Many questions appear on Reddit and Discord, primarily if certifications will get certain jobs, or give all the skills required to be a developer. Here are some recommendations.

The Purpose

To dispel a myth – getting certifications will not walk you into a job, at any level. They are simply Microsoft’s way of measuring your understanding of the topics their material on MS Learn is based around – nothing more, nothing less. They are not a measure of real-world experience, or that you know how to apply the material.

Secondly, how some of the questions are worded is very obtuse. Sure, you shouldn’t be spoon fed the answers, but there could actually be multiple correct answers for some questions. Some are even out of date, referencing places to install solutions from that don’t even exist anymore, long replaced by App Source. This is primarily why I am going through the process of preparing for an MVP nomination and offering any views I can to help people – to try and improve this from the inside.

Finally, you can cheat. I’m not going to say where, but many people know that question dumps exist of the answers. Someone could memorise these, never having done the material and be “certified”. They would have no idea how to be a Power Platform developer.

How are they used?

Most organisations will not take certs as an absolute measure of experience. What they may do is use it as a way to engage in conversations about other topics. When we recruit Power Platform developers, we treat them like coders, or any other developer – your experience counts. We also have no desire to push staff to doing the exams, as it may not be for them. However, we do want them to complete the MS Learn material and we have open, varied interviews to gain an undertanding of the applicant and them us.

The platform is constantly evolving and the certs, or the desire to complete the material for them, shows enthusiams to grow with the tools and provide the best possible value to our staff and members, as a non-private organisation.

What should you do?

There are 2 main courses you should do as a bare minimum: PL-900 and 200. You should then work on your experience and discover what part of the platform you want to get deep into.

Then

Work on PL-300 if you wish to become a data analyst and pursue the world of Fabric.

Work on PL-400 if you wish to continue as a pro-developer, into the world of Azure, plugins, PowerFx, etc.

Work on PL-600 when you are a few years in and wish to pursue an architectural role, overseeing design, governance, etc.

But remember, these are complimentary to your experience. Practice matters most.

Summary/Next…

Do not be drawn into the current trend of Power Platform being treated as a quick money earner, like so many development platforms are. Think about what you want from it as a career and work up to that.

The next few posts will continue talking about the industry and buy vs build, if users are always right and agile frameworks. The first video podcast will come soon, regarding data modelling.