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Sep.1,2010SharePoint Exam Tips
Here’s a rundown of my best practice tips when sitting the Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Exams. Hopefully there’s something here for everyone, whether you’re a SharePoint Administrator (70-667, 70-668), or a SharePoint Developer (70-573 and 70-576) – or just preparing for Microsoft Exams in general.
Before we start our list of practical exam tips, I’m going to give you an extra tip for free:
Practice, practice, practice! The exam syllabus states as pre-requisites around 3 months of product experience for the MCTS exams, and up to 2 years for the MCITP and MCPD exams. See here about booking Joel as a trainer with the online form.
Multiple Guess?
Next, a note on exam style: both SharePoint Developer exams and also the MCTS Administrator exam are based on multiple choice questions, usually around 50-60 questions per test. Each question will typically start with a paragraph or two of scenario, followed by some part-completed technical steps or code.
You will then be asked one of the following:
- Select one best answer, where each choice represents a whole possible answer.
- e.g. One from a choice of A, B, C, D or E.
- Select the two best answers, where each choice represents a whole possible answer.
- e.g. Two from a choice of A, B, C, D or E.
- Select the two best answers, where each choice represents a part of a possible answer.
- e.g. Two from a choice of A, B, C, D or E.
- Select the best appropriate N steps, where each choice represents a part of a possible answer.
- e.g. Three from a choice of A, B, C, D, E or F.
- Select the best appropriate N steps in the correct order, where each choice represents a part of a possible answer.
- e.g. Three from a choice of A, B, C, D, E or F, where the order of the steps is marked too.
Case Study Questions
There are differences with the 70-668 MCITP SharePoint Administration exam. You may only be asked 10-15 of the above style of question. There are an additional 40 similar questions where instead of each one being a discrete scenario, there are a smaller set of stories, each of which is longer in length, to which may apply to 3 or 4 questions in a row. These are the so-called “case study” style questions. In total, this adds up to 50-60 questions for 70-668 as well.
Typically, the choices you will get (A – E or A – F etc.) will, in addition to the correct answers, include obviously incorrect choices, and also more devious “detractor” answers.
The Top Ten
Now we’ve covered the basics, on with the exam tips:
- Pace yourself. You have a limited amount of time and a lot of questions to answer. Give yourself a time limit per question that you won’t go over, and watch the time remaining (displayed on screen). If you make good speed, feel free to re-jig your personal time limit per question.
- Read the question. I know this sounds obvious, but the devil is in the detail. Read the question thoroughly. For the longer case studies you may need to make notes on the provided laminated cardboard sheets we get at Prometric testing centres. It’s easy to get carried away with notes though; don’t use all your exam time making notes!
- Do you know the answer? If you know the answer, and you’ve checked the whole question, and you know what you’re doing, then obviously select the answer you know and move on. Hopefully most of the questions will follow this format. :)
- Leave no question unanswered! There is no “negative” marking in Microsoft exams. In other words, you only accumulate points for correct answers; no additional marks are deducted for incorrect choices. Select your best guess (go with your gut, or use the tips below) and mark it for later review. Any time during the exam, you can review the ones you have marked, and change your mind.
- Don’t change your mind! If you choose to review your choices at the end (and this is generally a good idea) do not be tempted to change your answer unless: you are absolutely convinced you got it wrong. You will kick yourself later if you failed because you changed an answer away from a correct one.
- Look out for clues in later questions! Your exam can be a truly enlightening experience. I tend to sit exams early in their lifecycle, frequently before any courseware is actually available. Over the years I have learned quite a lot about .NET and the Microsoft platform from sitting the exams. Don’t know the answer the question 26? Then mark it for review, and maybe 29 and 37 will give you different clues in their question scenario that can help you logically work out the correct answer. It can be like a logic puzzle. In the past I’ve had 3 questions spread over the course of an exam that, when read together, can only have one logical combination of answers.
