Last week, I passed the MS-101 exam. This completed a goal I have had for a few years, earning me the Microsoft Enterprise Administrator Expert certification.
I first got into SharePoint about 6 years ago. It was before modern SharePoint, so not the most pleasant experience, but I still found myself fascinated by it. I decided I wanted to learn more about that space and pursue some certifications in it.
I began working toward the MCSE which would take 3 exams. I got the first one, the 70-346, in November 2018. When I got back that day and went to book the next one, Microsoft had announced changes to the certifications. My 70-346 was not going to expire but was effectively obsolete.
So I needed to start again, with the MS-100 that is roughly what the 70-346 was. I got that one in December 2019.
The job I was working at the time left me with no real free time, so it was slow but eventually I decided to book the MS-700 on Teams administration. I booked that in November 2020 for March 2021, giving myself lots of study time. I booked the MS-101 for soon after.
But this was in the middle of the pandemic (so far). The testing centre remained closed. Multiple times in a row I got notified that it needed to be rescheduled. I eventually wrote and passed the MS-700 in September.
Then I wrote and passed the SC-400 on Microsoft Information Protection. That one wasn’t a big priority for me, but I got a free exam through an Ignite challenge and it helped me study for the MS-101.
And then I finally got the MS-101 last week. It was almost a year after initially booking it, and about 6 years since I first decided to get these certifications, so this was a huge sigh of relief.
I just earned another one through another Ignite challenge, so I may be looking at squeezing in one more late winter / early spring. I’m thinking PL-900: Power Platform Fundamentals, which is something I already know fairly well. But first, a bit of a break to focus on other things including wrapping up some of the 28 drafts I currently have sitting on this website to finish and publish 🙂