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And specifically, we'll proceed into looking at

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AZ‑801 in depth. Exam AZ‑801 Metadata.

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Well, you can expect, because 801 is a garden variety Microsoft

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computer‑based exam, about 50 questions spread over a couple hours,

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2.5 hours or so, the passing score on all Microsoft certification

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exams is 700 out of 1000, which is approximately 70%.

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I would encourage you not to get hung up on your score.

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In my opinion, I would be equally pleased with a 700 or a 1000. A pass is a pass.

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It is a computer‑based exam.

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You can either take it remotely from the comfort of your home or office, or

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you could report physically to a Pearson VUE testing center.

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I get into that in the prerequisite courses that I

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mentioned at the beginning of this module.

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If you're into immediate gratification like I am,

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you'll be happy to know you get your score results

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immediately after you finish the test. And the

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certification has a one year validity, and again,

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I get into that in great detail in the intro course to my AZ‑800

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path. I want to run through the different item types that you can

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expect to see not only on AZ‑801 and AZ‑800, but just about all of

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the Microsoft exams nowadays.

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Now don't pay attention to the content of what you're seeing

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on the screen here because most of these practice questions

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don't even have to do with Azure.

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They do have to do with Windows Server interestingly.

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But anyway, the point is not the content.

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It's understanding how the questions will be asked, and I have some strategies

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that I want to impart to you. By the way, I generated these screenshots by

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going to the Microsoft learning YouTube channel.

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They have a number of 1‑minute long videos where they

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introduce each of their item types.

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They don't give you strategy though like I do. Single‑answer

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multiple choice is a pretty common type.

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There's only one correct answer. Multiple‑answer multiple choice, you're

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not going to see choose all that apply, and this is good.

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You'll see what are two ways, what are three ways, and there's validation

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built into the exam engine that if you were asked what are two possible ways

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and you selected only one and then clicked Next, the exam engine would bark

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at you and say you have to choose one more. Or if it said what are two

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possible ways and you selected a third, the validation error would force you

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to correct that error.

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That's so you don't lose points unnecessarily. Repeated scenario items come in

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clusters of anywhere from four to six, and as you see here,

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if I jog the slide forward and backwards,

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the main body of the scenario is the same, it's just a different

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solution, and you're asked, does the solution meet the goal? The

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reason why you can't go back and forth on these on your live exam

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is to prevent you from using anything other than your skills to

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answer them correctly.

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There are a number of interactive item types on these exams. One is

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select and place. It's basically a matching exercise.

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What I want to draw your attention to here is in the

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interface. See these ellipses here, horizontal and vertical

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ellipses? Those are actually split bars.

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So if you're taking the exam on a smaller monitor,

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be aware that you can resize both horizontal and vertical panes

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to make sure that you're not missing anything.

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That's critical. Build list and reorder is one way for

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Microsoft to verify that you know how to do work.

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This is going to be for stepwise operations that do need to be

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completed in a given order. And again, you'll be asked which X number

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of actions should you perform in sequence, and then you can either use

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your mouse with drag and drop, or you could use those buttons to make

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your selections, and then you're going to reorder those selections into

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the correct order.

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Now I want you to understand that Microsoft Worldwide Learning

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does award partial credit, so here's a big tip.

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Never ever leave an item unanswered on your exam.

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Always, even if you have to guess, complete every answer choice.

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This is because if you submit unanswered questions,

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you have a 100% chance of gaining 0 points for that item.

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Even if you guess, you have a greater than 0% chance of getting at least

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one point, okay? Very important. Partial credit is definitely something

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to go after. The active screen type, you're more likely to see this

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nowadays on Microsoft exams with code, with maybe you'll see a

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PowerShell script on the screen.

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But what's important here is that there are drop‑down list

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controls, this is what makes the item active, where you

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open in the code, for instance,

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there'll be a drop‑down list box or maybe several of them embedded, and you're

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basically completing the code by using those active controls.

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This, along with the build list and reorder, are the two main item

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types that Microsoft uses to simulate validating.

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Well, it's not exactly simulating validating, they are validating

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your ability to do hands‑on work, but I guess it's a simulation

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because you're not actually doing the work.

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Case studies can cause people problems,

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but I want to give you some tips on solving these efficiently.

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Number one, the case study is basically a test inside of your test.

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You can't skip them.

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When you come to a case,

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you have to complete it then. And once you leave the case study, you

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can't return to it, so it's just one of those things.

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I would strongly suggest you not get hung up and waste

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time trying to memorize the case.

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Just briefly click through each of the tabs that describe the fictional

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case study, and then when you look at each question,

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each of those questions, without fail, is going to map back to one of

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those tabs. It could be Technical Requirements. It could be Problem

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Statements. There are different tabs for different cases. But what you

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want to do for each question is map back to where in the case study that

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bullet point that's going to give you your clue is. This means that by

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scanning the case first you have an idea of where your keywords are, and

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then when a question asks about such and so keyword, you realize, oh yeah,

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I remember seeing a reference to that over on Technical Requirements.

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You click over there, you see the bullet point, that gives you your clue

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to answer the question correctly, and you're in business. Statement

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analysis or code analysis is a way, and I guess the third way, to verify

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your hands‑on skills, or at least your deeper analytical skills. This is

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where you're going to see a topology diagram or code, and then you'll be

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asked or just given statements that you're asked whether you agree with

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them or not.

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These different interactive item types are just different ways that Microsoft

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has in its toolbox to measure your skills with the technology.

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Please believe me when I say that Microsoft is not looking to see you fail.

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Microsoft is not looking to trip you up.

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They're looking to have you show off your skills in as realistic and accurate a

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way as they can. The performance‑based items, first of all,

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forgive the blurry picture here.

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This is the highest res I could find.

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The performance‑based testing environment has been offline for almost a

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couple years now I want to say. Microsoft had an issue with their

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performance‑based lab in their first six months when they started it, so

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they just unceremoniously stopped.

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But when the performance‑based labs were in the exam,

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your interface would change. Similarly to how you

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have a testlet with a case study,

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there would be a test inside of a test with one of these, and your screen

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would split into an RDP session going into the Azure portal on the left and

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then a task list at right, and you complete the tasks in any order, they're

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not dependent on each other, and this would be to truly demonstrate that you

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know how to do hands‑on work.

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I have no idea if Microsoft Worldwide Learning plans to bring back

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performance testing. It's been offline a long time, like I said, but I wanted to mention it for completeness.