Home > Articles > Microsoft

Hints for Answering Simulation Questions on Microsoft Certification Exams

Book knowledge – knowing terms, processes, and coding – are vital for succeeding on Microsoft certification exams, but in order to verify that you really know the material, Microsoft also includes simulation questions that require hands-on knowledge. Some of these questions can be daunting and can mean the difference between pass and fail. In this article, Brien Posey provides some important keys to mastering the simulation questions that appear on Microsoft exams.

I have a confession to make. Back in the 1990s, I was under a lot of pressure from the US Army (who I worked for at the time) to get my MCSE Certification. At the time, getting an MCSE meant passing a series of six certification exams. Four of the exams were standard, but two were electives. The Army insisted that I take the Microsoft Exchange exam as one of my electives, but left the other elective up to me. For that elective, I chose to take the Internet Information Services (IIS) exam.

So what’s so scandalous about that? At the time I had never so much as even seen IIS before. The Army gave me a deadline for earning my MCSE and by the time I had passed my fifth exam I only had about a week left before the deadline. The reason why I chose the IIS exam was because when I went to the book store to look for exam study guides, the IIS related study guides were the thinnest. The IIS exam seemed like it would be easy to pass (and it was).

My point is that I read a book about IIS and then passed the certification exam even though I had never even seen, much less used, IIS before. Things are different today, however. Microsoft takes measures to prevent certification candidates from pulling this type of stunt. One such measure is the use of simulation questions on certification exams. Simulation questions insure that the person taking the exam has actually got some hands-on experience with the product on which they are being tested, rather than simply memorizing material from a study guide.

It is easy to assume that if you have worked with the product on which you are being tested then you will have no trouble getting through the simulation questions. For the most part this is true, but simulation questions can sometimes be tricky. As such, I decided to write this article as a way of providing you with a few hints to improve your odds of being able to work through simulation questions.

Make sure you understand the assigned task

Any simulation question that you might encounter is based on a goal that you are required to achieve. This goal might be based on one task or on a series of tasks. Hence, one of the keys to getting the simulation questions correct is to make sure that you understand exactly what the question is asking and to make sure that you complete each of the required tasks. I realize that this probably sounds obvious, but it can be very easy to accidentally overlook one or more of a question’s requirements.

Remember to Adhere to Microsoft Best Practices

Probably the single most important thing that you can do to answer simulation questions correctly is to keep Microsoft best practices in mind as you work through the simulation. Often there are several different ways to achieve the required result, but some methods are more correct than others.

To give you a better idea of what I mean, imagine that a simulation question on a Windows Server exam asked you to give three users Read access to a particular folder. You could achieve the required result by manually assigning NTFS level permissions for the folder to each user. However, Microsoft best practices stipulate that you should avoid assigning permissions on a per user basis. Instead it is better to create a security group, assign the security group permission to the resource (in this case a folder), and then add users to the group.

It is worth noting that Microsoft exam questions go through an extensive review process prior to being used on certification exams. Although my non-disclosure agreement with Microsoft prohibits me from discussing the question review process in detail, I can tell you that one of the goals behind the review process is to ensure that exam questions are written in a way that avoids ambiguity. As such, the wording of the question may provide hints as to how Microsoft wants you to approach the assigned task. For instance, in the situation described above, Microsoft might specifically tell you to create a group, add users to the group, and assign the group permissions to the folder.

There is actually a fine line between what Microsoft will tell you as a part of an exam question and what they expect you to know. Microsoft’s website specifically says “the candidate is evaluated on the accuracy of the end result, not the path that they took to complete the task.” Having said that, there are simulation questions that are specifically designed to block you from performing tasks in certain ways. Although Microsoft’s newer virtualization-based simulations tend not to block any of the approaches to completing a task, your solution could potentially be scored as incorrect if your approach falls too far outside of Microsoft’s recommended best practices.

Find Out How Many Simulation Questions to Expect

Before you register for a certification exam, it is a good idea to try to find out how many (if any) simulation questions you can expect to encounter. Of course, this seemingly simple idea is more complicated than it sounds. Microsoft does not disclose the number of questions on their certification exams, nor do they tell you how many simulations you will have to complete.

The best way to get a feel for the number of simulation questions that you might encounter is to do a web search. The Internet contains numerous message boards for each exam. Often someone will spill the beans about the number and types of questions that they encountered.

For the sake of clarity, I want to explicitly state that I am not telling you to visit the brain dump sites. Microsoft expressly prohibits the use of brain dumps, and there can be rather severe consequences to using them. As such, it is a good idea to stick to using the message boards.

So why bother trying to figure out how many simulation questions you might encounter on an exam? Microsoft only gives you a finite amount of time to complete an exam. Simulations can sometimes take a while to complete, so if you can figure out how many simulation questions you are likely to encounter, you will be better able to manage your time as you take the exam.

One thing to keep in mind is that Microsoft exams draw questions from a pool of potential test questions. As such, the information that you read online regarding the number of questions (or simulation questions) on an exam might not exactly match what you see when you take the exam. Even so, you should be able to at least roughly anticipate the number of simulation questions that you are likely to encounter.

Be on the Lookout for Potential Simulation Questions

One last tip that I want to give you is that once you have confirmed that the exam you plan on taking does indeed contain simulation questions, pick out some potential simulation questions as you study.

Believe it or not, this isn’t as tough to do as it sounds. Just about any study guide for almost any Microsoft certification exam is chock full of facts and figures that you will have to memorize in order to pass the exam. Although important, you most likely won’t see any simulation questions based around this type of information. For example, if you were taking an Exchange Server 2010 certification exam, you would probably be expected to know that the minimum supported memory for the Edge Transport Server Role is 4 GB. However, you probably would not see a simulation question based on this information.

Simulation questions are based around actionable items. Therefore, it is a good idea to look through the stated objectives for your exam and pick out any actionable items for which a simulation question might exist. For example, the very first part of the objectives for Exam 70-662: TS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring states:

  • Prepare the infrastructure for Exchange.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: prepare schema; prepare domain; prepare Active Directory; ensure the domain functionality level is correct;

This is a perfect example of an actionable item for which Microsoft might create a simulation question (to the best of my knowledge there is no simulation question for this item; I am only using it as an example). The items listed in the above exam objective excerpt are all tasks that must be performed in sequence prior to deploying Exchange 2010. It would be conceivable that Microsoft could create a question requiring you to know how to prepare the schema, domain, and Active Directory for an Exchange 2010 deployment.

Conclusion

Ultimately, it is impossible to know ahead of time exactly what tasks Microsoft will choose to build simulation questions around. However, by taking an educated guess based on the exam objectives you will give yourself the chance to rehearse tasks that could potentially be simulated on the exam.

Pearson IT Certification Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from Pearson IT Certification and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about Pearson IT Certification products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites; develop new products and services; conduct educational research; and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by Adobe Press. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.pearsonitcertification.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020