AZ-900 — Exam Passing Tips

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Sharing my prep tips and also my exam experience at the exam center.

Just passed the exam. credential available here.

How I Prepared:

1. First up, I have been using Azure (Portal, web CLI, PowerShell CLI) for the last 12 years. I have been setting up and deploying webapps, databases, virtual machines, blog storage and AI services for years.
2. So, that is what you should do as well. Just login to the Azure Portal and just play around with things. Sure, some of them will cost money, and you cannot entirely avoid that. At the same time, there is a bunch of free stuff as well. Spend more time with the free things. Just learn according to your budget.
3. Next, spend a lot of time with the cloud shell that is built right into the web portal. Again, there are bunch of basic commands which can be completed without incurring any charges. Remember, the CLI commands are doing what you do via the web portal. So, try and do the things you do on portal via the CLI.
4. For example, you create a resource group in the portal, eh? Do that via the CLI.
5. You create a web app via the portal, yes? Do it in the CLI.
6. At first CLI will feel awkward and not very user friendly. But remember that you are a developer and command line usage is essential for your career progression.
7. Next, hand write the notes. It’s old school. But, it works. I have pages and pages worth of handwritten notes about what I learnt. Stuff got burnt into my head.
8. Ask questions with AI. I have the GitHub CoPilot Pro, which is what I recommend. You can use any free AI of your choice, if you cannot afford the paid one. But ask questions to AI as you are learning. Just keep asking more questions. I cannot stress this enough.

oil painting, with large and pronounced brush marks, artwork canvas, two attractive young indian women, wearing a crop top, jeans shorts, looking at tables on a large drawing board

Exam Center Experience

1. For one thing, I visited the exam center at least a few days before the actual exam. This is just common sense. Know the place you are going to write the exam at. Always makes you feel better. I spoke to the staff, explained to them that I am coming over to write the exam.
2. On the actual exam day, I was on time. I mean, I was early by at least 15 minutes.
3. They had a secure place inside their office where I could keep my valuables (iPhone, wallet etc).
4. Next, they took my photo and also my signature on a digital pad, and verified my identity with a government issued ID. I also had to present a printout of the exam confirmation + invoice.
5. NOTE: YOUR NAME ON THE ID SHOULD MATCH YOUR NAME ON THE INVOICE EXACTLY.
6. NOTE2: ALSO REMEMBER THAT THE ‘CERTIFICATE’ NAME CAN BE DIFFERENT FROM THE NAME ON THE INVOICE AND THE NAME ON THE ID.
7. The actual exam is similar to any other online test you might have taken. For example, the interface was very similar to the GATE exam I wrote last year. I suppose, these things are standardized.
8. The questions are objective type, single select, multi select, drag and drop and so on. Again, things you have probably already seen in other tests.
9. You can ‘save’ questions for later. Go back and forth if you are not sure about something. You can change answers before the final submission.
10. The exam is about 45 minutes, I think.
11. I, with implied permission to brag, finished it in 12 minutes.
12. After the exam, there is also a survey. This actually makes you provide feedback to all the questions you just went through. I thought, it might be a survey for the entire exam. So, I skipped the survey, as providing the feedback itself might take me longer than it took me to write the exam.
13. Once the survey was also submitted/skip clipped. The exam results came up immediately on the screen.
14. My Microsoft Learn profile was also updated almost instantly.
15. I got the email confirmation in a few hours.

That is all there is to know.

Now, I am prepping for DP-900, and hopefully, I will finish my studies and take the exam soon. As I have mentioned in my previous posts and in my podcast, I have realized that, with the kind of work experience under my belt, I really need these certs to move my career forward.

I work as a coding tutor. You can hire me on Upwork, Fiverr and Codementor. You can also book a session on calendly, and visit my website. Also, video tutorials on my YouTube Channel. My Podcast is here.