Tag Archives: Certification

SCJP Next

I have taken a really looong break after my last exam. So its time that I start studying again for exams and after much thought I have finally decided my next exam. It’s going to be SCJP (CX-310-035).

The reason for choosing SCJP is that, for the next year or two I have to work mostly in java and will not be able to use much of .NET (at least at work).

Currently Sun is giving a discount of 25% for the exam till 30th of June. But I don’t think I can take up the exam with 9 days. I have kept the third week of July as my target for this exam. Hope I meet it.

BTW I am planning to use the book Sun Certified Programmer and Developer for Java 2 Study Guide (Exams 310-035 and 310-027) by OSBORNE. Does any one have a better suggestion..?

PS: Probably my friend Ram could help me, as he has already completed SCJP 😉

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Received my MCAD Welcome Kit

I just received my MCAD Welcome Kit from Microsoft. It was nice to see my name printed in it as it was signed by Bill Gates.

But this time there only the usual contents (like tie pin, MCP card etc..) were there and no discount or special offer coupons as with my MCDBA Welcome kit 😉

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Sun Microsystem’s Offer for Java Certification Exams

Sun Microsystems is celebrating Java Technologies 10th Birthday by giving a 25% discount on Java Technology Certification Exams. This offer is for a limited period from May 23, 2005 to June 30, 2005 and is available worldwide. More information about the offer can be found here.

That’s a very good news for guys like me who want to take these exams as they are costly when compared with Microsoft Certification exams.

Also Sun is introducing a new beta exam named SCJA (Sun Certified Java Associate). This exam targets Entry level java programmers with at least 6 months of experience. Even this exam is offered worldwide. For more details check out this page.

In my previous post I mentioned that Microsoft’s offer is favoring my decision towards MCSD, but after seeing this offer will it shift to SCJP ?

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Microsoft Second-Shot offer extended

Microsoft’s Second-Shot exam offer, which was supposed to end by May 31st has been extended for another 3 months. The new deadline is August 31st. Exam retakes must be completed by September 30, 2005.

The offer is available worldwide, but it can’t be combined with any other exam offer that requires a promotional code, including the MCP 2-for-1 exam offer or special offers in India. More details can be found at the details page.

This offer is surely going to have a huge impact on my decision whether it is MCSD or SCJP, next

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Taking up 70-320 tomorrow

After postponing for more than two times, I have finally decided to take up my 70-320 exam tomorrow (27-May-05). Long time readers of my blog will know that if I clear this exam then I would become MCAD.

Preparing for 70-320 was a little difficult for me when compared with other exams as it covers not only Web Services, SOAP, UDDI but also .NET Remoting and also tricky things like storing and retrieving data as XML etc. Though these concepts are very interesting for me, I have very little practical experience. So I have been putting in a lot of effort and gained some practical experience by getting my hands dirty by writing a couple of toy webservices. I found the videos from LearnVisualStudio.NET very helpful, especially the 4000 series. It was lying in my hard disk for sometime, but now only found how useful they are. Thanks Bob Tabor.

And if every thing goes fine, I would be a MCAD by the same time tomorrow.

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Received My MCDBA Welcome Kit

I just received my MCDBA Welcome Kit. It was quite thrilling to see my name in the certificate which is signed by Bill Gates. I thought of uploading the scanned copy of my certificate. But then the thought of connecting my scanner, dusting it off and switching it on delayed that (ya it’s been a while since I used it last). Probably I will upload it this weekend. But I am not sure whether this violates Microsoft’s Certification Agreement. Can any one more throw light on it?

In addition to the usual contents (like tie pin, MCP card etc..) the welcome kit also contained gift and discount coupons. As an MCDBA I get 1 year free subscription for SQL Server Magazine and discounts for MSDN and TechNet subscriptions. I have filled and posted the coupon for my SQL Server Magazine.

I am now seriously thinking whether to take up MSDN and TechNet subscriptions or not. The reason is that they are costly and I am not sure whether I will be able to use them effectively, as I am mostly working in J2EE nowadays at my work. Anyways I have around 3 months to decide. (The offer holds good for three months from the date of certification)

PS: BTW can anyone of you who have already subscribed, tell me whether it is worth to subscribe for MSDN or TechNet or both.

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Preparation for 70-320

Even thought work is taking most of my time, I have learned a lot of new things about web services, remote scripting, SOAP etc in the last two weeks. Thanks to my preparation for 70-320.

I am currently using Microsoft Self-Paced Kit for my preparation towards 70-320. I am also reading lot of articles from MSDN Webservice Home and from Tim’s Site.

My work pressure is forcing me to make this entry a short one. I will post more links once I find time.

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Finally MCDBA – Cleared 70-315

Upaaa. 😆 Finally became MCDBA. Cleared my 70-315 exam this Saturday. Any guess for the score, ya it is 1000.

I was slightly thrilled after seeing the score. May be I found the answer to the long lasting question ‘What is the maximum score for a Microsoft exam?‘. I am certain that I got the maximum and the maximum score is 1000 (at least for my exam)

The reason being that in the report card, there are bar graphs which show the percentage for each section of the exam that you have scored and for me all the five bar graphs were showing 100 % (which means that I have scored 100% in the exam) correct?

Speaking about the exam, it wasn’t that difficult as I expected. There were lot of questions from ADO.NET and Web Services. I expected them only in my 70-320 exam ;-). Microsoft self-paced training kit was really helpful. It took me only 1 minute per question to answer. The total time allocated was 150 minutes.

So, what’s next? Have one more exam to become MCAD and 3 more exams to become MCSD. So I am planning to take up 70-320 next and then 70-316 and then 70-300

Self-note – I have allocated 2 weeks time 70-320 and hopefully should complete it with in that time. Planning to used Microsoft Self-paced Kit for this one too.

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Taking up 70-315 tomorrow

I am planning to write my 70-315 exam this Saturday (23 April).

It’s been a long preparation for me. I was preparing for more than 3 weeks. I have mainly used Microsoft Self-Paced training kit and ASP.NET Quick Start and also a couple of articles from MSDN.

If every thing goes fine, I would be a MCDBA by the same time tomorrow.

Hmm.. that gives me a thrill feeling. Hey 70-315, I am coming to crack you up.. be waiting for me. 😉

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Passed exam 70-290

After preparing for just two weeks, I took my Windows 2003 (70-290) exam this Saturday. Oh my god, What a tough exam ! I JUST cleared it. I got a score of 700 (as you know 700 is the minimum score to pass). I thanked my stars after seeing the score for two reasons.

  • First, I don’t want to prepare for an administration exam one more time
  • Second, Microsoft is changing the exam pattern next week by introducing simulation into the exam.

So, one more exam to go before I become MCDBA (this feeling really thrills me) and I am planning to take up exam Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual C# .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (70-315) . Though I am relatively new to .NET and C#, I hope my experience in Web Programming and Java should help me.

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