the elective exams:
Since 762 is part of the MCSA: Database Development, I figured I'd also do test 761 before the end of January and get that MCSA, too. Why not, right?
First up was 70-764.
Study materials:
The test was 44 questions and 2 hours to complete. I finished in 58 minutes and had a minor panic attack. I only marked 3 questions for review and it wouldn't let me go back to others. There was no way I could have finished that fast without seriously screwing something up. I went back to do as much review as I could on those 3 questions and finished up with only about another 5 minutes left on the clock. Time to see how bad I failed it...
I can promise you there was nobody more surprised than me to see that score pop up.
But I did it. And I was thrilled.
I finished the first one and now only had to knock out two more. (Did I also mention that in October I had to renew my Flight Instructor certificate? Such a fun month. But I digress..)
Now, on to the next one.
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