Unlocking Career Growth: 8 Tech Certifications Earned in Two Weeks and the Secret Strategy That Got Me There
Jonathan Works
??Top AI Voice | AI Expert | Business Leader | Board Director | Accelerating Innovation with Generative AI
I recently undertook a journey to conquer all eight of Microsoft's 900-level fundamentals certifications in April—a challenge set by me not just to refresh my technical skills but to validate and celebrate the expertise I wield as a senior leader and expert tech strategist. Read on to learn my secret in how I achieved these certifications.
I initially set out to complete this challenge throughout the entire month, but instead I started taking exams every single day interrupted only by traveling cross country several times and a mental rest break. I can now say that I’m newly 8x Microsoft certified comprehensively across the entire Microsoft 900-level Certified tech stack:
Additionally, after breezing through all of the Microsoft 900-level fundamentals and arriving back home in Portland from the east coast, I decided to tackle the GitHub Foundations certification as a bonus challenge. I imagine if it had an exam number, it would be GH-900, but it doesn't ??. Having worked with GitHub and many other VCS software over my career, I figured this would be a simple exam. I was wrong of course. In the end however, I can also now say that I’m newly 1x GitHub certified:
This self-imposed effort I undertook wasn’t about collecting accolades or seeing how fast I could do it; it was about underlining my continual growth in a fast-evolving tech landscape and maintaining my relevance as a strategic advisor to executive clients and a leader of teams under my practice.
This experience has reminded me how essential it is to continually validate and showcase our skills, not just internally to your peers and company, but to the world. As I navigated each exam, from Azure fundamentals to Dynamics ERP, to OpenAI and Machine Learning, the challenge was less about learning from scratch and more about benchmarking my knowledge against my industry.
From Strategy to Execution: Bridging Business and Technology
You see, my role requires not just understanding tech but translating it into strategic business outcomes. Each certification has sharpened this ability, better equipping me to discuss cloud solutions and strategies with executive clients in ways that resonate deeply with their business objectives. It’s about making the connection between a company’s IT infrastructure or app dev modernization and their bottom line as clear as explaining why upgrading to LED bulbs cuts electricity costs—simple, direct, and with obvious benefits.
The Importance of a Growth Mindset in Tech
In my fast-paced tech world, adopting a growth mindset, like Carol S. Dweck discusses in [Mindset: The New Psychology of Success] is key. It’s all about seeing skills as something you can develop through effort rather than something fixed. Every certification I’ve tackled was a chance to level up and stay sharp in an industry that never stands still. This mindset isn’t just great for climbing the career ladder; it keeps you ahead of the curve. I highly recommend Dweck’s book for anyone in tech looking to up their game and adapt to ongoing changes.
Balancing Drive with Realistic Expectations
Going through this certification journey, I caught myself aiming for perfection on each test, and I almost achieved it several times only to be humorously reminded by my wife that these exams are pass/fail—the real win was in the learning and the certification that followed. No one cares what my score was! I learned this very well after achieving a precise minimum passing score of 700 on my weakest exam. This was a lesson in humility and also perseverance, highlighting that sometimes, just making it through by a single correct answer is an accomplishment in itself.
There was a humorous side to this whole effort too. Imagine trying to explain to non-tech friends that I spent nearly two weeks taking exams for fun! The mixture of awe and bewilderment in their reactions added a layer of levity to my focus that these exams demanded. There's something amusing to me about the paradox of racing through exams that many spend months preparing for, akin to speed-running a video game where the prize is another chance to play yet another even tougher level.
A Call to Action for Continuous Learning and Leadership
To those of you in any professional field feeling uncertain about your capabilities or pondering similar professional development—embrace the challenge. The journey of learning and leadership is filled with opportunities to not just participate but actively drive change. Remember, every expert was once a beginner, and every leader has faced moments of doubt. I certainly have faced doubt and uncertainty in my capabilities and career. Share your knowledge, celebrate your victories, and continue to inspire others to expand their horizons. This path of continuous learning and strategic application is not just about personal growth but about leading innovation in our tech-driven world.
