Microsoft Certifications are growing in popularity in the cloud; they’re a great way to soup up your
resume, show you have the skills that organizations need, and ultimately, land your dream career. Let’s take a look through the ultimate guide to getting Microsoft certified, shall we?
In this blog, we’ll break down some popular certification paths in Microsoft and answer some of
Google’s top–ranked questions on the Microsoft certification process. Want to skip straight to the information or role you’re interested in? Use the links below:
Why become Microsoft certified in the first place?
There’s a reason why Microsoft certifications are the gold-standard of cloud certifications and why, according to Nigel Frank’s 2021 Dynamics Careers and Hiring Guide, 28% of Microsoft Dynamics 365 professionals received a pay-rise after becoming industry-certified.
Microsoft certifications offer credibility, better job security, and better job prospects to candidates – they can even help you earn a better salary with a current employer. They’re also a fantastic way to bolster your resume if you have less experience than what is required for the role you’re interested in.
In our opinion, the three main benefits to becoming Microsoft certified are:
- Microsoft certifications help you stand out to potential employers – Certifications are one of the best ways to grab the attention of recruiters, so becoming Microsoft-certified can really open doors when it comes to landing that dream job. In fact, according to the Nigel Frank, 72% of all Microsoft end-users and partners believe certifications help you stand out in the hiring crowd.
- Microsoft certifications can lead to better pay – Certifications can help you give you leverage for better pay with an existing employer, or to push for a higher salary when starting a new role.
- Becoming Microsoft certified can help you get promoted faster – Proving you are a valuable member of your team is one of the best ways to get promoted faster as you can demonstrate that you’re trained to complete duties at a higher seniority level.
So, with that out of the way, let’s look at the certification pathways for some of the core Microsoft roles.
Microsoft Developer Certification Pathway
Developers build incredible solutions for companies using Microsoft. They’re builders, testers, and maintenance experts, all rolled into one.
There’s a whole host of certifications you can earn to help you become a Developer, which you can check out here. To get hired as a Microsoft Developer, we recommend you earn at least the following certifications:
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
Overview
This certification demonstrates your knowledge of cloud services and how they are provided through Microsoft Azure in areas such as cloud concepts, Azure services, Azure workloads, security, privacy, and pricing and support.
Requirements to sit
There are no prerequisites to sit this exam as it is an entry-level certification designed for people who are just beginning to work with cloud-based solutions and services (or who are new to Azure).
Required exam: AZ-900.
Microsoft Azure Administrator
Overview
Earning this certification proves you have the right expertise in executing, managing, and monitoring an organization’s Microsoft Azure implementation. It also demonstrates that you are confident with governance, storage, compute, virtual networking, and resource adjustment.
Requirements to sit
To sit this exam, you’ll need at least six months of hands-on experience administering Microsoft Azure, along with a strong understanding of core Azure services, Azure workloads, security, and governance. You’ll also need some experience using the following technologies: PowerShell, Azure CLI, Azure portal, and Azure Resource Manager templates.
Required exam: AZ-104.
Microsoft Engineer Certification Pathway
Engineers are experts at combining people, processes, and technologies that deliver incredible products or services.
There’s a long list of certifications you can earn to become a Microsoft Cloud Engineer (see here for more), but we recommend you earn at least the following certifications:
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
Overview
This certification demonstrates your knowledge of cloud services and how they are provided through Microsoft Azure in areas such as cloud concepts, Azure services, Azure workloads, security, privacy, and pricing and support.
Requirements to sit
There are no prerequisites to sit this exam, as it is an entry-level certification designed for people who are just beginning to work with cloud-based solutions and services (or who are new to Azure).
Required exam: AZ-900.
Microsoft Azure Administrator
Overview
Earning this certification proves you have the right expertise in executing, managing, and monitoring an organization’s Microsoft Azure implementation. It also demonstrates that you are confident with governance, storage, compute, virtual networking, and resource adjustment.
