duration of Microsoft cert validity

  • From my understanding your certification is still good after the exams get retired, it's just no one else can sit for that cert.

    I read above on this forum just today. Anyone know for sure?

    I thought Microsoft certs become inactive when the exam gets retired and you cannot claim that you are certified at that time. I thought doing so would be equivalent to falsifying your education such as saying you have a degree when you do not.

  • That quote's correct. The certs are retired, anyone who has them can still claim them, they just can't be written any longer.

    My official exam transcript from MS still lists my MCDBA and MCSD. Those exams have been retired for years.

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • Hmm. I thought otherwise up to now.

    If you can claim certified status beyond exam retirement, then I think that definitely paints different picture in worth of certifications and their cost because you can claim certification status for life even though in about 30 years, the version you were certified on will be long gone. That is if Microsoft retains current dominance by then, and does not change their certification validity policy.

  • lkokeunda (12/28/2011)


    If you can claim certified status beyond exam retirement, then I think that definitely paints different picture in worth of certifications and their cost because you can claim certification status for life even though in about 30 years, the version you were certified on will be long gone.

    You can, but how useful is it today to have a certification on SQL 7 (as an example)? Or Windows NT 4?

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • Microsoft had announced that it wanted to list the retired exams in a separate "Inactive/Retired/Legacy" section of your official transcript. My transcript is not showing this separate listing yet, as MCDBA is still under the "Active Certifications" heading. See this post for examples of what they wanted to do:

    http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/btl/b/weblog/archive/2011/05/24/updates-to-the-transcript-and-certificate-updates-need-your-feedback.aspx

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