Microsoft Learning launched a new online reality show it is calling Career Factory intended to follow nine individuals through their IT pursuits. Microsoft is proving them with training, resources and free exams for four months to help them reach their goals. The Born to Learn site is hosting the show and it can be found here.

Tune in and cheer (or boo) for Steve, Tim, Kevin, Bojan, Eddie, Rabib, Neil, Simon and Caroline.  Each has a different starting point and career goals, and it is easy to find someone who resembles you.

8 Oracle Exams Ending Beta
Oracle currently has eight certification exams ending their beta run between now and the middle of March. These exams fall beneath the applications, database, and server/storage systems categories. In order of beta ending date, they are:

The cost for each beta is $50 and more information about each, including objective lists for the exams, can be found here.

Certification Exam Tip #1
The first tip for this year is that you need to master the art of separating an exam question (often referred to as the stem) into the relevant and the fluff.  Scenario questions are quickly becoming the norm on most exams and they include a straightforward question concealed within a sizable amount of extraneous information.

There is a skill to being able to find the question hidden within the stem and recognizing what information you are given that you don't need -- and can throw you off of the correct path. To use an analogy, image a doctor looking at an otherwise healthy patient who has just collapsed for no apparent reason while out with family members. Those family members will likely throw out all sorts of information about the patient -- what they had to eat, what mood they were in, who they recently broke up with, etc. The doctor has to listen to all of that information while focusing on the patient he sees before him, and ascertain what is relevant and what is not.

The best way to improve this skill is to practice with as many questions as possible. While it is nice to have subject matter close to that on the actual exam you are planning to take, the skill can also be sharpened by practicing with other question sets as well. For that reason, I highly recommend using practice sets for SAT, GRE, GMAT, ACT and similar exams which can be found in plenty with a quick Internet search.  By working through sets of them, you can refine this aptitude and be able to answer questions faster- saving more time for you to devote at the end for those few that just don't seem to have a right answer listed.

Certification Book of the Week: MCTS 70-640 Study Guide
Windows Server 2008 has been out for a few years now but it remains the server operating system du jour for Windows-based systems. One of the most difficult concepts in the OS is Active Directory for the network is nothing without it.  Helping to understand Active Directory for the purpose of passing the certification exam is Don Poulton's MCTS 70640 Cert Guide: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring.

This tome -- over 800 pages -- covers all of the certification objectives in the usual cert guide way: Each chapter begins with the "Do I Know This Already?" quiz and ends with a review of key topics and definitions. After the 17 chapters, there is a practice exam and a couple of appendices. Poulton is also the author of the Windows 7 Cert Guide, which was reviewed recently, and if I am not going on and on about the attributes of the book here, it is because they share so much in common in terms of style/approach and are among the best study guides on the market today.