Certifications — the thin line between PASS and FAIL
By: Michael Durkan
Tags: Failure, Certification, Success, Reflect, Mindset Shift

How humans react to success and failure can be measured simply by our reaction immediately after a Certification Exam.

Scrolling through LinkedIn, it’s not unusual to come across a “Like” on a post shows that someone has managed to pass a particular exam and certification. This is normally in the form of a “View my verified achievement from Credly”, accompanied by the badge and a few words of thanks to the various trainers/content sites that were used in preparation.

A few months ago, I signed up to take the SC-300 beta exam, one of Microsoft’s new Security certifications. I took the SC-300 as it matches closely to what I was learning with regard to AZ-104 (which I had just passed) and AZ-500 which I planned to study for after taking this one. I didn’t take it lightly, I followed the MS Learn path (the only available learning material) and diligently took notes as I do for every exam. I took the exam late one night (as I always do when my kids are in bed and the house is quiet) and instead of the instant gratification/disappointment at the end where it tells you that you’re either over or under the magic 700 mark, I was thanked for participating in the beta program and informed that my results would be available after the exam went live.

Fast forward to last Friday night (April 23rd 2021), and I start seeing people posting their achievements from these exams on LinkedIn. Then, my email pings to inform me that my results are available in my Learning Dashboard. Could it be I wondered in hope!

Hopes dashed …..

The word “Fail” stood out in the standard font. The link to the right of the dreaded word gave me the opportunity to download my score report, which made my heart sink a bit further ….

685! Probably one question off! Aw, come on!

For anyone who’s interested, this is the second time this has happened in the last year. My first attempt at 70–742 gave me a score of 686. At that time, I was “cert chasing” as the MCSE deadline was approaching and I wanted to get over the line. I dusted myself down, took a few days off, downloaded my score report to focus on where I went wrong. Gave it 3 weeks and did the re-sit.

That was then. This is now. And this time, I took some time to reflect on my exam failure, but also failure in general. I told myself, you were close. 685! But not close enough to get the shiny cert to show off to the world. Does it show you as a failure though? Does it show you don’t know the content?

This where the Score Report can be invaluable. Scoring each section of the content means that if you fail, you can focus on where you fell down. In my case, it was content that I had never worked with before in either a commercial or lab environment:

The Measure of Failure and the thin line to Success

So back to my question above — am I a failure. Well, yes and no. I didn’t know enough of the overall content to pass the exam, I fell down badly in one area that dragged me below the magic 700 mark. And in retrospect, I’m not using Azure commercially. Everything I’m doing is in my own Lab Subscription. Will I take the exam again? Yes, more than likely I’ll dust off the notes, focus on where I went wrong, try to do some more labs and study real world examples and have another go in a few months.

This led me to stop and think — having passed the aforementioned AZ-104 a few months ago, I went to take a look at my Score Report from that as a comparison:

753. I didn’t exactly blow it out of the water, did I! Let me point out again that my work with Azure up to now has been targeted labs in my own subscription. But a pass is a pass in the Microsoft ecosystem, and the difference between having and not having the shiny badge. And I felt happy to pass given that I’m not working with Azure in a commercial setting.

Again though, I went back to the Score Report to look at the sections list:

OK, so looking at this tells me that as the score rightly shows, I just about got there. The Compute section compensated for the downfall in Networking, but other than that I was pretty much there.

But again, let’s stop think about this for a minute and reflect on a statement I made above:

“Scoring each section of the content means that if you fail, you can focus on where you fell down”

We do it when we fail, but do we do it when we pass? The first human reaction is to celebrate success, so no matter how far above the line we are we will always see the “View my verified achievement…” badge sitting proudly on our LinkedIn profile.

Look, I get it. I’ve been doing it for the last year. Taking exams (either proctored or at a testing facility) takes its toll on your mind and body, and the relief of seeing the words “Congratulations, you passed” makes waves of relief and happiness flow through your body. You skim though the Score Report page at the end and just want to get out and hit the “Finish” button. The wave of relief as you leave your workstation, and the anticipation of the email from Acclaim or Credly to tell you it’s there to share with the world.

Stop. Think. Reflect.

Instead of the first instinct, maybe we need to stop and think. Take a pause and reflect. Look back at our Score Report. I passed, great! Did I ace it… no. So where can I do better. How can I learn from this experience and do I need to dive deeper into the content where I scored low before I progress to the next exam. The answer to the last point is more than likely yes if you want to feel happy overall and able to move on to the next exam. And that should apply whether the score is just over the line or in the 900s and nearing perfection

There is very little difference between 685 and 753. If you tried to break it down, it’s probably 3 questions. I was one question short in 2 exams, and 3 questions over in another (I know that’s not how Microsoft’s scoring system works, but if we want to believe that in a 50-question exam where 700/1000 is the passing score, 20 points per question is the simplest mathematical breakdown).

That’s the thin line between the words “Pass” and “Fail”.

Keep on the learning train!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of certifications. As well as my own work ethic and quest for knowledge, they’ve gotten me to where I am in my career today and I hope they can help me go further in my career. It’s a great sense of achievement and validates your skills against your chosen specialist subject. Konstantin Kaminskiy has written an excellent post of the value of certifications and how they can help you grow and advance in your career, check it out here.

As for me ….

Am I going to take more certification exams, absolutely! And we all should. But use certifications as part of your learning journey, not just a means to an end once the words “Congratulations, you’ve passed” come up on the screen.

Thanks for reading. Until next time ….