Do you know the relevant Microsoft and GitHub certifications and associated exams?

Whether you're an expert or just getting started, working towards gaining a new certification is a worthwhile investment.

Microsoft and GitHub certifications verify your skills and knowledge in a variety of technologies, instilling trust with clients and employers.

Microsoft Certifications

Microsoft provides numerous certifications and training options to help you learn new skills, fill technical knowledge gaps, and prove your competence.

Certifications are broken up into Fundamentals, Role-based (Intermediate & Expert), and Specialty. Check the Become Microsoft Certified poster for details of exams required for each of the certifications, or browse all certifications here.

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Focusing on Azure certifications, here are some good options:

Fundamentals

If you're just getting started, take a look at Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals.

Earn this certification to prove you have a foundational knowledge of cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure. You will need to pass the exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals.

If AI is more your style, have a look at Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals

Earn this certification to prove you have foundational knowledge of AI concepts related to the development of software and services of Microsoft Azure to create AI solutions. You will need to pass the exam AI-900: Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals.

Associate

If you're already working with these technologies, you can skip the fundamentals and go for associate level certifications - see the role-based intermediate certifications in the poster above. Here are some examples:

For devs: Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate

Earn this certification to prove your subject matter expertise in designing, building, testing, and maintaining cloud applications and services on Microsoft Azure. You will need to pass the exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure.

For SysAdmins: Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate

Earn this certification to prove you understand how to implement, manage and monitor an organization's Azure environment. You will need to pass the exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator.

Expert

Eventually, all rock star developers and solution architects should set their sights on expert exams.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Earn this certification to prove your subject matter expertise in designing and implementing solutions that run on Microsoft Azure, including aspects like compute, network, storage, and security. Candidates should have intermediate-level skills for administering Azure. You will need to pass the exam AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, with a prerequisite of AZ-104 (see above).

Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert

Earn this certification to prove your subject matter expertise working with people, processes, and technologies to continuously deliver business value. You will need to pass the exam AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions, with a prerequisite of either AZ-104 or AZ-204 (see above).

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GitHub Certifications

GitHub also have a number of certifications to help you master aspects of the platform - see the certifications here.

Foundations

If you're just starting out in GitHub, go for the GitHub Foundations exam. This exam measures entry level skills with GitHub basics like repositories, commits, branching, markdowns, and project management.

All Other Exams

All other exams are useful, depending on your focus/interest in GitHub.

For a DevOps focus, try the GitHub Actions exam. This exam measures your ability to accomplish the following technical tasks: author and maintain workflows; consume workflows; author and maintain actions; manage GitHub Actions for the enterprise.

If AI is your thing, check out the GitHub Copilot exam. This exam has a heavy emphasis on understanding GitHub Copilot plans and features, how the AI tool uses data, developer use cases, and privacy fundamentals and context exclusions.

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Preparing for exams can involve a lot of work, and in some cases stress and anxiety. But remember, you're not in school anymore! You've chosen to take this exam, and no one is forcing you. So just sit back and enjoy the journey - you should feel excited by the new skills you will soon learn. If you want some great advice and tips, be sure to check out Successfully Passing Microsoft Exams by @JasonTaylorDev.

Good luck!