Alexander’s Blog

If you are new to Microsoft certification exams, check out this demo from Microsoft that will help you understand how all exam types work. Watching this video before your first certification exam is highly recommended. You will need Silverlight installed in your browser to watch this demo.

Microsoft Certification: Microsoft Certification Exam Demo
by
Snack Owner

Presentations for developers, IT Pros, SQL, Office, and Personal Development will be given by fellow MCTs and presenters from Microsoft.  This year’s MCT Summit will include sessions to prepare MCTs for teaching Microsoft’s Cloud computing classes.  Another feature of this year’s MCT Summit will be half-day hands on labs.

A Train the Trainer (TTT) session will occur on Tuesday Oct 18. If you are an MCP aspiring to become an MCT, attend the MCT Summit’s TTT session and become a MCT upon successful completion. To learn more about the MCT Certification requirements, visit Microsoft Learning’s MCT Certification page.  You can find more details here.  Fee for the Train the Trainer session is $700 which includes the Train the Trainer class,  MCT Summit conference fee, and your first years MCT fee to Microsoft.

Please Note: This year’s MCT NA Summit is the work of several dedicated MCTs with assistance from Microsoft, sponsors, and the IT professional association Pacific IT Professionals.  The MCT Summit is being offered by MCTs for MCTs; it is not a Microsoft event.

More details are available here.

Thanks to Microsoft, they have not raised their certification prices for a long time, until now. Effective July 1, 2011, the retail price of Microsoft Certifications will increase worldwide, except for India where the increase will be in effect on August 1, 2011.

Although some of the prices for Microsoft Certification exams for students and academic institutions will increase, according to Microsoft, the discount will remain significant. This is because Microsoft wants to help students become more employable for entry jobs in the IT industry. IT Academy members, high school, college, or university students enrolled in a degree or diploma program will continue to receive a discount off the retail price of select Microsoft Certification exams.

One question that I am often asked when I am teaching CompTIA classes is how many questions are there on CompTIA exams. Thanks to my student Dawn, here is the information for CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+ exams.

CompTIA  Exams

A+ Essentials

Exam # = 220-701

No. of questions = 100

Allotted time = 90 minutes

Passing score = 675

Exam # = 220-702

No. of questions = 100

Allotted time = 90 minutes

Passing score = 700

Exam # = N10-004

No. of questions = 100

Allotted time = 90 minutes

Passing score = 720

No. of questions = 100

Allotted time = 90 minutes

Passing score = 764

Certiport has announced that it has acquired MeasureUp LLC. Even though MeasureUp software is not considered a very useful exam preparation tool compared to it’s competitors, they must have made some kind of deal with Microsoft because Microsoft requires their Certified Partners for Learning Solutions (CPLS’) to only offer MeasureUp to their students. Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs) like me are also expected to promote MeasureUp practice tests to the students.

According to Microsoft:

Certiport is Microsoft’s current provider for Office certification testing and a global leader in overall academic IT testing. The acquisition will allow Certiport to offer a full range of solutions to support the entire Microsoft certification life cycle, including study materials, practice exams, and certifications. MeasureUp clients will receive the same uninterrupted service, with new access to Certiport’s suite of products. Certiport will continue to serve the academic market through its network of more than 10,000 testing centers in 142 countries worldwide, while strengthening its presence in commercial and corporate sectors.