August 2, 2007 at 9:09 am
Hi, I want to take the exam for the MCTS Certification in SQL SERVER 2005 (70-431).
Actually I'm studyng using the Microsoft's Mcts Self-Paced Training Kit.
My questions are:
Do I need something else to get ready for the exam?
Do you recommend another resources to get ready for the exam?
Should I wait for SQL Server 2008?
Wich is the best simulation test for this exam?
Thanks to all for your interest.
Byu
August 3, 2007 at 4:27 am
Juan,
I wouldn't wait for the 2008 certs to come out. It'll at least be a year (probably two) before any decent study materials come out. Besides, you get your MCITP for 2005 and you'll only have to take one test to upgrade to 2008 and then you'll have both certs on your resume.
I recommend getting an eval copy or developers copy of SQL Server 2005 if you don't have one already. Studying via the book is all well and good, but you need to have practical experience on the tool if you really expect to pass.
August 3, 2007 at 6:35 am
I used the Microsoft press Training Kit book for 70-431. Here's it is on Amazon:
It was an OK study guide. I already had my MCDBA (SQL Server 2000) and I thought the test was pretty easy. If you have a good grasp of the basics (like backup/restore, filegroups, etc.) you shouldnn't have many problems. just use a study guide like the one I linked to.
August 3, 2007 at 7:18 am
Thanks a lot for your comments
Now to study...
August 3, 2007 at 7:30 am
Juan,
Do you have any SQL Server experience at all? SQL 2000 or SQL 2005?
Just curious.
August 3, 2007 at 2:39 pm
I passed this exam a few weeks ago. Here are the steps I think are necessary to pass. Note im not giving away any specifics here, just general guidelines.
1. Buy SQL Sever 2005 Developer. its not expensive. You will use it again and again and again. And again and again!
2. Buy a book. The microsoft books give you a no nonense insight into what the exam contains. its not that expensive, and the cd that comes with it gives you practice tests, and a pdf version of the book( useful if you want to study whenever you get a few free minutes at work!).
3. Do practice tests. A lot of this exam is understanding the question format. Questions that try to trick you rather than test your knowledge. The more expirience you get at these questions, the better you will know what is looked for. I used Selftest online, the selftest that came with my book, and measure up. I hear trancender is great and I might try it for my next exam.
4. Do examples. A large section of the exam is the simulations. these can be anything from dealing with permissions, doing backups, , manipulating database objects like UDF's, Triggers etc. The better you know what to do here, the quicker you will get this section done. Note, even though there are many ways to do some tasks the simulations are quite restrictive and want you to perform the tasks a specific way.
5. Dont use Brain dumps. Many of them provide incorrect answers to the questions, and no explinations as to why the answer was correct or incorrect. I find when doing tests, even if I get a question wrong, if I read why I got it wrong, I understand it much better afterwards.
6. Designate yourself a timeframe. If you dont, you will keep putting it off and you will have forgotten stuff you learned in the beginning ( if your not using it everyday).
Im not saying my way is the best way, but its what got me through the exam. Best of luck all.
August 13, 2007 at 9:21 am
"Designate yourself a timeframe. If you dont, you will keep putting it off and you will have forgotten stuff you learned in the beginning ( if your not using it everyday). "...
ths is exactly true. I have been through this many a times ..and now back to prepartion. I feel less confident on the topics i had covered earlier as i took break and less ineterested to read same topics again and again. I have been on and off from prepartion frm almsot 6 months....
i remember having done 75% prepartion towards this exam and something came up and got distracted.....
Can anyone motivate me....
August 14, 2007 at 4:24 am
bytezone,
Motivation tends to be personal and without knowing you, it's hard to know where to start. Tell us why you started prepping for the test in the first place.
August 14, 2007 at 10:02 am
You are right...motivation is purley personal.I am trying my level best.
I work in an envirnment where in i am the only deveoper while non in my offcie know abcd of programing. I mainly work on asp.net,Sql server and ajax. Th questions.."Am i prepared to face the challenge in IT filed use to hount me since i judge for myself at present place." I might start looking for job in few months and wanted to get more confidence ..so though certification were the best option. But as i said earlier..the very fact that..certification has no time contrainst makes me just keep postponing.....
I have again started preparing..so far so good..don't know how long the interest lasts....
August 14, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Regarding motivation -- I am a big fan of Scott Hanselman's Hanselminutes (http://www.hanselminutes.com). He recently posted a great podcast entitled "How to be a better developer in 6 months", which described one guy's journey through goal setting and his subsequent follow through. Even though it's written from a developer's perspective, one could glean some great lessons from this discussion regardless of your job. Download and take a listen - if you're anytihing like me, you'll really be inspired by this.
http://www.hanselminutes.com/default.aspx?showID=90
hth,
Tim
Tim Mitchell, Microsoft Data Platform MVP
Data Warehouse and ETL Consultant
TimMitchell.net | @Tim_Mitchell | Tyleris.com
ETL Best Practices
August 15, 2007 at 9:27 am
Hello evryone,
I'm going to take my MCTS 70-431 exam next month.
How do i get to know the cost of this exam.
I have used the Microsoft self paced training kit for preparation.
let me know if there is anything else that i need to know regarding this exam.
Thank you,
Sathya.
August 15, 2007 at 5:34 pm
The cost of the exam is $125 in the United States.
August 16, 2007 at 9:31 am
I became a statistic after taking the MCTS exam. I went to NY to take a boot camp course ($4000.00), returned home and studied daily, took the practice exams and scored pretty high. Once I felt confident, I went to take the exam and failed it. I believe it was the simulations that threw me off. I seemed to score well on the general questions. I have been a developer for the past 7 years and have been working with SQL 2000 and 2005 for a few years. I guess I'm not a good test taker. I am in the process of recovering from the devastating failure. I would suggest as other have to get familiar with methods for user management, permissions, filegroups, triggers, etc.. Hopefully I'll rebound and end up passing this thing. My hope was to move on the the MCITP Database Developer cert.
August 16, 2007 at 10:06 am
I feel for you, David. Things like that are reasons why I don't personally believe in boot camps. They take your money but they don't actually teach you anything. They just make you memorize the stuff.
I can't learn that way. And I can't take tests on stuff that I only remember but don't understand. So I self-study all the way and look for the reasons behind why certain things work and others don't. I learn best when I make mistakes and break things, then have to figure out how to fix them.
August 16, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Sorry to hear that David and good luck taking it again. Definitely spend some time just doing stuff in SSMS, add users, permissions, etc. Just talk through exercises and get familiar. It definitely helps with the exam.
I agree on boot camps in general. Just not a great way to learn.
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