Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 12:03 pm by Eric Hulbert

MCSE Boot Camp Studying Tricks & Tips

If you just memorize the answers without any lab work, simulations or real world experience, you will never be able to really stand behind your certifications.

One of the most important things to remember with Microsoft Certification tests is that you have to think about the answer in terms of how Microsoft would want you to answer using only their products and practices. It is not about how it would really be done in practice with the resources and vendors at your disposal.

We all know that budgets can be tight and the managers won’t always spring for the full solution right out of the gate but with the Microsoft tests you have to set aside the real-world and force yourself to think specific to Microsoft. I find that with the Microsoft tests it is imperative that you study multiple practice exams to get a well rounded feel for the tests. For some of the core exams for the MCSE it is also important that you have many years of real world experience working with Microsoft products, designing networks, designing security and implementing full solutions for clients (especially 070-291). If you just memorize the answers without any lab work, simulations or real world experience you will never be able to really stand behind your certifications.

With that being said, I do have some great tips on how to help you get through the tests once you have the experience and knowledge:

I found the Exam Cram series of books very useful for learning the material for each exam. They have a great writing style to keep you focused on getting through the content. Each book also comes with a pretty good practice engine for sample tests. An online company Pass4Sure.com also had great practice tests that I found very useful as well. My favorite site was Exam Collection. All of the tests on this site have been created with Visual CertExam Suite. Visual CertExam Suite is an exam simulator developed for certification exam preparation. It is a very active site with tests and content being added regularly. Like I stated previously it is a great way to help you study for the exams but will in no way provide the value of hands-on lab based studying and years of work experience.

Test Engine Tips + Memorization Technique

Once you have read the material, done the labs and have studied hard, I have a tip on how to hold more data in your brain when studying for the tests. It is a technique used for memorization.

1. When you are going through the practice exam engine you don’t read the question at all, you just read the answer. Go through the test engine with the answers turned on and just read the correct answer for each one.
2. Do this 3 times completely. This should take you no more than an hour or two depending on how many questions are in the sample question sets.
3. Then you start taking practice exams in question subsets of around 46 – 50 questions. Try to select the answers again without reading the questions.
4. You will repeat this process of taking sample tests until you are consistently scoring 850 or higher. Once you can consistently score 850 or higher (three tests in a row at least) you are ready to take the exam.

If you follow this method you will be assured to pass. This memorization technique is a great way to cram for tests but do note: if you don’t actually know the content or practice these things in the real world your certifications won’t really mean anything. Make sure to read the material, do the labs, practice in real world jobs and understand the content first. Once that is out of the way then use this technique to just obtain your certifications to back what you already do on a daily basis.

Good luck.

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