Preparation Guide for Exam 70-536 - UPDATED

Based on MCP feedbacks MS has updated the preparation guides for exams. The pilot updated prep-guide is for 70-536 & can be checked out at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-536.asp

So what's new??
1.) Notice the "Exam Topics Covered" section... This section now tells you how the major areas of the exams are distributed across the exam. It will give you an opportunity to understand the coverage of the exam content and will guide you how to focus while you prepare.

2.) Also notice the "Practice questions" link... This gives you some of the sample questions to warm you up for the exam preparation. You can find more such questions in Microsoft Training Kits for the exam...

Btw, Microsoft Official Training Kit (MSPRESS Book) and E-Learning course on 70-536 will be available soon...

We would love to hear your feedback about the Prep Guide changes that our team has introduced... Do write back if you like it or even if you have any further feedback that we can take and implement... :-)

MSDN Resources for 70-536

Michael composes cool resources for 70-536 exam at the below location. A very useful compilation check it out...

http://www.dotnetfun.com/articles/certifications/Passing70536Certification.aspx

Case Study in SQL 2005 PRO Exams

I would like to get feedback from people who have appeared SQL Server 2005 Case Study Exams...

Case Study exams for SQL Server 2005 PRO level certs were introduced to test a professionals ability to synthesize a given situation and make educated judgment on the correct choice... These kind of PRO Case Study exams may not have a clear choice to make and might seem like having more than one correct answers or probably no correct answers... Although, a person who very carefully reads through will realize that there is infact distinct correct answer to the questions...

Many a times when you find multiple correct answer - take a moment and read through the case study carefully, there will be something in the case study which will drive you to the correct answer. If you find nothing to be correct try to go through again and you might find something that will tell you the correct answer...

Many may argue that such questions are trick questions and more of word mangling than actual problem OR why can't MS people be frank, precise and ask what you want? But folks that is the definition of a Technology Specialist (TS) exam... The exams focusing on How To? areas will have a clear cut answer, they will be to the point, there will be not much confusion over there BUT in case of PRO exams they are suppose to get you closer to the REAL WORLD PROBLEM... In real world you do not resolve bugs by someone telling you what the problem is... You also troubleshoot, there are various different factors that play while you trouble shoot but finally you find the problem and resolve the bug... When you design a solution there is never a clear cut best design, there are trade-offs like performance, maintainability, security, extensibility etc... You would try to design with all these factors in consideration but when you are asked that security is a higher priority over performance then your choices change; that is how PRO exams work...

In PRO exams you have to make those hard choices and those become even more reflective in CASE STUDY EXAMS, hence be prepared for Case Study Exams... I am positive that if you go with this kind of expectation, you will not be confused or frustrated, you will probably look at the exam from the right perspective and perhaps apply your professional experience to the situation and do much better than you may expect...

If you have experiences with SQL Server 2005 Case Study Exams write a comment, let us know what you feel, let me know what can be made better and I will passionately take your advise and work on it...