I was wrong – I passed the MCM lab last month.
I know I thought I’d failed – I’m still surprised that I passed. Maybe I managed to satisfy enough of enough questions. Certainly none of the questions were beyond me, as I wrote just after I’d sat it. But I do know that I left more questions in an incomplete state than I would’ve liked.
The things I hadn’t finished were mostly those things which I’d simply been caught by from a time-perspective. I didn’t feel like I was out of my depth at all, just that some things hadn’t worked the way that I’d expected. In real life I would’ve been able to solve them, and given a little more time, I would’ve been able to get through them too.
It’s why I wrote that I was confident I’d pass it on a subsequent attempt, although I’m quite happy to not have to do that. I’m still happy I told everyone I was taking the exams, and would do the same again. The study aspect is still something I’m not sure about. As much as I’d like to advise people to NOT study, I get that most people don’t manage to pass first time (even with some study). Heck – it used to require three weeks of intensive training in Seattle, and I was never going to do that (at least, not unless I was on the other side of the desk).
So now I’m a Microsoft Certified Master in SQL Server, to go with the Microsoft Certified Trainer cert and Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award that I’ve had since 2006. I don’t know how many people around the world have both MCM and MCT in SQL Server, but there can’t be many. I need to deliver more training.



@rob_farley
LobsterPot Solutions