Bonus Experience with GitHub Foundations Certification: Not Settling for Just Completing my Challenge Goal
Updated in 2024, this exam now incorporates GitHub Copilot, which I did study for, tested, and found immensely interesting. It’s fascinating to see how AI can pair with programming to streamline coding tasks. With my goal achieved including a bonus for the month, this certification not only added another layer to my tech credentials but also deepened my appreciation for AI's role in software development.
My Secret to How I Achieved 8 Certifications in Two Weeks
So, you skipped ahead TLDR style—or you’ve been reading along patiently waiting for me to get to my point and reveal my secret to nailing eight certifications in just two weeks?
So here it is—My Secret how I achieved 8x certifications in two weeks:
Hard work and RTFM! ??????
It’s like trying to learn how to build an OpenAI RAG pipeline overnight from scratch; you pluck away at what you know, follow a rabbit-hole reading about LLM vector database mythology, and for everything else, there's Microsoft Learn and a 64-ounce Stanley cup full of caffeine.
Even though I’ve been around the tech block more times than a Roomba in a studio apartment, I’ve got Microsoft Learn to help pick up a thing or two with the heavy lifting. My pro tip is to remember to pair up your docs reading with Microsoft skills challenges for a hands-on experience to help those of you that learn through doing vs reading.
For the finer lifting, I hit up the study guides, and trawl through Tech communities and forums. Reddit, YouTube videos, LinkedIn, and Microsoft Tech forums are my go-to for the real crunchy stuff; it’s where the old grey bearded tech experts like Woz who write their own compilers from scratch and the technical trainers with every single certification known to man gather.
I guess if I think about it, the secret is really more of a mix of gaining experience, some hard-core studying, and a dash of shared internet community wisdom.
Leveraging Learning Resources, Hands-on Labs, and Community Support for Microsoft Certifications
The wealth of study materials, hands-on labs, and supportive IT community forums really did play a crucial role in preparing me for these exams. Here’s my list of resources I gathered that I used a mixture of the below resources I’ve created a table with URLs inserted for Reddit threads, YouTube videos, study guides, and books to buy for those that want to feel a dead tree in your hands or listen to a narrator read into your ears:
Exam: AZ-900: Azure Fundamentals
Reddit Threads:
YouTube Videos:
Study Guides:
Microsoft Learn Training:
Exam: AI-900: Azure AI Fundamentals
Reddit Threads:
YouTube Videos:
Study Guides:
Microsoft Learn Training:
Exam: DP-900: Azure Data Fundamentals
Reddit Threads:
YouTube Videos:
Study Guides:
Microsoft Learn Training:
Exam: MS-900: Microsoft 365 Fundamentals
Reddit Threads:
YouTube Videos:
Study Guides:
Microsoft Learn Training:
Exam: SC-900: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
领英推荐
Reddit Threads:
YouTube Videos:
Study Guides:
Microsoft Learn Training:
Exam: PL-900: Power Platform Fundamentals
Reddit Threads:
YouTube Videos:
Study Guides:
Microsoft Learn Training:
Exam: MB-910: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals CRM
Reddit Threads:
YouTube Videos:
Study Guides:
Microsoft Learn Training:
Exam: MB-920: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals ERP
Reddit Threads:
YouTube Videos:
Study Guides:
Microsoft Learn Training:
Why are you reading down here?
OK--Congratulations, you made it this far. You get a certification for reading my article!
You just earned your CloudBornPro Certified: Growth Mindset Ramblings ?????
Chief Marketing Officer | Product MVP Expert | Cyber Security Enthusiast | @ GITEX DUBAI in October
5 个月Jonathan, thanks for sharing!
Actively looking for full-time opportunities | Data Engineer | MS CS @ NJIT | Analyst | Developer | SQL | Power BI | Python
8 个月It's really a great achievement to complete so many certifications in a month—hats off to your consistency and hard work.
AZURE 104, System Administrator
9 个月Wooow
Data Engineer | Data Analyst | 2x Azure Certified | DP-600 | PL-300
9 个月Thank you for sharing, the reason I need this as I am currently studying for a shift career in tech worlds as a Data Engineer and scientist so this certification will definitely help me to demonstrate my skills and be trust worthy for companies and recruiters.