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70-563 - Transcender? RRS feed

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    I've passed my 70-536 and 70-505 exams, and am preparing to write my 70-563.  70-536 was difficult and I studied for a very long time with the Press book, Skillsoft, and Transcender.  I found Transcender to be MUCH harder than the exam, and I found it made me study the very small tiny details.  70-505 I used only the Press book, and Skillsoft and didn't study as hard as I felt I knew that area much more.  It was a bit of an eye opener once I got to the exam though!  There were a few areas I felt weren't covered that should have been in the Press book.

    I'm scared of this exam.  I feel like I studied and learned so much more than I learned in my experience (4 years).  I feel like I know the material, but I'm scared because I don't have the materials to validate it (No book or Skillsoft for this one) that I will go in there and fail miserably.  The syllabus seems vague, unless I'm not looking in the right place.

    I'm spoiled on Transcender... I feel like it's going to drive me to focus too hard on certain things and not enough on others.  I keep looking for reading material, but it's difficult as every google search comes up with fishy certification sites promising a first time pass.  I know that selfTest and MeasureUp are the two verified by Microsoft, but are there others I can use?  Any recommended books?

    Part of me thinks I should just write the test so I know what kind of questions are asked and then study based on the material if I fail.  I'd feel like a failure though.  I've always been a top student and have never failed a test in my life.  This certification is for no other use than my own personal accomplishment as work does not require it.

    Advice?

    Wednesday, September 26, 2012 2:59 AM

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    Pro level exams (such as 70-563) are a little more trickier to study for as they're generally theory based exams instead of technical based exams (such as 70-536 and 70-505). This is why there's not much study material around.

    If you take a look at the skills measured for the 70-563 exam, you’ll see that it covers topics such as:

    • Validating an application design against specifications
    • Planning data management
    • Planning user interaction and presentation strategy
    • Designing security implementation
    • Planning application deployment and maintenance
    • Designing the application architecture
    • Designing for optimized performance

    Skills such as these are generally gained through experience rather than studying books etc (hence the reason why candidates who take this exam should have a minimum of 3yrs experience developing applications).  Yes there are some resources which cover similar topics however nothing beats experience :-)

    I hear what you’re saying and I’ve been in a similar position when study for other Pro-level exams and I got through it by using MSDN, TechNet and web resources such as blogs, technical articles etc.

    When you see answers and helpful posts, please click Vote As Helpful, Propose As Answer, and/or Mark As Answer

    Jeff Wharton
    MSysDev (C.Sturt), MDbDsgnMgt (C.Sturt), MCT, MCPD, MCSD, MCITP, MCDBA
    Blog: Mr. Wharty's Ramblings
    Twitter: @Mr_Wharty
    MC ID: Microsoft Transcript

    • Marked as answer by mictherr Wednesday, September 26, 2012 2:36 PM
    Wednesday, September 26, 2012 4:22 AM

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    Pro level exams (such as 70-563) are a little more trickier to study for as they're generally theory based exams instead of technical based exams (such as 70-536 and 70-505). This is why there's not much study material around.

    If you take a look at the skills measured for the 70-563 exam, you’ll see that it covers topics such as:

    • Validating an application design against specifications
    • Planning data management
    • Planning user interaction and presentation strategy
    • Designing security implementation
    • Planning application deployment and maintenance
    • Designing the application architecture
    • Designing for optimized performance

    Skills such as these are generally gained through experience rather than studying books etc (hence the reason why candidates who take this exam should have a minimum of 3yrs experience developing applications).  Yes there are some resources which cover similar topics however nothing beats experience :-)

    I hear what you’re saying and I’ve been in a similar position when study for other Pro-level exams and I got through it by using MSDN, TechNet and web resources such as blogs, technical articles etc.

    When you see answers and helpful posts, please click Vote As Helpful, Propose As Answer, and/or Mark As Answer

    Jeff Wharton
    MSysDev (C.Sturt), MDbDsgnMgt (C.Sturt), MCT, MCPD, MCSD, MCITP, MCDBA
    Blog: Mr. Wharty's Ramblings
    Twitter: @Mr_Wharty
    MC ID: Microsoft Transcript

    • Marked as answer by mictherr Wednesday, September 26, 2012 2:36 PM
    Wednesday, September 26, 2012 4:22 AM
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    Thank you, Jeff. 

    When I look at the skills measured, I feel confident in 6 out of the 7 areas.  I suppose this gives me an area that I could spend more time concentrating on.

    I think I'm letting my fears get the best of me.  I like to prepare... maybe overly so.

    Coincidentally, I also used MSDN for studying for the other 2 exams.  I actually felt it gave a more concise and accurate description/example than the Press books, but just wasn't laid out in a way that I felt I could navigate easier.  I'll return to that material again and do some more reading.

    If I could ask you a personal question - I can see that you have many certifications under your belt (Congratulations!).  Have you ever failed one of these Pro exams? 

    Wednesday, September 26, 2012 2:35 PM