I’ve been working with Azure on a day-to-day basis for the past five years. I never took any official courses—everything I learned came from real client requirements and hands-on problem solving. One day, I started wondering: How strong is my Azure knowledge really?
That’s when I decided to take an Azure certification exam to test myself.
The last IT certification I earned was back in 2003 (Windows Server). It felt like the right time to renew myself professionally.
Reality Check
I started immediately with the Microsoft practice test. Out of 50 questions, I could confidently answer only about 10. That was a wake-up call.
When I reviewed the exam overview, I realized how broad the knowledge base was. The exam covered identity, storage, networking, compute, and many other areas. Clearly, real-world experience alone wasn’t enough—I needed structured study.
Studying the Right Way
I spent the next two weeks watching a YouTube course (just one series). After that, I felt reasonably confident and went back to the practice test. This time, I scored around 40%.
That’s when I realized another problem: I wasn’t practicing enough.
At work, I have fairly broad Azure access, but not full access—and I didn’t want to risk breaking anything. So I signed up for my own Azure personal account. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I made during my preparation.
Hands-On Makes the Difference
I spent another two weeks practicing—deploying resources, configuring services, and validating what I learned. After that, my confidence increased significantly, and I planned to take the exam.
But then I paused.
I knew there were brain dumps available online, so I searched for them—not to memorize answers, but to identify gaps in my knowledge. When I reviewed them, I realized there were still topics and deeper concepts I hadn’t fully mastered.
So I went back again:
- More practice
- More reading
- More testing
Eventually, I returned to the Microsoft practice test and scored over 90%. At that point, I knew it was time.
Exam Day Experience
The exam had 44 questions. It started with a scenario-based section that included three questions. That’s when I realized I hadn’t studied the exam structure itself—something I should have done to better manage my time and strategy.
Many questions were very similar to what I had seen in the brain dumps—not all, but many. Time management became an issue. I ran out of time on the last four questions, which were True/False, so I selected “True” for all of them.
When I submitted the exam, I was convinced I had failed.
Then the result appeared: 799 out of 1000.
I passed.
My Advice If You’re Taking This Exam
If you’re planning to take an Azure certification exam, here’s what I recommend:
- Watch one good YouTube course
One series is enough. Don’t jump between multiple channels—it becomes disorganized and confusing. - Use Microsoft Learn and complete the exercises
Don’t skip the hands-on labs. - Practice everything you learn
If you see it in a video, deploy it yourself. Ask why and how it works. - Use ChatGPT as a learning partner
I used ChatGPT as my trainer. When I didn’t understand something, I asked questions—and challenged the answers—until it made sense. - Review brain dumps strategically
Don’t rely on them to pass. Use them to identify weak areas, then go back and study properly. - Don’t rely only on videos or dumps
That’s not enough. Real practice is mandatory. - Exam strategy matters
- Don’t leave questions blank—each correct choice counts.
- Watch your time. Don’t spend more than ~2 minutes per question.
Final Thoughts
The exam is intense, but it’s absolutely worth it. Your knowledge becomes broader and more structured, and the certification is well recognized.
If you want an additional free practice test, you can try this one (no signup required):
👉 https://www.exampracticepro.com
Good luck to anyone preparing—you’ll come out stronger on the other side.