Well, I sat my first professional qualification yesterday and I am pleased to say that I passed. It wasnt the best pass in the world, but a pass is a pass.
I am not allowed to say much about the exam itself, but what I can say for all you people out there looking to sit this one, is not to concentrate too much on the actual facts and figures but to instead spend time thinking about HOW you would apply the information you have to a CRM installation. For instance, dont think about the cascading options in too much detail, but more what you might be asked to do with them and what decisions you might have to make based on them.
The exam itself was fairly straight forward with the obvious red herrings scattered around throughout. My advice is to read the questions VERY carefully since one or two hinged on the detail of the question rather than the obvious. Dont assume you understand what the question is asking until you have read all of the information carefully, twice. You are allowed 1.5 hours for the exam and I strongly suggest that you make good use of the time. For all those people out there who say that they have checked out the courseware for a few hours and feel confident, I say that they will fail. Unless you have large amounts of hands on experience, I wouldn't sit the exam with anything less than 3 days hard studying. The course is meant to be three days long and this is for a reason. Throw out all your pre-conceptions and just pay attention to what the question is asking rather than what you think it ought to say. Honestly, there were one or two questions that hinged on a single word!
Anyway, I passed so I am quite pleased. According to the Microsoft Information, this means that I can fairly call myself a Microsoft Business Solutions Certified Professional. Now on to another exam and something else to obsess over...Microsoft Business Solutions Certified Master, here I come.
