Spoiler Alert! It wasn't easy....😅

After 5 years I first started working with Power BI, I finally managed to earn my first Microsoft certification for Power BI Data Analyst Associate for one year (2023-2024) after passing the PL-300 exam by the narrowest margin. 😅

Why it took so long....?

Few reasons,

1- My distrust in academic validation

I was, until recently, that guy who was confident in his skills and firmly believed that I didn't need any external validation to prove it 😅. I was trying my best to improve my skills instead chasing certificates.

2 - My Ignorance

to be honest I didn't know Microsoft issues this kind of certificate. I wouldn't say I liked other certificates issued by other organizations. I believed they mean nothing in the real world.

I wasn't active in Power BI social media community until recently so there is not much possibility I would bump into certified people or people who talk about it.

3 - Finance

The cost of the certification varies for each country. For example, In the USA it costs $165. It costs $80 in my county, probably one of the lowest. But still, I didn't want to spend that on a certificate.

On top of that, there are loads of tutorials, preparation programs, and exam simulations out there that cost a lot more than that.

What changed my Mind?

1 - I needed a confidence boost

I met loads of Power BI Freelancers online competing for the same projects and most of them are certified by Microsoft and they display that on their bios.

I don't know if it plays any part in project-winning rates but being a new freelancer, I had this big insecurity that it sets me back as a freelancer.

2 - Power BI community exposure

I tried to be active on social media ( Twitter and LinkedIn ) I met other experienced Power BI professionals who believed this certificate is really important.

3 - Free Exam

Power Platform Functional Consultant Challenge was launched last year and Microsoft announced that anyone who completes the challenge gets a free exam 🤗entrance for PL-300.

Microsoft runs these challenges every year. This year's challenge is set to start on May 23rd, 2023. If you're interested you can sign up here.👇

Challenge | Microsoft Learn🔗

Exam Scheduling

I completed Power Platform Functional Consultant Challenge on June 17th, 2022.

I felt happy and accomplished for a moment and then..... I forgot about it. 😅

Little did I know that free exams have a deadline your exam should be scheduled before the deadline and your exam date should fall within the deadline.

My deadline was on 31st December 2022. 😮

I realize this a few days before the deadline. Because I need maximum time to prepare and unavailability of free time slots, It was scheduled for the 31st Saturday 2022 at 5 in the morning.

It was an easy process to schedule an exam.

You can start from Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate - Certifications | Microsoft Learn page.

Then you'll be directed to the exam conductor web page (third party).

You can take the exam from home or go to an exam center. I choose online.

Preparation

Microsoft Learn has an extensive collection of free learning material on its exam page.

Exam PL-300: Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst - Certifications | Microsoft Learn

In my case, however, they were not much useful. As I've been working with Power BI for many years, I was familiar with most of the knowledge in the collection.

As this is a timed exam that measured some set of skills I wanted a course that targeted to prepare me for exactly that. So I choose This course from Maven Analytics on Udemy.

This course contains a PL-300 style practice exam and 2 case studies with other course materials. Pretty much all you need to pass the exam.

I spend the next few days until the exam day going through course materials and answering all questions in it.

Exam Day

I was given instructions to sign in to the exam page 30 mins before the exam scheduled time. After a system test and exam room check and ID check, I was directed to a queue.

A queue with 100+ people ahead of me.... 😲

Then the waiting began. I waited there 5 minutes before the exam and finally, I was contacted by a proctor through the chat. He said everything is fine but for some reason he wanted me to do the login process again...😲

I did exactly what I was asked to do and when I tried to do the system test again.....I was rejected...The message said my internet connection speed was lower than expected.

I tried everything. I tried different connections, different connections with a different PC and everything but I couldn't get the system test done...😌

Then I gave up and decided to reach customer service for the third part exam proctoring service.

I said I was successfully logged in at the given time and had done everything right but send back by one of their proctors. After consideration, they reached out to me and gave me a chance to reschedule the exam within one year time from the original date for free.

Exam Day Again 🥴

I had to go through the course material again. But this time surprisingly everything seems to be much easier and I felt more confident about things I know and things I don't know.

The scheduled time slot was also much more comfortable for me. It was still early morning but no need to set alarms etc.

The login process this time was smooth. I was the first in the queue. Check-in in the process so fast that I felt maybe I was the only candidate for that time slot that day.

However, I was sent back to the queue once again like last time. after a quick system check, I was checked into the exam. 👏

The Exam

The check-in process was so chaotic, for a moment, I felt like the exam was the easy part. The interface was simple. It has big icons, a clock, and some navigation buttons.

The clock doesn't stop for any reason. You can go forward and backward in one section as much as you like, but when you are done with one section and move on to the next you can't go back and change your answers.

You cannot share any content from the exam with anyone else after the exam and you're warned upfront.

Timing

If you're well prepared given the time limit is manageable. I went through the question twice before submitting it. All of them are multiple-choice and even though a calculator option is given I didn't need it.

Results

You get your final results instantly. You can know if you've passed even before you log out.

Certificate

Microsoft issues the certificate using the third-party service Credly. You can claim your certificate same day. 🎉🎉🎉

Validity

This is valid for 1 year

Let's talk

I shared my achievement on LinkedIn later that day and many of my connects reached out to me for help with their preparation.

If you're preparing for PL-300 and stuck with something, you're welcome to reach out to me. Let's have a chat and see if I can do anything to help. 😊