Requirements to sit
To sit this exam, you’ll need at least six months of hands-on experience administering Microsoft Azure, along with a strong understanding of core Azure services, Azure workloads, security, and governance. You’ll also need some experience using the following technologies: PowerShell, Azure CLI, Azure portal, and Azure Resource Manager templates.
Required exam: AZ-104.
However, if you’re interested in becoming a Data Engineer specifically, you’ll need to specialize and take the following certification:
Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals
Overview
This certification proves that you have a strong basic understanding of core data concepts and how they are implemented through Microsoft Azure data services.
Requirements to sit
To sit this exam, you’ll need to be familiar with concepts of relational and non-relational data, and different types of data workloads, such as transactional or analytical.
Required exam: DP-900.
Microsoft Data Architect Certification Pathway
There are plenty of certs you can gain on your road to becoming a fully-fledged Microsoft Cloud Architect, but we’re going to look at the Data Architect role and Security Architect role as the role of Cloud Architect can take years to achieve! However, a longer list of Architect certifications is available here, if you need it.
To become a Microsoft Azure Data Architect, we recommend you take at least the following certifications:
Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals
Overview
This certification proves that you have a strong basic understanding of core data concepts and how they are implemented through Microsoft Azure data services.
Requirements to sit
To sit this exam, you’ll need to be familiar with concepts of relational and non-relational data, and different types of data workloads, such as transactional or analytical.
Required exam: DP-900.
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
Overview
This certification demonstrates your knowledge of cloud services and how they are provided through Microsoft Azure in areas such as cloud concepts, Azure services, Azure workloads, security, privacy, and pricing and support.
Requirements to sit
There are no prerequisites to sit this exam, as it is an entry-level certification designed for people who are just beginning to work with cloud-based solutions and services (or who are new to Azure).
Required exam: AZ-900.
Microsoft Security Architect Certification Pathway
To become an Azure Security Architect, we recommend you take at least the following certifications:
Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
Overview
This certification will prove that you have familiarized yourself with the fundamentals of Security, Identity, and Compliance (SCI) across cloud-based Microsoft services.
Requirements to sit
Before you sit this exam, you’ll need to make sure you’re familiar with both Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365. You’ll also need a good understanding of how Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity (SCI) solutions can span across different solution areas to provide a holistic, end-to-end solution for your client.
Required exam: SC-900.
Microsoft Security Operations Analyst
Overview
Earning this certification will prove that you are capable of accomplishing a number of technical tasks, including mitigating threats using Microsoft 365 Defender, Azure Defender, and Azure Sentinel.
Requirements to sit
Before you sit this exam, you’ll need to make sure you’re familiar with both Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365. You’ll also need to be capable of utilizing Microsoft 365 Defender, Azure Defender, and Azure Sentinel to successfully mitigate security threats for clients.
Required exam: SC-200.
What if I want to learn DevOps? How to become DevOps Certified
DevOps working methodologies keep the development efforts of an organization on track, and ensure that an org can release updates, solutions, and new products quickly, while keeping teams in sync constantly.
As a leviathan of an organization, Microsoft takes DevOps very seriously. In fact, Ori Zohar, a Senior Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft Azure, recently outlined why they integrated DevOps into nearly every aspect of their development processes: “From Office, to Azure, to Xbox, we needed a new way to deliver software. […] The need to accelerate innovation and transform how we work was real, and urgent.”
For that reason, we recommend that most Microsoft professionals become somewhat versed in DevOps methodologies. In our opinion, one of the best certifications to help you get to grips with DevOps is “Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions”. We’ve broken it down for you below:
Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions
Overview
This certification proves that you have the knowledge and skills needed to design and implement DevOps processes and best practices. More specifically, it demonstrates your ability to develop an instrumentation strategy, a Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) strategy, and a security and compliance plan, manage source control, facilitate communication and collaboration, define and implement continuous integration, and define and implement a continuous delivery and release management strategy.
