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The journey to get all Microsoft Azure Certification in 6 months time

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The number of articles that I wrote in the last 2 months was less than usual. This happened because I focus most of my energy to get certified on the cloud - Microsoft Azure. 

Last year in September I decided to try to get certified on ALL Microsoft Azure certifications. In total there were around 19 exams that I had to take, covering a lot of different topics from IoT and SAP to Data and Data Scientist. It was not an easy ride, and I would say that the hardest one for me was the Data Scientist certification. Not because it is hard, but because it is not something that I am doing day by day, and learning different algorithms and how to work with them was something different for me. 

Refs: https://www.youracclaim.com/users/radu-vunvulea.564add55/badges 

One of the most common questions that I received was how long it took to prepare and what kind of resources I used. The training materials that I used were from Udemy plus training content that is available from Microsoft for each certification. For each exam, I spend around 20-30 hours studying and things become easier and easier once the pile of passed exams was bigger and bigger. 

When I found time to prepare for the exams? Most of the time was when putting the kids to sleep and during the night when I had to go to them. 

Did I fail any exam? Yes. When I took for the first time Data Scientist exam I failed big time. The questions were so different from what I expected that I asked myself if I can pass this exam without having to study for it for a few months. 

Let's take a look at some tips and tricks that I used to study for the exams:

  1. Use online video training to build basic knowledge. I used video training from Scott Duffy and Alan Rodrigues, which I bought from Udemy. 
  2. When were available I used two different video training for the same exam because different content is covered on each of them
  3. I cover the official documentation and learning path that Microsoft is offering for free only after I watched the video training. 
  4. Hands-on experience is important. There are a lot of questions where you will need to know how to configure things in Azure Portal, ARM, or from the command line.
  5. When there are areas that you feel that you don't know well, Google it. There is a bunch of free documentation available. 
  6. Before the exam watch one more time the video training content (in fast mode).
  7. Don't expect that after a while the exams to be easier, because the topics are different. There is a small overlap, but not enough to enable you to pass the exam. 
Why Udemy?
  • A great price for the training materials, which quality is pretty good. 
  • Pay one time per training and use it as much as possible for life
  • The feedback section for each training enables you to get feedback from the others related to the quality of the content and trainer. 
  • You have the ability to require money back from Udemy if the training is not what you expected. I have done this for a few times and works very well. 
  • The total cost of training materials per exam was around $30-$50.
  • At this moment in time, I own around 68 training packages from Udemy.
What I will do next? A break from certifications. After it, I will aim for the AWS Professional one, but I need a few months to recover (smile)

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