Microsoft creates a new kind of credential: the 'Applied Skill'
- Reference: 1698294613
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/10/26/microsoft_applied_skill_credential/
- Source link:
Microsoft appears to agree with that idea, to an extent. On Wednesday it introduced an "Applied Skill" credential that sits alongside its existing certifications. The software giant contrasts certifications and Applied Skills as follows.
Certification
Applied Skill
Validates broad technical proficiency
Validates one specific skill
Role-based
Project-based
Breadth of skills
Scenario-specific skills
Exam with interactive elements
Assessment via interactive lab experience
Scheduled exam
On-demand exam
The first batch of Applied Skills describe hands-on work with Microsoft's enterprise products and services, namely:
Secure storage for Azure Files and Azure Blob Storage
Configure secure access to your workloads using Azure networking
Deploy and configure Azure Monitor
Deploy containers by using Azure Kubernetes Service
Implement security through a pipeline using Azure DevOps
Develop an ASP.NET Core web app that consumes an API
Secure Azure services and workloads with Microsoft Defender for Cloud regulatory compliance controls
Configure SIEM security operations using Microsoft Sentinel
Create and manage automated processes by using Power Automate
Another five are already in the works – covering Azure AI services, the Power Platform, and migrating SQL Server to Azure SQL.
Material for Applied Skills is all online and mixes lengthy text with videos – some of which were prepared as training material for Microsoft's certifications. The Register rummaged through the curricula and found each has between three and seven items of content to ingest, with total run times ranging from a little more than two hours to over seven hours.
[1]Intel aims to patch semiconductor skills gap with one-year cert program
[2]Microsoft makes some certification exams open book
[3]Microsoft adds unscheduled breaks to most certification exams
[4]Indian developer educator Scaler moves to America with $11k online courses
Successful completion of "an online, interactive, lab-based assessment that takes you through a series of scenario-based tasks in products like Microsoft Azure or Microsoft Power Platform" is required to win the credential.
Kim Akers, Microsoft's corporate veep for customer and partner solutions enablement and operations, described Applied Skills as "a streamlined path to validate someone's skills." The [5]post announcing the credential describes them as complementary to certifications – because "In today's ever-changing business environment, there are also times when you need verified project-specific skills."
Over to you, dear reader. We've whipped up a poll about Applied Skills, and the comments are open! ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/25/intel_semiconductor_course/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/25/microsoft_certification_exams_to_become/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/13/microsoft_unscheduled_exam_breaks/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/09/scaler_us/
[5] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-learn-blog/announcing-microsoft-applied-skills-the-new-credentials-to/ba-p/3775645
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZTo4xayRLyQUDReXtDLX4gAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[7] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: As much as I like the idea, I doubt it will really catch on
"I won't work with someone who is not certified".
Not too keen to work with someone who *is* actually "certified" at least as defined in a relevant mental health act (section-ed/-able... thinking BOFH class here. :)
Certifications and qualifications generally are pretty much a case of "gate keeping" which in some domains might have some utility but really, in the absence of verifible experience and credible referees, they don't amount to much.
Re: As much as I like the idea, I doubt it will really catch on
As always, holding a cert gets you past the HR blockade where someone in management has decided they need a specific cert for the job.
And yes, the certs themselves could be a lot better - Novell certs used to have interactive elements where you had to do certain tasks but had several ways of doing it (create a user, add them to a group, etc.), so there is no excuse for MS and others not to do that now.
Not certified
- So you claim you know Excel, is that right?
- Yes, you see I've got an Applied Skill credential
- Okay, but... you are not certified?
- It's like a certificate, you know?
- The ones you get at a car boot sale from the back of the van?
- No, it's real!
- Right.
As much as I like the idea, I doubt it will really catch on
As far as certs are concerned, I've heard the gamut from "they're useless" to "I won't work with someone who is not certified".
I doubt that anyone on either side of this fence is going to change their minds. The ones who think certs are useless will not be impressed by an applied skill, and people who are pro-cert will ask "well why aren't they certified then ?".
But for those in the middle, it might be a good calling card.