In the rapidly evolving fields like software development, staying static in terms of technical skills and knowledge can quickly lead to obsolescence. Hence, the ability to learn independently is a crucial skill in a rapidly changing world. Self-learning allows software developers to acquire new skills and deepen their knowledge in specific areas of interest.
Renew my Azure Developer Associate Certificate
In the September, I was on a business trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. I thus decided to take the opportunity of my time staying in hotel after work to prepare for my Microsoft certificate renewal test.
Well, it took me some time to hit refresh on the latest updates in Microsoft Azure because in Samsung, I don’t work daily with it. Fortunately, thanks to Microsoft Learn, I am able to quickly pickup the new knowledge after going through the online resources on the Microsoft Learn platform.
As usual, I took down the notes of what I learned from Microsoft Learn. This year, the exam focuses on the following topics.
- Microsoft Identity Platform;
- Azure Key Vault;
- Azure App Configuration and Monitoring;
- Azure Container Apps;
- CosmosDB.
I did pretty well in all the topics above with the exception of Azure Container Apps, where my responses to questions related to Azure Container Registry were unfortunately incorrect. However, I am pleased to share that despite this challenge, I successfully passed the renewal assessment on my first attempt.
Participating in the AI Skills Challenge
Last month, I also participated in an online Microsoft event. It is the Microsoft Learn AI Skills Challenge where we are allowed to choose to complete one out of the four challenges from Machine Learning Challenge, Cognitive Services Challenge, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) Challenge, and AI Builder Challenge.
The AI Builder Challenge introduces us to AI Builder. AI Builder is a Microsoft Power Platform capability that provides AI models that are designed to optimise the business processes.
The challenge shows us how to build models, and explains how we can use them in Power Apps and Power Automate. Throughout the online course, we can learn how to create topics, custom entities, and variables to capture, extract, and store information in a bot.
Why Taking Microsoft AI Challenge?
Since last year, I have been working in the AI module in a Samsung app. I am proud to have the opportunity to learn about Microsoft AI and use it in our project to, for example, allow users login to our app using the face recognition feature in Microsoft AI.
Therefore, embracing this challenge provides me with a valuable opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Microsoft AI, with a specific focus on the AI Builder. The AI Builder platform empowers us to create models tailored to our business requirements or to opt for prebuilt models designed to seamlessly address a wide array of common business scenarios.
WRAP-UP
By adopting a growth mindset, applying Kaizen principles, and following a structured learning plan, we can embark on our self-learning journey and emerge as a certified professional.
Besides Microsoft Learn, depends on what you’d like to learn, you can enroll in other online courses on platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and edX which offer comprehensive courses with video lectures, quizzes, and labs.
Once you have chosen your certification, create a structured learning plan. You can then proceed to outline the topics covered in the exam objectives and allocate specific time slots for each.
Anyway, remember, continuous learning is the path to excellence, and getting certification is only one of the steps in that direction. Just as software development involves iterations, so does our learning journey. We shall continuously refine our technical skills and knowledge.
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