How I Mentally Prepare for Microsoft Certification Exams
I've completed nine Microsoft credentials since switching careers from weapons engineering technician to cloud consultant three years ago. I did all the exams while working full-time, completing a part-time bootcamp, and showing up for my family. I will share my mental preparation for these certification exams in this blog.
For every exam, I had to convince myself to do it, motivate myself to action, and be mindful on exam day.
Convince myself to do it
My first step to accomplishing challenging goals is convincing myself I can do them.
Lower the cost
The cost of these certification exams is a good reason not to do them.
The cost of living continues to rise, and budgeting for a certification exam is challenging. However, every exam I have taken has been free, discounted from a Microsoft challenge, or partially covered by an employee benefit. I'm constantly looking for ways to cover the costs of these exams.
It's easy to convince myself to try when I have a free shot at a certification.
Get through the content
Lack of confidence is a common blocker to going through a certification exam.
Every certification has an associated learning path with modules and labs for learning. I often had to complete a set of modules to get an exam voucher through a Microsoft challenge. Consuming all the learning material made me feel prepared for an exam.
The certification exams feel less daunting once you've covered most of the learning material.
Make use of practice tests
Build confidence by testing your knowledge using Microsoft's practice assessments or third-party mock exams.
By taking practice quizzes, I learn through active recall, which is known to increase information retention. Also, improving my score through multiple attempts gives me a strong sense of progress. If you time yourself, it simulates the exam conditions, which might calm your nerves during the real deal.
I've used practice exams for every exam, and they're a key tool for convincing myself that I'm ready.
Motivate myself to action with deadlines
One of the strongest motivators that drives action is a looming deadline.
Schedule the exam
When you receive the exam voucher, pick a reasonable date for the exam.
At the start of my certification journey, I overprepared for the fundamental level exams because I didn't set a date. It's easy to wait until an exam voucher is about to expire and book the exam as far out as the voucher rules apply. With these significant gaps on the calendar, I found that I didn't study much until the deadline approached.
Having a set exam date means you must prepare and be mindful of your free time.
Review the material
Having a target date for the exam allows me to pace myself during the review process.
As exam day approaches, I want to improve my performance on practice assessments. Also, if I skim the learning path a second time, I'll know how much content I must cover each week. The steady review of the material boosts my confidence.
When I have a set exam date, I avoid a giant cram session near the end since I I am committed to outgrowing unhealthy study habits.
Do not reschedule
I'm a classic over-preparer, so I must challenge myself to limit my prep period for these exams.
It takes a few clicks to reschedule my exam date and buy myself more time to study. After taking all these certification exams, I'm not sure I needed extra days to prepare. I performed similarly on exams regardless of whether I was in a time crunch (where I couldn't reschedule due to voucher rules) or had the luxury of moving the exam date back as needed (life does happen).
After taking multiple certification exams, I've learned that I need less time to study than I initially thought, even though it makes me uncomfortable to give myself less time.
Exam day
On exam day, the usual basic advice bears repeating.
Get some sleep
Certification exams are a mental challenge, so you need to keep your mind fresh.
Lack of sleep is known to decrease cognitive function, impair focus and attention, and amplify anxiety about exams. Staying up late to cram is not worth losing sleep. I recommend a morning study cram instead. I planned many of my exams right before lunchtime or after to have a longer sleeping window in case my nerves kept me up.
The brain functions better on a good night's rest. I make sure I get some.
Learn how to search the documentation
The exams have recently become open-book, so get comfortable searching for answers.
I reserved this ability for more nuanced questions, like double-checking which SKU better fits a case study. Needing an answer from the documentation for work or a personal project helped me remember where to look for specific information. However, the open-book format could be a trap for those who like 100% confidence before choosing an answer.
Use the open-book option cautiously, as it can be a considerable time trap.
Pace yourself
The exams vary in length and number of questions, so calculate the time you can spend per question before starting.
Before the exam begins, I like to know roughly how much time I have for each question. Then, I limited my thinking and searched through the docs within the time limit to get through all the questions. If you've prepared well, there will be a few easy questions where you get some time back for the more puzzling ones.
There is no penalty for making the wrong choice, so it's more beneficial to guess at all the questions, which requires pacing yourself through the whole exam.
After many certification exams, this is what I do to get myself ready for an exam:
- I convince myself that it's worth doing
- I motivate myself by setting a deadline
- I follow standard good advice on exam day
There's no silver bullet for getting through them.
Where are you in your certification journey? How do you prepare for certification exams? Let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear from you.
If you know someone considering challenging a certification exam, share this blog with them since they might find it helpful.