The amount of time you spend preparing for your Microsoft certification will depend on how well you understand the program in general now and how quickly you are able to learn new elements of its applications, but the exams themselves take around 50 minutes. Microsoft recommends you spend about 150 hours total, both receiving instruction and getting hands-on experience before you take each exam. Some students prefer to learn the material for one application at a time, devoting between a week and a month to learning and studying, taking the exam for that app, and then moving on to the next one.