SQL SERVER – SQL Basics: SQL 2012 Certification Path – Day 10 of 10

This is the 10th post out of my 10 post series of my 10th book – SQL Basics. Today will show the importance of data and information. Let us see SQL 2012 Certification Path in this blog post.

In training hundreds of people over that last decade to get their Microsoft certification, to my surprise the biggest benefit you get is something else. The most common benefit my students tell me about is that they get invited to far more job openings after getting certified than they did before. When the stack or resumes gets sorted down, they need a proven reason to keep yours on the short list.

The Current SQL Certification Paths

The new breakdown of the Microsoft SQL 2012 certification model offers new incentives and rewards. The entry level certification in the 2012 model starts with one of three certification tests.

The Querying test 70-461 is the new Developer entry level test. The Admin and BI entry tests are the 70-462 and the 70-463. The most important part of BI is data warehouses since that is the center of all your BI data.

SQL Development is a much larger topic than SQL Administration. There are two advanced levels of Development certifications. The 70-464 is Developing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases and the 70-465 is Designing DB Solutions for SQL Server 2012 Databases.

The 70-462 test is the for the SQL Admin certification, but there is no advanced Admin certification for 2012.

Business Intelligence is another large topic and has with it an advanced track. To start the BI track you will need to pass the Implementing Data Warehouses certification to achieve the entry level BI certification. To advance beyond the entry level BI certification you can take the Implementing Data Models & Reports (70-466) and then the Designing BI Solutions (70-467) to achieve the advanced BI certifications.

The Microsoft SQL Server 2012 certification model only rewards you for advancing within a certification track if you cover all the main tests first. If you pass the 461, 462, and 463 tests your certification level advances to a Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA).

Once you achieve your MCSA and the two advanced level Dev certifications (464 and 465) the certification level advances you again to a SQL Dev MCSE (MCSE stands for Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert).

If you achieve your MCSA and both advanced BI certifications you then become a SQL BI MCSE.

To summarize, there are three base level tests for Dev(Queries), Admin and BI (Data Warehouse). But in the SQL 2012 model there are more skill related tests for the Dev and BI and combinations of the exams that can reward you with higher premium certifications.

Action Item

Get the book for yourself and your friend. This is just a reference everyone must have it.

Available in Paperback (USA), Kindle (Worldwide)

Reference: Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)