The +1 Is Now Done...

 My MCSx journey has come to an end. I previously wrote about obtaining MCSE: Data Management and Analytics., and I have now finished up the one test that I didn't have to take, but just wanted to take. Yesterday, I completed 70-761 to earn a second MCSA. I know it's actually a lower cert than the MCSE I just earned, but I already paid for the study materials and the voucher to take the test. 

My original goal was to take the tests for the two MCSAs and combine them into the MCSE, but that got re-prioritized to just aim for the one MCSA then the MCSE. And to be honest, I originally thought that I could take this test without any effort. It's on SQL Development, which I've been doing for many, many years. I thought I'd just take a practice test to see if there was anything I needed to work on and then go in and take the cert when I did the first test. 

So I took the practice test and got a 36%. Talk about an ego-buster. I was extremely disappointed in myself. I'm not sure what I did, but that test got immediately de-prioritized and moved to the back. I pretty much wrote it off so I could focus on the others that I actually needed to do. 

After I passed the first two, I ordered the study materials for both 70-762 and 70-761 together, since I got a discount for getting both at the same time. I set the 761 book aside and didn't look at it until I finished the MCSE. 

After Christmas, I pretty much decided I had a month until Microsoft retired the exam, and I had already bought the stuff, so why not. If I borked it again, no biggie; I'd already spent the money. It was very nice to have absolutely no pressure on this thing. 

I used pretty much the same study method I used for the other tests. 

Study materials:
Udemy Courses
MeasureUp tests - which was the practice test that I did so horrible on
Microsoft Press Exam Ref books
Exam Skills
Microsoft.com Exam Reference

MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development

This test was difficult, but mostly because of some of the answers weren't very good answers. There were several questions that required me to write out the query, that weren't difficult, but were time-consuming. There were other questions that had correct answers that used old-style ANSI 89 JOINS, like SELECT * FROM x,y ..., that absolutely drove me nuts. I really should have left a comment on those questions, but the cert is being retired in a couple of weeks anyway. Meh.

When I submitted the test, I knew I'd passed it this time, but wasn't sure by how much. I crushed it: 900. I feel slightly vindicated for the horrible practice test score. 

I didn't need to take that test, but it added one more cert to my resume. In addition to the previous MCSE: Data Management and Analytics and MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration, I now also have a MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development.  

Just in time for retirement. 

What do you call the person who graduated last in their med school class?

Doctor.

It's an old joke, but one I very much appreciated today. Just like the person last in class, I would like to have done better: I needed 700; I got 721. I was pretty close. But, at the end of the day, this still belongs to me....

I knocked out 70-762 today. 

Study materials:
Udemy Courses
MeasureUp tests
Microsoft Press Exam Ref books
Exam Skills
Microsoft.com Exam Reference

MCSE: Data Management and Analytics

Since I began my professional geek journey a little over two decades ago, I've known about the big Microsoft MCSE Certification. It's changed a bit over the years, but I honestly never thought I'd be one of the people to obtain one. On my journey to MCSE, I am now 3 for 3 (well, technically 4 for 5, but we don't count MCSA for SQL 2012/14, right?). That's 70-764 and 70-765 for an MCSA: Database Administration. And today caps off 70-762 for an MCSE: Data Management & Analytics. 

I know Microsoft is retiring MCSx at the end of January, but this was a requirement for where I work. I've  only had a few months to knock out all 3, but I'm a little proud of myself for actually pulling it off. It helped that I've been a database person for several years now, but it REALLY DIDN'T HELP that COVID has played a little bit of havoc with our ability do things like be around a proctor. I've been fortunate that we have a proctor site on base that I can take these tests in. There is absolutely ZERO chance that I could make my home office an acceptable place for an exam proctor.

Since I have access to that on-base proctoring, I think I'll probably also take 70-761 and add on the MCSA: Database Development while I can.

And since Microsoft has apparently decided that Azure will rule the world, I guess I'll be taking a look at that next. 

I'm going to try to enjoy my shiny new MCSE for the last couple of weeks of the sh*t-show that has been 2020, and not even think about certification stuff until January. 

Yeah, right.

Two Down.....

One (+1) to go.... And an MCSA!

Up next is 70-765.

Study materials:

Udemy Courses

MeasureUp tests

Microsoft Press Exam Ref books 

Exam Skills

Microsoft.com Exam Reference

MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration

I studied hard for 70-765, and I procrastinated a bit again on going in to take this test. I wanted to knock all 3 of these out before Thanksgiving, but my Imposter Syndrome was really flaring up. I was slow. And then, because of COVID, I was delayed trying to get into my testing center. I could have done a remote proctored exam, but that would pretty much meant finding an alternate, quiet place to go for it. There's no way possible that I'd be able to clear my home office enough to satisfy the proctors. Plus, I've read some horror stories about proctors ending tests if someone just looked away from their screen. No thanks. 

Fortunately, the Army base that I work on has an Authorized Testing Center right across the street from my office, so guess where I decided to take the test.

Unfortunately, the main proctor there was quarantined because of COVID, and the other proctors were either unavailable or had tech issues with Pearson. The clock was ticking, and I was running out of time. 

Fortunately, I was able to schedule a slot THE DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING! Huge Thank You to the people over there who were able to schedule me in right before a holiday on short notice. 

This test was harder than the first, but once again, I finished with plenty of time left. I think it took me just a little over an hour to finish. I thought I'd tanked this one, too. But the voucher I bought included a free retake, so I could study over Thanksgiving and retake it the next week. No biggie. 

Final Score: 790 :-)

It wasn't spectacular, but it was PASSING. I got to breathe a huge sigh of relief and know that I'd get to at least enjoy my Thanksgiving break. 

Best of all, I got to call my wife and tell her I had now earned one of these:

Now all that's left is just to cap it off with 70-762 and the MCSE. I got this. 

One Down ...

Two (+1) to go....

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. 

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:
• 70-762: Developing SQL Databases
  

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:

Udemy Courses

MeasureUp tests

Microsoft Press Exam Ref books 

Exam Skills

Microsoft.com Exam Reference

MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration

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...

Final Score: 824 :-)

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.