- Eliminate the stupid choices. The quality of Microsoft exams has improved much over the last 5 years. In previous years, the detractor answers could include choices that are logically impossible or even utter nonsense. These days, all choices you will be presented with must at least be viable areas of SharePoint’s object model or platform. However, they still usually put in 1 or 2 daft choices that you can usually eliminate easily.
- Look out for trick questions. Sometimes they put in choices that are more applicable to a previous version of a product or technology, but which would not work on the new platform. I’ve seen this tactic in both Administration and Developer exams before.
- Think “What Would Bill Do?” Don’t go the trouble of tattooing WWBD onto your knuckles, but try and remember that products are meant to be easy to administer, and object models are meant to be expressive and easy to use. If you find yourself genuinely stumped, try and reverse the situation and ask yourself “using best practices, if I had to design an API or command line interface, how should I do it?” Often the most cumbersome-looking choices are incorrect. Beware though. Sometimes things are just difficult to do. In other words: it’s usually the simplest answer… except when it’s not!
- Don’t forget everything you already know about IT! You walk in to the exam room with potentially many years’ experience as a developer or IT Professional. Principals of software development and IT infrastructure knowledge should not be knocked out of your head simply because we’re now building with SharePoint.
So, whatever your chosen methods for preparing for SharePoint exams, whether it’s Accelerated IT Learning or experience from the field, I hope you’ll find these exam tips useful.
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Nice tips, PG.
Hi Joel
I wish I had read these before I went but to be fair you did mention them verbally to us all lol.
Oh well I’m so going to attack these exams again. Was sooooooo close
I am starting my exam in 20 minutes. I will tell you if they worked. Wish me luck.
Best of luck Fred!
To the Geek who can sing and speak.
Thanks to you Joel, I have passed both exams. Just wanted to say that you are a top trainer and I look forward to attending your SharePoint Developer course.
Many thanks for the kind words, Fred!
And well done on passing both exams :)
I look forward to seeing you on a SharePoint Developer course sometime soon!
joel
Hey Joel,
Just wanted to say thanks for a great course and getting me past 70-667 an 70-668 first time!
Nick
Hi Nick!
Glad you enjoyed it! Many thanks for the feedback!
joel
Hi Joel,
Just about to sit the 70-667 Admin exam in an hour or two, just reading back over some of your tips. Very useful, just like the course at Wyboston. Will let you know how it goes.
Jon
Best of luck Jon!
Hi Joel,
You’ll be pleased to know that I passed both the exams second time round, much of this due to the style in which you mixed up the syllabus. Massive thanks to you and Firebrand. Keep in touch.
Joel,
Exam first thing in the morning, just completed another practise test and didn’t go to badly. Fingers crossed my brain can hold in all this new SharePoint awesomeness!!
Andi G
Hi
i am appearing for MOS2010(Sharepoint) exam (77-886).Do you any link to sample papers for the same exam ??
Please let me know
Thanks,
mamta
Hi Mamta,
I’m afraid I don’t know of any practice papers for this exam. But here are some useful links:
77-886 Syllabus from Microsoft.com: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=77-886#tab2
Wes Hackett’s 77-886 Study Guide: http://weshackett.com/2011/05/microsoft-office-specialist-mos-77-886-study-guide/
Octavie van Haaften’s 77-886 exam experiences: http://blog.octavie.nl/index.php/2011/05/27/sharepoint-beta-exam-77-886/
Online training material from Microsoft.com: http://office2010.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/CH010372432.aspx
Hope this helps! Best of luck with the exam!
joel
Hi, I’m appearing for Sharepoint 2010 70-667 by the end of this month, i just finished reading the Preparation book, but I’m confused what step should be next in little time. Please suggest how to practice and what is the best approach.
Thanks
Hi!
Thanks for reading my blog! Best of luck with the 70-667.