Requirements to sit
To sit this exam, you must be familiar with both Azure Administration and Development, and you must be an expert in at least one of them.
Required exam: AZ-400.
Frequently asked questions about Microsoft Cloud
And that’s that, for the Microsoft certification pathways! In the next section of this blog, we’ll talk you through how to land your dream job in Microsoft, as well as other popular community FAQs, including how much certifications cost, how long they last, and how to choose the right certification pathway for you.
How to land your first job in Microsoft
By this point it should be evident that there are boundless career opportunities available in Microsoft, for those with the right certifications and experience.
But, if you’re interested in landing a great role as a Microsoft cloud specialist soon, you’ll need training, certifications, and commercial experience working with businesses that use Microsoft.
While there are plenty of training providers out there who offer Microsoft training, few offer that crucial last step of meaningful work placements to help you put your skills into practice.
While Microsoft certifications are definitely part of landing a great role in the cloud, you’ll still need practical experience to truly stand out in the hiring crowd as employers want to see how you can leverage your skills to grow their business and bring value to the team.
At Revolent, we offer the best of both worlds. We recruit, cross-train, and place dedicated professionals with some of the best companies in the ecosystem that use Microsoft cloud applications.
Those that join our world-class career programs typically go through these three steps:
Step 1: Training Program
An intensive 8-12 week paid training program, led by our Microsoft–authorized training team.
Step 2: Exams
Sitting your certification exams – all of which are funded by us.
Step 3: Placement
Once trained and industry-certified, we’ll place you with one of our incredible clients, where you’ll work as part of their expert team. You’ll gain experience working as a genuine Microsoft cloud specialist, which will help you stand out in the hiring crowd .
The training is paid for by us, as are the costs for sitting your certifications. And, of course, you’re paid a proper salary while working with clients.
Want to learn more about our fully-funded Microsoft cloud career programs?
How much do Microsoft certifications cost?
On average, the cost of a Microsoft certification is around $165 (US). However, exams are priced differently depending on the level of complexity for the certification itself.
For example, the Microsoft Azure Fundamental exam will only set you back $99 (US), but an Associate-level certification, like Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure, can set you back $165 (US), as it is a more complex exam.
How long do Microsoft certifications last?
Since June 2021, Microsoft role-based and specialty certifications are valid for one year, from the date that you pass your certification exam. Say, for example, if you gained your first certification on August 1st 2021, you would need to renew that certification before the expiration date of August 2nd, 2022.
Having current, relevant certifications shows that your knowledge is up to date and also demonstrates that you are committed to learning and maintaining new skills, which is a great big tick for employers that are hiring. So, it’s definitely worth keeping your certifications up to date!
What are the different levels of Microsoft certification?
Every Microsoft certification path has three different levels: Fundamental, Associate, and Expert. The cost per certification and requirements to pass increase at every new level, so an Expert-level certification will take you longer to pass than a Fundamental-level cert, and it will cost more.
Choosing the right Microsoft certification path all depends on what you want out of the ecosystem, and where you want to end up in terms of job roles.
There are so many career opportunities available through Microsoft that it can feel a little overwhelming to those who are just getting started, but the trick is to begin down a pathway that best suits your personal and professional skill set.
Microsoft Cloud Developers, for example, are “builders”. Their specialty is designing and building applications, products, and services through their relevant technology (for example, Microsoft Azure). Typically, Developers are a coding “Jack of all trades”, so you’d want to make sure you have a strong and broad technical skill set and know your technology inside out.
A Microsoft Cloud Consultant, on the other hand, relies more on their interpersonal skills and business acumen, and requirements gathering skills to drive new innovations in the cloud and ensure projects using Microsoft are built in the most efficient way possible, while still meeting the requirements of the business.
Our blog, Choosing your Microsoft Career Path, can help you figure out which of the core Microsoft roles will best fit your existing skill set. In it, we break down the salaries, progression opportunities, technical requirements, and how long training takes, for four core roles in Microsoft Azure and Dynamics 365.
