70-778 Power BI Exam Strategy, Approach and Success

Disclaimer:

The below is the personal view, opinion and experience of the author and doesn't represent any entity and does not restrict further share or circulation. Section (19) (1) of Constitution of India. The suggestions below were intended only for Power BI certification aspirants and does not intend to be defamatory or derogatory or abusive or promotional to any one or entity. If you have any complaints or compliance issues, please email it to [email protected] for any appropriate corrections or actions. The likes or dislikes of this article is not warranted but encouraged for better caching for the benefit of the aspirants.

Dear Power BI Certification aspirants and friends,

Greetings!

First let me thank you for all your responses, reactions and comments on my post on passing the MS Power BI Exam.

There have been many requests from the different parts of the BI professionals group asking about the strategy of studying and passing the exam.

This is the story about how I was preparing and it is purely my personal experience and doesn't have to be applied on everyone. The order/sequence below is the way which I have adopted and it does not imply any ranking. All of them contributed to my success equally on the exam and the experience is subject to individuals.

For beginners only:

https://www.edx.org/course/analyzing-and-visualizing-data-with-power-bi-3

The Edx course from Microsoft is very useful to bootstrap and have a quick grasp of Power BI. . I have passed it not because I was a beginner but in order to ensure the complete coverage of Exam modules.

For working and knowledgeable professionals:

1. I went through Mike's video lessons of MSPTDA. Especially MSPTDA19 and 20 were something stands forever in me. His Excel, Power Pivot, Data Model, Power Query, ETL videos are definitely the best I’ve experienced. Still got many things to learn. Especially, I am highly impressed with the video series MSPTDA19 and 20.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrRPvpgDmw0ks5W7U5NmDCU2ydSnNZA_1

2. When it comes to DAX, The definitive guide to DAX by Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari was the ultimate source. 

Combining Mike's videos and the DAX guide was really effective method of studying specially to learn better the Calculate and Time Intelligence functions. But I am not done with it. I am still keeping myself engaged with it on a daily basis.

https://www.sqlbi.com/books/the-definitive-guide-to-dax-2nd-edition/

The DAX online test conducted by them which was tricky, hard and fun https://www.sqlbi.com/self-assessment/?test=1. I did fail couple of times but then I applied creating sample data in order to explore and it was mind blowing. The purpose of this test is a pre-requisite for their advanced course on DAX hence I am not sure about the website intended traffic, bandwidth and stuff. Hope they don't charge against me for this referral :-)

There are quite a lot of tools in SQLBI.com. The DAX studio was outstanding and did help me to evaluate the DAX formulas, look at the query plans. I am sure this is going to be flagship product. May be already!

3. For the best practical application examples of most of frequently used DAX functions Sam's Enterprise DNA is the key. I am sure going through this with utmost care and attention will bring out the best in you as BI professional. Please download the samples and work on it to understand and grasp. These are kind of prime source which will stand for the next decade in my opinion. Highly recommended for finance professionals, CFOs and higher.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy2rBgj4M1tzK-urTZ28zcA

4. For the people who want to go through the dumps, I suggest going through them a week before taking the exam and after doing the above. They do give you a pattern of questions asked and many of their questions and answers are incorrect. Hence you will have to evaluate each one of them. That is also a good experience. You can google it and you may find many. 

This is definitely not my recommendation, but I do see no harm or conflict of interest.

Responding to each individual request is making me feel awesome, but unfortunately, I did not have enough time to answer all of you that is why I have created this article.

Honestly years of experience, power of smartness doesn't matter. All that it requires is planning, perseverance, dedication, commitment and longing till you achieve. Certain things do take time. Please let it happen. I could sense/feel all this in you when you interacted with me about the exam.

I am sure you are going to pass it shortly. Please share the success story with others.

Please do feel free to message me or contact me for any help or assistance if the above doesn't help. 

Special thanks and appreciations to @Daria Bratina for her voluntary contribution in correcting the language aspects of this article as required.

Good luck from the bottom of my heart for you!

Anand