August 2, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Greetings all 😀
I am preparing and studying to take the 70-433 test this weekend (though I may reschedule a bit farther out just in case so I will have extra time to study!!) and I am using Microsoft's own 70-433 training kit book. I have read through the book a few times now and feel fairly confident in the knowledge of the covered material. However, in taking the 'practice tests' on the companion CD, I am extremely confused. I would say at least 50% of the questions on the practice test are on topics covered in the book, but not specifically specified in the book.
For instance; Error handling: In the book it does cover error handling fairly well, and does give you the basics needed for constructing your own TRY/CATCH blocks, as well as how XACT_ABORT is handled and how the different severity levels are handled. However, it does NOT state anywhere that in order for an error in the TRY block to pass control to the CATCH block, that the severity level of the error must be 11 or higher. It does state that error messages higher than 20 will not pass control to the catch block, but it neglects the error level of 10 or lower.
This is only one example, I have at least 15 others written down. Another big example is updating the full text thesaurus via xml. No where is that covered in the text book but it is a practice test question.
Now I am smart enough to have taken a multitude of these practice tests and used the information returned on each question to study farther. I have also gone online to research the exam objectives and done much self study beyond the book...but the question remains, what was the point of buying this book of only have the questions on the test are actually covered in the book?
Link to my blog http://notyelf.com/
August 2, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Also, all venting aside 😀
Any additional tips from people who have taken the test (yes I know under the microsoft agreement that you can not divulge exact details about the test) would be much appreciated 🙂
Link to my blog http://notyelf.com/
August 2, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Also, also! :hehe:
I have learned a great deal through this study that has helped my day to day job skills tremendously so I am very thankful for that, and it has forced me to learn where I have been stagnating a bit. I am just worried I will not have the proper information for passing the test!
Link to my blog http://notyelf.com/
August 15, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Hi there,
I'm booked to take the 433-exam on thursday and my impression is that the training kits is nowhere near enough to get you through the entry-level exams. As you, I have also encountered several test-questions which was not covered at all by the training kit-book. I've spent alot of hours in the adventureworks database on my own pc and read a supplemental book by Itzik Ben-Gan (T-SQL Fundementals).
Furthermore doing alot of research after reviewing the answers off the test-questions in BOL really clarifies alot of subjects on which the book hardly describes...
Sorry for the bad english, its not my native language.
Good luck on your certification!
Edit 18/08/2011: Passed the 70-433 exam today, I thought it was hard and didn't finish reviewing the questions I wasn't sure of before 4-5 minutes was left on the clock. Spending alot of time (20+) hours in BOL helps alot, so does whatever "hands-on" exprience you can get in SSMS, Profiler, DTA etc. My weakest spot was XML, but i knew that going in and did get some correct answers in on that subject.
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