Finally Passed 70-410. Now, What Exam to Take?

kengjames

I posted here last December before taking the 70-410

http://www.techexams.net/forums/mcsa-mcse-windows-2012-general/116313-mcsa-70-410-a.html

It took me four tries before I was able to pass. This is a very tricky exam. Don't give up. Pay attention on the words that were used on the questions. Especially when you can't seem to find the answer from the choices or there seem to be two correct answers. Most probably, you missed a word from the question that will determine the correct answer.

1st take (641 points) - Looking back, it was the easiest of all four. I missed the Hyper-V module on Pluralsight and did not familiarize myself on every feature and the location of each from the settings window. I got a bunch of questions on this topic and it was my weakest spot. I regret this so much after failing my third take.

2nd take (641 points) - I thought the questions was much harder than the questions from my 1st take. Got a bunch of Powershell. But I really thought that I passed on this and was really disappointed that I didn't.

3rd take (602 points) - Way more difficult compared to my first two takes. Lots of questions about IPv6 and topics from 70-411 WTH?!

4th take (781 points) - Really wanted to score 800+ points since this was my 4th take but i'm not complaining. I was confident that I passed even before clicking the Finish button at the end of the exam.

Tip: Technet, LOT of labs, study some topics from 70-411, and read books (This is something I learned in the process. Like what I mentioned in my previous thread, I don't read books).

I want to earn my MCSA by the end of the year and I'm paying the exams and study materials on my own. I'll take the 70-411 as it's a requirement of the MCSA Server 2012 R2 cert but I'm wondering what substitute exam should I replace 412 with?

74-409 - Seems cool and interesting. Plus, I believe I already have the fundamentals of Hyper-V. But, I'm not sure if I'll be able to utilize it since VMWare is more widely used in my area.

70-346 - I read somewhere that if you want to earn your MCSA quickly, take this test. I watched the Pluralsight video and I get bored easily about the topics.

70-462 - I see a lot of job postings requiring SQL skills. My only experience with databases was back in college with MySQL.

My goal is to earn MCSA by taking the exams that really interests me and get me a decent paying job where I can use the skills I learned. I'm also thinking of taking the one of the substitute exams first before taking the 70-411 since I know that this is more challenging than the 70-410. Do you guys think that that's a good strategy?

Thanks for reading!

gncsmith

Congrats!

cycleking

Well done! Did you use any practice exams from Transcender or Boson etc?

kengjames

gncsmith wrote: »

Congrats!

Thanks!

kengjames

cycleking wrote: »

Well done! Did you use any practice exams from Transcender or Boson etc?

I didn't. But I'm considering for the 70-411 exam as I heard that it is more challenging. Thank you.

powerfool

Big CONGRATS to you! Way to be persistent. I would take a look at those new exam packs that are our there that come with some retakes and have some options for other training materials, if that seems of interest to you. Don't let up, you have momentum now. Definitely let us know what you decide on for the third exam when you get there... and obviously keep us up to speed on 411 and if you have any questions.

DAVIS NGUYEN

Congrats!

candidateX

Well done on the pass!
I can't speak for the others but the 74-409 is well documented and the MVA videos are very good, as are the system center Technet labs. Good luck for whatever you choose

kengjames

powerfool wrote: »

Big CONGRATS to you! Way to be persistent. I would take a look at those new exam packs that are our there that come with some retakes and have some options for other training materials, if that seems of interest to you. Don't let up, you have momentum now. Definitely let us know what you decide on for the third exam when you get there... and obviously keep us up to speed on 411 and if you have any questions.

Yes, i'm considering the booster pack. And I think that's a very sweet deal! Thank you and I'm really excited to get back at studying again.

kengjames

DAVIS NGUYEN wrote: »

Congrats!

Thank you!

kengjames

candidateX wrote: »

Well done on the pass!
I can't speak for the others but the 74-409 is well documented and the MVA videos are very good, as are the system center Technet labs. Good luck for whatever you choose

Thanks! I'm actually leaning towards 74-409 as it really interest me the most. I'm watching this now on MVA: https://mva.microsoft.com/en-US/training-courses/server-virtualization-with-windows-server-hyperv-and-system-center-8268?l=BbBAG7Ky_9804984382

Do you have a book that would recommend?

joeswfc

The best way to decide is to think forward to which MCSE you might want to do (if you will be doing MCSE after)

I would go with the hyper-v exam if you want to go for the MCSE private cloud
If you are thinking about Exchange SharePoint Or Lync, go for the office 365 exam
If you are looking at server infrastructure (or if you find 70-411 interesting), go for 70-412

nascar_paul

Congratulations!

Piers

Congrats on the pass!

AndersonSmith

First of all congratulations on the pass! I just passed the 410 a few days ago and I think I'm going to take the 411 next simply because a lot of the objectives are basically a continuation of the 410 and I want to make sure I study and take it while it's fresh in my mind. Good luck!

Louie1277

Congrats on passing the exam. I took 2 months off after my last fail. This will be my fourth i believe try. Going to study hopefully every day if not have a least one day off or something. WIsh me will.