Microsoftie Perk #5 - Free Microsoft Certification Exams

The is a post in a blog series I’m writing called "Microsoftie Perks"

Microsoft allows all Microsofties to take Microsoft Certification Exams for free. Non-Microsofties pay $150 an exam and it takes about 4 exams to get a certification…that’s an extra $600 in your pocket. I am a Microsoft Certified Professional and encourage people on my team to be as well. I took my first exam back in 2002, became a Microsoft Certified Application Developer in 2003 and then a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer in 2004. When I was hired into Microsoft the interviewer told me that my resume stuck out to him because it had the Microsoft Certified logo on it. There’s proof that, while it doesn’t teach you everything you need to know to be a dev or IT professional, it does help you get a job and could potentially help you stick out from the crowd.

The certification I recommend for web devs is the MCPD – Web Developer 4 on Visual Studio 2010 and of course the 2012 version when it comes out.

You can learn more about Microsoft certifications on the Microsoft Certification Overview page on Microsoft.com.

If you are already a Microsoftie then just search MSW for “certification exams”.

Jon