Second shot at Second shot

For those of you who are Microsoft technology certified already, or for those who are thinking about the value of adding technology certifications to your portfolio of industry acumen, there WILL be exams (to use a variation on the movie title phrase that’s really popular these days).  [Those already certified may well be refreshing or updating those certs for the Windows 7/Server 2008 wave of technology.]  Not to mention that certifications also play a key role in Microsoft Partner Competency requirement.  For those that have done these kinds of exams, you know that sometimes they can be tricky.  Perhaps some of you even joined myself and Beatrice for some of our “Certification Prep Series” webcasts we did a couple of years back.  And, you may also remember the “Second Shot” testing promotion that has been very well received.  Well, I have really good news – the Second Shot program is back!

Microsoft Learning (MSL) is bringing back Second Shot as part of its new Career Initiative, which is designed to help you (partner) and perhaps in some cases even some customers/clients to get trained and certified on Microsoft technologies.

Those of you already certified certainly understand the value of having a Microsoft certification, whether it be for meeting the requirements of the higher levels of the Microsoft Partner Program (now Microsoft Partner Network) or just differentiating yourself from the crowd for other job or business purposes. 

Well, since these exams are not free, a “bad day” in the test room has some potential financial impact.  For instance, I know some of you have employers who will reimburse for these exams, but even if you get reimbursed, they don’t necessarily reimburse for failed exams.  But with Second Shot you can now register for a free retake (should you need it), and then take the first exam with less anxiety and fear of not passing. Second Shot is not available to everyone for any exam, but most of my partners who read this blog should qualify.

A couple of key things to note:

You must purchase a qualifying exam to be eligible for this offer (in case this wasn’t obvious <smile>)

This current promotion is valid from January 13, 2009 – June 30, 2010. (meaning you must sit for both the first and (if necessary) second retake exams before June 30, 2010.

Eligible Exams: All 070 and 083 exams.

Second Shot is available worldwide (except India and China) and only at Prometric Testing Centers.

Here’s the link to get more info on the Second Shot offer:
Special Offers on Training and Certifications from Microsoft

And while I’m on the subject of certification, here’s a link to a new MSL site that lists job roles, learning paths and other resources for getting certified in the Microsoft technology area of your choice:Microsoft Professional Career Portal .

On a side note, one of the things I’ll be doing now that I’m back in TS2 is being the “Champ” if you will for Microsoft Learning and our Learning Solution (CPLS) competency and our CPLS partners. So expect to see more posts from me around certifications in the future.

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