If you are looking for my political ramblings, most of them are now at http://activerepublican.spaces.live.com

 

If you are doing research on me in order to offer me a high-paying job, you will likely come across references to a Larry West in Louisville who is active in the neo-nazi movement. Please be aware that he is a different person. Although I am interested in politics, I am not interested in THAT type of politics. I desire to have smaller government, not have the government take over everything which is what the national socialists believe in.

 

Lately, there have been a lot of people who come to this site via www.google.co.in (that's India's version of Google) searching for the word "braindumps". This is probably because of the joke braindump post I have for the joke certification MCITP: US History Major (see http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2008/05/30/what-the-hell.aspx - yes, I'm the "Certified since 1857" person mentioned in that Microsoft blog).

 

For those who use braindumps, I would urge you to kick the habit. You risk losing all your certifications. Now that I have fifteen, that is a lot for me to lose. Since you will someday probably have a lot of certifications also, it is best to wean yourself from braindumps as quickly as possible.

 

Here are my suggestions for studying (for less than the cost of a braindump!):

1. Write the "Skills being measured" section of the Preparation Guide on the top of 3" by 5" index cards (or similar size in your country) or larger if you can't write in a small font-size. I number each item in the "Skills being measured" in case my cards get out of order. The very act of writing the items will help instill them in your head. That way, if you get a question with an answer mentioning a skill that you remember writing down, and three answers that were not listed on the "skills being measured," you've got a free question (without really cheating!).

 

2. Since some exams have skills that are mentioned in other exams (for example, most 70-290 and 70-291 skills are also mentioned in 70-292), I try to mark down all exams that a skill is mentioned on. That way, if I was studying for 70-290, for example, and came across a 70-292 book on a clearance aisle, I would know immediately that I could use it for my exam. Most likely, this will occur with the "upgrade" exams, but it also occurs in cases such as the 70-643 exam having a topic on Hyper-V, which is also its own exam.

 

3. Then, do research on each of the topics, writing down information on your card. The very act of hand-writing it will help instill those items in your head. I have found that http://msdn2.microsoft.com and http://technet.microsoft.com are the best study sources. Why? Because when the original exam question creators created their questions, they didn't have third-party books and websites, they just had the Microsoft sites. Try to fill the front of the card with information. This may mean trying to figure out what items to list on skills where there are abundant documentation, and trying to find further information on items where documentation is scarce.

 

4. Use the search boxes on the msdn2 and technet sites, and you will likely get better responses than public search engines such as google, which unfortunately still mostly points to braindump sites (if anyone can find such sites so easily by searching the terms in the preparation guides, why can't Microsoft do so and shut them down, or at least ask google not to include them in their databases?). Sometimes you luck out and get the exact wording of the "skill" on a msdn or technet site. If that happens, study the heck out of that page.

 

5. Leave the back of your cards blank. As you go to seminars and Tech-Eds or watch web-casts (see http://www.microsoft.com/events/webcasts/calendar/monthview.aspx), you can add notes there, then compress the information onto the front of a new index card if you get a lot. (Remember, the very act of hand-writing the information will help you to learn it better - its called kinesthetic learning.) If one of your cards is blank (except for the name of the "skill"), you can know what topics to ask the presenters to talk about.

 

6. Carry the cards with you. If you are riding on a bus, waiting for a light to change, or standing in a queue, you could use that normally wasted time studying for your next exam.

 

7. If you still have mostly blank cards, visit your local library (if it carries up to date certification books) or bookstore, and peruse the books there, writing notes on your card as if you were listening to a lecture or reading on the Microsoft site. If you can afford a book, buy it, then pretend that you are an editor trying to find errors. This means going through each exercise in the book. By doing this, I was able to pass the 70-643 exam.

 

8. When writing down information regarding a skill, I always ask myself "If I was writing a question on this skill, what would I write about?" Try to get into the exam writers' heads. Some exam writers have blogs. If you can find them, read them as it will help you learn some of the things that are important to them and likely to be on the exam.

 

9. Don't take the exam until at least 95% of your cards are filled and you have studied them all for at least a week. It may take you several weeks to prepare the cards, versus several days to study the braindumps, but you are more likely to learn something usable in the real world than you would with a braindump.

 

Note: If you are studying for more than one exam at a time, use colo(u)red index cards, a different one for each exam. Walgreen's in the United States had such cards on sale the week I wrote this for only 19 cents per pack. [Each pack has 5 colors and 14 cards per color per pack -- you will need to buy several packages.] August is the best time in the US to buy things like this due to the "back-to-school sales."

 

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know and I will include them.