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Loading ...Many of you have been asking when the beta versions of exams 685 and 686 would be released. The good news is that both beta exams start next Monday.
The bad news is that both beta exams are almost full up. You better move quick if you want a seat! I apologize in advance to those of you who won’t get a chance to read this announcement until it’s too late.
Before you ask if we’re going to increase the limit on the number of beta seats, let me just say that we already did that. Twice. We did not anticipate the level of interest we have received for these two exams. Apparently you folks are very excited about Windows 7—so are we! [Note for those new to the mysteries of certification: For practical reasons, we have to limit the seats in each beta. So not everyone who wants to participate will get a seat.]
Many of you may be wondering how these filled up so quick before this announcement on Born to Learn. If you’ve been following this blog, then you’ll know that we are starting to use a SME Profile survey to help connect folks who want to participate in MSL content development with opportunities that match their skills and interests. Here’s how it’s supposed to work for beta exams:
- Krista posts on Born to Learn reminding folks to fill out a SME profile if they are interested in a particular beta about a week before the registration start date.
- Krista searches for appropriate folks in the database and sends them an e-mail invitation with the beta code a few days before the registration start date.
- Sometime during the first registration day (more or less simultaneously):
- Krista posts an announcement on the Born to Learn blog, including the beta code.
- Product planner posts an announcement on the Beta Announcement blog, including the beta code.
This time we didn’t quite follow the plan–the second bullet under Step 3 happened first. The next day I sent out e-mail invitations directly to SMEs from the database whose skills and interests matched this opportunity. Based on messages I received over the last few days, I’m pretty confident that most of the folks who received those invites have already registered. The reason that we didn’t post an announcement on Born to Learn sooner is that we wanted to make sure that those who went to the trouble of filling out a SME profile had a fair chance to get a seat.
Going forward, we plan to invite SMEs from the database before we post notice to either the Beta Exam blog or this blog. [Translation—we won’t post announcements to the Beta Exam blog until after the invitations have gone out!] That said, you’ll have to act fast when you get an invitation to register. Receiving an invitation is no guarantee that you’ll get a seat. If you haven’t done so already, submit your SME profile now for your best chance of participating in future MSL content development projects–including beta exams. Make sure to select Take a Beta as one of the opportunities you’re interested in, and check that box at the very end of the survey. See this post for more information on how to complete a SME profile.
