If you are trying to get ahead in you career today, you'll understand that the computer skills you have under your belt are what will make the difference between you moving up the ladder or down. As it pertains to trying to prove your computer competency in using office applications there is no other certification path that sticks out like the Microsoft Office Specialist Ms office setup program. With over 3 million exams now undertaken and above 2 million Microsoft Office Specialist Certificates issued, this certification has transformed into the one to get to prove your skills in using Microsoft Office. https://www.setupmsoffices.com/

One thing I have discovered though is that many people fail these exams very first time around and there really isn't any reason behind it. The way the Microsoft Office Specialist exam works is you will be used right into a room and sat at a computer. On this computer you is likely to be asked by the computer to transport out a series of tasks. Each group of tasks was created to represent tasks you'd be anticipated to complete on a day-to-day basis.

These exams really really are a good representation of what individuals will be expected to complete on a day-to-day basis. I will say I'm a little bias since I'm a Microsoft Office Specialist Master Instructor and my company is really a Microsoft Office Specialist Authorised Testing Centre but having trained about 4,000 to 5,000 students through my training centre in Townsville, Australia the certification exams really do represent the skills you'd be anticipated to do in your workplace.

There are actually seven exams in the Microsoft Office Specialist Program and they are the Microsoft Word Core and Expert Exams, Microsoft Excel Core and Expert Exams, Microsoft Outlook Core Exam, Microsoft PowerPoint Core Exam and the Microsoft Access Core Exam. If you're a Secretary or Personal Assistant, I would expect at a minimum you'd have passed the Microsoft Word Core Exam and the Microsoft Excel Core Exam. If you hold the position of a salesman, I would expect you to truly have the same certifications since the Personal Assistant or secretary in addition to the Microsoft PowerPoint Core certification and maybe the Microsoft Excel Expert Certification and Microsoft Access Core Certification.

Ok, so just how do we prepare for these exams.

First of all, you'll need to select how you wish to study for these exams. In terms of passing these exams it doesn't matter whether you wish to do a class at an exercise centre, buy a home paced training program or doing the training on the Internet. Use the shape of training that you feel most comfortable with. Myself, I prefer to use self-paced training where as much of my students prefer classroom based training. Each training method has its advantages and disadvantages. One thing to see, if you are likely to visit a training centre, ensure at minimum they are a Microsoft Office Specialist Testing Centre and that they will provide you with an exercise manual and exercise disk to get hold of with one to keep. If the training centre doesn't offer you a manual then don't waste your time with the course even though they might be the cheapest. In computer training, cheapest definitely does not mean the best.

Step 1. When you have done the course or studied the Self-Paced material make sure you redo most of the material within 7-days!

One mistake lots of people make, is thinking they can perform a two-day computer training course then leave as an expect. If that's everything you think, than it's totally fanciful. Computer Training is like a sport, if you wish to be considered a professional you then must train as a professional. The first faltering step you need to do in virtually any training regime is to return through most of the material you did in the computer training course in the initial 7 days when you the conclusion of the course.

Studies show through the years, that each 7 days you don't review your material, you'll loose 50% of the material. Each week you don't review the material you loose another 50% meaning in 6 weeks approximately, you'll remember nothing from your own course. All in all you might as well, not have done the course in the initial place.

Step 2. Write a quick statement is likely to words, the important thing terms used throughout your course.

Another thing you should DO! Is to write a quick statement is likely to words about all the important thing terms you learnt throughout the course or in your self-paced material. One of the challenges you will have in the exam is deciphering what they are asking one to do. Sometimes, I have discovered the language is extremely tough to understand because it's written in American English (no offence designed to my American colleagues). In another of my Microsoft Outlook Core Exams, I was certain I would definitely fail the exam. The sole reason I passed was by identifying the important thing terms in the text that linked to the application form and by knowing those I exercised in each question what precisely they certainly were asking me to do.

Step 3. Practice, Practice, Practice - Get lots of Practice Exercises

Another thing you should do is to have just as much practice as possible. Most training schools will have structured their material to ensure that by the end of every topic you will have some questions to answer and also some sort of homework exercise to accomplish this will put most of the tasks together into one exercise. The key here is to apply around possible. Read the internet for places where you can get lots of practical exercises or make-up some of one's own.

Step 4 - Do a Pre-Assessment Exam to see if you should be ready.

One thing I have learnt from doing these professional exams is they are absolutely nothing beats the exams you'd have undertaken at school, college or at University. My recommendation that I will make to anyone sitting computer certification exams is to get a pre-assessment exam for the exam you wish to take. What the pre-assessment exams do is to check your skills ahead of sitting the actual exams. Most of the pre-assessment exams I have observed are decent and pretty near the real exams. Personally, i recommend either the pre-assessment exams from Certiport, Transcender or Self-Test Software.

Once you do the pre-assessment exam, you should score 80% or above on the initial go. If you don't, do not do what I have observed lots of people do, and that's to just keep doing the exam till you receive most of the questions right. What will happen if you do this really is you'll develop a memory of the questions and you end up knowing certain requirements of the question without truly to be able to interpret what the question is asking one to do.

When you have done the exam once; DO NOT under any circumstances re-do that exam for 7 days. This will avoid the memory develop, of the questions.

Everything you MUST do once you've completed the pre-assessment exam and got an effect is always to consider the outcomes of the test and learn which questions you got wrong and return back and study those areas more thoroughly. Then, after you have reviewed the material and waited 7 days, then try the pre-assessment test again.

You must in the second attempt score 90% or better. Should you choose achieve this you then are prepared to sit the actual exam. If you don't, you then need to follow the same process again for the next 7-days.

After the 3rd time utilizing the same Pre-Assessment exam, I will suggest people here is another different pre-assessment exam before being 100% sure they will pass the exam. The more you use the same exam, the bigger risk you face in retaining that memory of questions.

Most pre-assessment exams usually come with 2 or 3 different exams to try. If after three attempts of every pre-assessment exam and you still see that you can't pass at 80% or better, I would highly recommend finding a mentor and also checking to ensure the training material you have purchased is covering the mandatory material.

Step 5 - Pass the Microsoft Office Specialist Certification Exam!

Obviously once you've done that much training and practice and you have passed your pre-assessment exams you are now prepared to sit the actual exam. One thing to remember, Microsoft Office Specialist Exams are commercial exams and due to this, if you fail the exam, you have to cover to resit the exam. The price to resit these exams can differ from as low as $80 US to $135 US, oftentimes the costs are set by the Microsoft Office Specialist Testing Centre.

The good thing is that if you have followed the steps I have outlined, I is likely to be very surprised if you didn't pass in your first attempt.

Step 6 - You Are Finally A Microsoft Office Specialist