Rob Farley

Rob Rob Farley has been consulting in IT since completing a Computer Science degree with first class honours in 1997. Before moving to Adelaide, he worked in consultancies in Melbourne and London. He runs the development department in one of Australia's leading IT firms, as well as doing database application consultancy and training. He heads up the Adelaide SQL Server User Group, and holds several Microsoft certifications.

Rob has been involved with Microsoft technologies for most of his career, but has also done significant work with Oracle and Unix systems. His preferred database is SQL Server and his preferred language is C#. Recently he has been involved with Microsoft Learning in the US, creating and reviewing new content for the next generation of Microsoft exams.

Over the years, Rob's clients have included BP Oil, OneLink Transit, Accenture, Avanade, Australian Electorial Commission, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Royal Borough of Kingston, Help The Aged, Unisys, Department of Treasury and Finance (Vic), National Mutual, the Bible Society and others.

Did you mean to come here? My blog is now at http://msmvps.com/blogs/robfarley



16 May 2006

MCTS for Al - he just did it

A while back I had a chat with Alastair Waddell. I told him he should take advantage of Pearson Vue's free retake offer to do some of the new certifications. Because he's been using SQL2005 for about a year (and he's a smart guy), he ought to know enough to pass without studying, and if he does somehow fail something, he can retake it for free.

So he took the plunge, and is now MCTS:SQL2005. Well done Al!

I'm telling everyone I think of to take advantage of the retake offer. I figure that if you are already working in the space, you should be able to pass these exams already. So book in and try. And if you fail, use the free retake offer to try again. But here's my tip: While you're in there, make yourself lists of the stuff you feel you need to study. You can't take those lists with you, but after you've left, write those things down and use them to bump your score up a few marks for the second time. But hopefully you won't need the second time, and you can use your list to just brush up your skills.

Posted by Rob Farley at 12:43 pm