If you would like ethical practice exams, there’s two places I can recommend:
MeasureUp http://www.measureup.com/70-667-TS-Microsoft-SharePoint-2010-Configuring-Final-P1798.aspx
and
Transcender http://www.transcender.com/practice-exam/microsoft/70-667.kap
Also, have a look at the 70-667 study notes from MVP Becky Bertram http://blog.beckybertram.com/Lists/Exam%2070667%20Study%20Guide/AllItems.aspx
Best of luck!
joel
I am planning to write Sharepont developer certification(70-576). I downloaded dumps for the questions and answers. It is having 150 questions only. I read all the 150 questions.Will it be enough to complete the exam….???????????? And can u please let me know the number of questions in test……
Thanks….
Hi Ramireddy,
There is only, to my knowledge, one place on the web that you can get ethical preparation tests for 70-576, and that’s MeasureUp (http://www.measureup.com/70-576-CS-PRO-Designing-and-Developing-Microsoft-SharePoint-2010-Applications-C–P2611.aspx).
If you’ve been using brain dumps, then I’m afraid you can’t take the exam. If you sit the 70-576 exam, you’ll be breaking the non-disclosure agreement.
Best wishes for the future.
joel
Which is the best site to buy the dumps for 70-667.
I have prepared from MCTS sybex pubs. please let me know i have my exam on march 2nd
Hi Phani,
Please don’t use brain dumps. They would constitute an infringement of the non-disclosure agreement you sign when you take the exam. There are good, ethical, alternatives available:
MeasureUp http://www.measureup.com/70-667-TS-Microsoft-SharePoint-2010-Configuring-Final-P1798.aspx
Transcender http://www.transcender.com/practice-exam/microsoft/70-667.kap
Good luck with the exam,
joel
Hi Joel,
I have “discovered” Sharepoint 2010 not a long time ago (and I troubleshoot it in my job ;-)) so I just would like to know where to start to learn with efficiency for this exam I’d like to pass this year…. If you have time to answer… Thanks a lot in advance.
Hi Veronica!
Thanks for reading my blog!
Where to start with SharePoint? That depends :o) Are you on the developer, administrator or end user track? There are exams for each. Developer: 70-573/70-576, Administrator: 70-667/70-668, End User: 77-886.
Have a look at the recommended books section on my blog for some useful texts to read. You can also get some good training online from Microsoft here:
Developer: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ff420377
Administrator: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ff420396
There are also useful hands on labs for free here:
Developer: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/cc707678
Administrator: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtuallabs/bb512933
If you’d like to learn more and quicker, I can recommend a SharePoint training course. Drop me a line if you’re interested. I do face to face and online training for my company, JFDI Phoenix Ltd.
Hope this helps!
joel
Hello Joel,
Thank you very very much for your reply and for all the links :-)
I’m going to have a closer look @ that right now…
I’m sure I will have more to ask so… See you soon!
:))
Hi Joel,
I would like to ask,if any good preparations books avlbl in market which i can buy,for writing
70-576 exam for SharePoint 2010.
if i have 70-573 certified should i need to write 70-576? what’s the diff. between these two. plz explain.
thnx in advance
prasad
Hi Joel,
Any idea about approximate time allowed to answer Sharepoint 2010 -70-667 exam. Thank you for putting good info on this blog.
Hi, Does 70-573 mean questions on lates sharepoint server i.e 2013 or pointing to previous version i.e 2010?.
Current version of share point is 2013 while i want to pass exam (70-573) on previous version 2010 so How i can proceed?.Thanks
I am taking my exam in 1 hour will let you all you how it went. thanks for the tips.
Best of luck!
joel
Hi Joel, and thanks for at VERY exciting week in Sweden. I want to learn more about server topology, can you advice som good reading material?
Frank
Denmark
Hi Frank!
It was a pleasure having you on the course! I had a great time!
You can see Microsoft’s 3-tier guide for SharePoint 2010 here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/ee805948(v=office.14).aspx
It’s also part of the deployment guide document here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=10009
SharePoint 2013 versions here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/ee805948.aspx and here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=30384
Enjoy! :o)
joel
[...] styles which would certainly help preparing for the exam. There is Joel Jeffery’s generic SharePoint Exam Tips and Barry’s SharePoint 2010 70-668 Study Guide links. Scott Jamison wrote a great piece on [...]