Some guidance on MOS please!

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I started looking at certs about 3 years ago, and passed the MCDST (and recently the 70-680). I bought the Microsoft Press study guide for Office 2007 at the same time as the MCDST ones, but I have never really looked at it until today, and I think it's something I'd like run through and maybe get the certs. I'm looking for Helpdesk work at the moment, and think these Office certs might be helpful.

1) I can't see the exams listed on Prometric's site or even offered in the UK on the other site I've seen mentioned - Certiport. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

2) Even if the 2007 exams are still available, would it make more sense to study for 2010 or 2013 instead, or is 2007 still worthwhile?

3) I did have another question, but my mind's gone blank. I'll come back to this...

If anybody can answer my questions, or has any advice I'd be grateful.

 

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Well, I doubt that it's worth studying for Office 2007 certification any longer.

I would think that 2010 (or possibly 2013) is the way to go.

As an example in the parts of the oil industry in Aberdeen that I have come into contact (direct knowledge of 6 or 7 large companies, and chatter from a number of others) most are either moving, or have already moved, to 2010, and I have heard no mention of anyone considering moving to 2013...

This Certiport page should help you to get started on the 2010 stuff:
Certiport | Home - Certify to Succeed

You probably have more questions after that?

 

Thanks for your reply

Glad to see there are some sites in London - the search I did previously showed my nearest site as being in Belgium! I've got just under 2 months left of my Technet sub, so if you think 2010 is the way to go then I'll need to get cracking.

I see you're a Master for 2010, so can I ask if you used this book or if there's a better study book/source?

 

Just one point to make - you can call yourself a MOS after taking any one Office exam, but you may well want to aim for MOS Master?

To get the Master you need to include Expert Excel, Expert Word, PowerPoint, and 1 elective from Access, Outlook, SharePoint or OneNote.

I didn't use any books, but I am a bit of a special case in some ways - so I didn't need them.

I made a list of the criteria from the Microsoft MOS site, and made sure that I knew where everything was and how to use it.

This page has details for 2013 and 2010 https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/mos-certification.aspx

Click on any of the exam links and you will see the list of Skills measured for that exam - this is the minimum you need to know.

I would say that if you have been using Microsoft Office (2007 or 2010) for any time at work there's a good chance that you may just need to work through the skills lists before taking the Core level exams.

The Expert level exams are much harder and you will definitely need to work hard at those and that book is probably as good as any other.

If you can afford it, get yourself one of the practice test sets like Certiprep Certiport | Home - Certify to Succeed - it will help you get used the the kind of tasks you will be asked to perform.

 

Thanks for all of that info - interesting stuff. I've actually spent the last 7 or 8 years using OpenOffice. I have used Word 2007 recently, but I want to learn about Outlook, Powerpoint and Excel too, so I think a book would suit me best. I did want to go and pick-up the 2010 study guide somewhere today and make a start, but nobody has it in stock, so I'll have to get it from Amazon.

Since I already have the book and own Office 2007 Pro, ideally, I would do 2007 and then skip to 2013. But from what you've said and with the limited time I have left on my Technet sub, I think I might be better-off just doing the basic-level 2010 exams, then looking to do the same for 2013 - possibly going for expert-level in the newest package instead.

 

gah! I've managed to ruin my server VM by installing Exchange 2013 on it. I got it installed, and pretty much configured, but some test E-mails I tried to send just seemed to get stuck somewhere. Part of the problem might be that it's eaten up every last scrap of the VM's disk space.

For the Outlook part of the course, is there any way around having an Exchange server?

- - - Updated - - -

Actually, I'm looking at Office365 Professional Plus now. I think the trial or a month's sub might be exactly what I want...

 

Hi Unclebeard,

Please can You suggest any good training center in Aberdeen that offer good quality course and tuition required to pass the MOS Specialist Exam- Excel and Word 2010? I am pretty tired of companies online which make bogus claims and deliver short of expectations. I intend working in the oil and gas sector. Any advice/suggestions. I appreciate.

 

I'm sorry, I wish I could - but I don't know anything about the quality of anyone offering training to the public.

The place I took most of my Office exams is in the centre of Aberdeen, is called EC-PC, and while Kelvin is usually very helpful and flexible I don't know what his training is like.

On his site he does seem to have some good reviews. Maybe worth giving him a call to chat about your requirements?

 

OK, I've worked through the Outlook and Word 2010 modules, and I'm thinking about booking exams- but I have no idea what to expect from the exam. The Windows exams I've done all came with *some* exam practice software, but there wasn't anything bundled with the Office book. Is the only option Certiprep or is there something else work looking at?

 

There's this, available from Prodigy. GMetrix practice test software. I tried it for 2007, and although it's not perfect it works well enough to give you the feel for the exams and the wording of the questions.

Even better, it's not frighteningly priced

 

I saw your reply a bit late, so I didn't have time before taking the actual exam today. I passed it so panic over, for the moment, but thanks anyway. I'm planning to take Outlook and Excel still, so it's still handy to know about

 

I sat the Outlook 2010 exam today - 1000/1000. The exam covered a bit of everything, but I was expecting something more involved. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I'm just a bit surprised