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I have recently obtained the certification Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate: SQL Server 2012/2014.
I began with this path almost 2 years ago, back then i wrongly thought that the MCP will be enough for me, and then I decided to get out of my comfort zone and look forward to finish the certification to the next step, and here we are, after a long struggle and a lot of blood and tears, I made it 🙂
Perhaps you are wondering, "hey this is not a a big deal, so why the post?" because it was, at least for me, so freaking difficult! Let me explain why:
The old format had 3 required exams
When i started my MCSA certification path, the SQL Server 2016 certification path was still too recent, also my skills on that area, so I decided to take the 2012/2014 instead, who has 3 required exams:
- Querying Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014
- Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014 Databases
- Implementing a Data Warehouse with Microsoft SQL Server 201S2/2014
And now for 2016, it only requires 2.
Querying, BI and Administration was all in the same pack
For MCSA 2016, you can choose which one you want to obtain, database administration, database development, BI development, but for 2012 (as you could see earlied) all is included in the same pack.
One of the hardest test of my life
Among all the test i have taken in my life (school, university, certifications) I consider the Querying Microsoft SQL Server one of the most difficult test I have taken (if not the most difficult). I have known people that have pass this test easily, but I'm not used to memorize things and for this test, *SPOILER ALERT* yo have to memorize a lot!
My next step
In the short future, in want to focus on 3 things:
- Upgrading to MCSA 2016 (since the upgrade only requires 1 test)
- Obtain MCSE: Data Management and Analytics certification (focused on DB Administration)
- Learn about Machine Learning and maybe in a future obtain the MCSA: Machine Learning certification.
