Assessing Exam-Readiness

We strongly recommend that you read through and take the Self-Assessment included with this book (it appears just before this chapter, in fact). This will help you compare your knowledge base to the requirements for obtaining an MCSE, and it will help you identify parts of your background or experience that might be in need of improvement, enhancement, or further learning. If you get the right set of basics under your belt, obtaining Microsoft certification will be that much easier.

After you've gone through the Self-Assessment, you can remedy those topical areas where your background or experience might not measure up to an ideal certification candidate. However, you can also tackle subject matter for individual tests at the same time, so you can continue making progress while you're catching up in some areas.

After you have worked through an Exam Cram , read the supplementary materials, and taken the practice test, you'll have a clear idea of when you will be ready to take the real exam. Although we strongly recommend that you keep practicing until your scores top the 75% mark, 80% would be a good goal to give yourself some margin for error in a real exam situation (where stress will play more of a role than when you practice). When you hit that point, you should be ready to go. But if you get through the practice exam in this book without attaining that score, you should keep taking practice tests and studying the materials until you get there. You'll find more pointers on how to study and prepare in the Self-Assessment. But now, on to the exam itself!