70-461 Tracking Thread

This is the initial post

So far I have covered CBT nugget chapter 1 and 2

MSSMSE has been installed along wtih AdventureWorks2012

Going through some basic DDL functions Create and Drop etc. Even though this part isn't to terribly difficult I am not so hot on Views, so that will be a very nice piece to cover.

I'll keep updating as my progress continues.

Currently I am on a 3 month data project with a potential to hire so I am thinking if I can land this certification with 3 weeks left in the contract that could help assist me for the position. (That's the theory) However if that isn't the case, 3 month of T-SQL experience with the 461 certification should help me find another database project to roll into.

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Comments

N2IT

Book came in over the weekend. The material so far is very beginner but it's a good foundational read. I am hoping to talks about the new features in MS SQL 2012 like Stuff etc

N2IT

Leveraging this book quite heavily today. Case Expressions are fantastic to say the least.

Zorodzai

I'm still going through the CBT Nuggets with occasional glimpses in the book. Hope to complete the vids this weekend then I can focus on the books - Got a new laptop at work and have finally managed to setup a Windows Server 2012/SQL 2012 Dev Edition VM

N2IT

I've been getting killed at work LOL Boss wants all logic built for prototypes in SQL server. Been leveraging Coalesce, Case, Sub queries. Honestly this position from a scale 1 - 10 is going to take me from a 1 or 2 to a solid 5, 10 being a superstar who was born the write SQL. I'm in it ALL day everyday, except for some one off VBA projects or designing reports.

N2IT

Iztik's book SQL server 2012 fundamentals is about 400 pages. I found that a large portion could be skipped !~ 150 pages. Just curious how large in the MS SQL study guide for 461?"

NotHackingYou

Amazon shows it as 751 pages. I think that might be a little longer than I remember but I could be thinking of the 462 book.

N2IT

Yeah I was just being lazy last night. I can always GOOGLE it

Thanks again for all the support this is a tough one.

Zorodzai

Just keep pluggin away at it. Am on a client site for the next month or so. Cons are the long project hours and packed schedule, Pro is I can hit the books at the hotel as wife and kids are not here so any non work time is time I can use to study (easier said than done of course...)

N2IT

Z which country are you working in now? Sounds very interesting! My end goal is to get this certification and then re evaluate. I may go further but to be honest with you, this one here is plenty and then some. I am looking to just get enough SQL on my resume for the future. The way things are going now I can see myself staying at this position for 2+ years. I really like the people and the environment. Only question is will they have me for this long

Zorodzai

@N2IT - I am in Tanzania (east coast of Africa) at the moment. I travel around the continent quite a lot because of work, used to love the travel but have found I'm liking it less and less as I get older. My goal is to get the MCSE: Business Intelligence certification by end of 2014 having hopefully completed the MCSA this year - MS SQL is the core component of our system so getting the full MCSE will be an advantage both in terms of my current work but also for any openings that may come up. Certifications are still well respected in my part of the world so it's always an advantage to get certified.

N2IT

Z we manage data for companies so I am with you there on the MS SQL technology piece. I write so much SQL that at the end of the day my head hurts. It sometimes feels like I stink and can't do jack right lol. It's crazy how fried your brain gets looking at this stuff so much. I appreciate it I just can't wait till it becomes second nature. Because right now I am in Russia with a translation book. In fact I am writing so much code and stealing it as well I don't remember sometimes how I got somewhere. I document and note, but sometimes well you know.......

Zorodzai

ooohhh I know that feeling all too well lol. There have been times when I thought "now I understand SQL and know all I need to know" only to be proven so so wrong hahahah

N2IT

Just learned the technique of grouping by on anything that's not a count to do a rollout / aggregate. Sounds simple but the books weren't talking about it. I also have been using Max and GetDate instead of hardcoding start and end dates. So much more advanced and better than start date >= and End date <=. Instead I just do a sub select with Max and at the end getdate. It works like a charm, but then you know you run into another situation. My biggest trouble is understanding the business logic and business rules and making sure I am aggregating the correct data so the output is business useable lol. Thankful my boss is amazing and went through my root joins and said everything is perfect. So now I can just do my roll ups off of those joins and add tables via joins as needed. I also love subqueries for additional filtering. They make a lot of sense sometimes.

N2IT

Should an data/business analyst take this exam? Here is what is written on the website. "This exam is intended for SQL Server database administrators, system engineers, and developers with two or more years of experience, who are seeking to validate their skills and knowledge in writing queries". Thoughts?

N2IT

Back off the wagon. Covered a chapter in Iztik's book. I've read chapter 1 and 3. Heading for 4 now.

Zorodzai

.........and of course Microsoft decide to change the retirement date for the 70-433 (I was initially studying for that before I decided I would not be able to pass before July 31 so better to follow the 2012 track). So so so tempting to try knock this off

Retired exams

Zorodzai

So on a whim I decided to register for the 70-433 exam:

Background
Some time last year I started studying for the SQL 2008 dev certification. Life got in the way etc and I didn't get round to writing. When Microsoft decided to retire the 70-433 exam in July I decided to move on to 2012. Of course MS then decided to change the retirement date to January 2014.......

Reason for sitting exam
I had made a decision to do SQL 2012 certification but decided, since we use 2008 R2 at work and I felt I was fairly ready for the exam, I might as well wing it.

Result
Passed

- with 833 !! Am still pursuing 2012 and hope to get through my MCSA done by end of this year.

NotHackingYou

Congratulations!

knownhero

Zoridzai well done on the pass

N2IT

Great Pass! Sorry for the late reply.

papaguapo

I passed 70-461 on Saturday and am moving on to 462. This one looks a lot harder for me!

knownhero

papaguapo wrote: »

I passed 70-461 on Saturday and am moving on to 462. This one looks a lot harder for me!

Well done!

Zorodzai

papaguapo wrote: »

I passed 70-461 on Saturday and am moving on to 462. This one looks a lot harder for me!

nice one - how did you find the exam ?

papaguapo

Thanks!

I found that I did not manage my time well at all but still managed a pass! Was being very careful and slow towards the beginning but when the questions got harder for me towards the end I had not saved enough time for each question! Regardless of that it was not too bad. Some of the questions have too many answer choices I think. When the question was somewhat complicated, it was annoying to have to scroll back and forth on the small screen I had at my testing center. Good luck to you all.
I used the training kit book and CBT Nuggets.

planetbob

Just passed the 70-461 with 831

! I'm 62 and my memory isn't what it used to be so it was tough for me, I used almost the full two hours. It's been 8 years since I worked as a SQL developer but I'm back in the job market and need this to prove I have what it takes.

I used the training kit book, SQL Server Books Online and the Transcender practice exams. The MeasureUp exam is garbage, it bears little resemblance to the real thing in difficulty or questions - you could score 80+% and still fail the real exam.

The Transcender exam is about the same degree of difficulty more or less but has numerous errors so be careful. The Flashcards also have errors - it is hard to use a tool that you can't trust. For example, one of the questions is "What character terminates a label?" The answer according to Transcender is a semicolon but of course the right answer is a colon. This is just one for about a dozen or more errors - I find it hard to justify the cost with a product this poorly edited.

Congrats to everyone who has passed it and best of luck to everyone who has yet to attempt! On to the 70-462!

Zorodzai

Congrats planetbob

N2IT

Nice work Bob! Great pass - wish I could get around to studying for this.

MS SQL

Hey guys. I thought I'd join in on this thread. My goal is pass exam 70-461 before 2014, so I have around 4 months to study for this. Afterwards, I plan on taking 70-462 and 70-463 to obtain the Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate - SQL server 2012 certificate, hopefully around the middle of 2014.

Here's my brief introduction. I currently work as a support tech analyst at a tech company that deals with Document Management software for large organizations. I was lucky enough to land this job with an A+ certification with no SQL experience. This job requires me to use and understand SQL on a daily basis. I decided to pursue this certification to add to my resume, increase my value in the workforce, and learn more about SQL in the process.

Currently I have two books that I'm using to study for this examination:
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 T-SQL Fundamentals Ben-Gan, Itzik

Training Kit (Exam 70-461): Querying Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Ben-Gan, Itzik

I also recently looked into youtube videos to aid me in the process as well. Videos by Joes2Pros, I found to be extremely helpful. After browsing through this thread, a lot of people seems to be viewing videos by CBT Nuggets. I'll be looking into those videos.

I only have around 9 months of SQL experience under my belt and realized after reading through Microsoft SQL Server 2012 T-SQL Fundamentals once, I have a long way to go as I only understand only a portion of what I read.

I'll share my trial and tribulations in this thread as I try to obtain the Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate - SQL server 2012 certificate. Good luck to us all!

N2IT

I have the Fundamentals SQL book and I absolutely think it's great. It's real world and helps me occasionally, I still use Google the most

MS SQL

N2IT wrote: »

I have the Fundamentals SQL book and I absolutely think it's great. It's real world and helps me occasionally, I still use Google the most

You can never go wrong by having that book!