A running set of notes I keep while working through certification exams. No affiliate links, no newsletter - just what each exam actually tests, a realistic study timeline, and where the free question banks are.
Microsoft PL-200 - Power Platform Functional Consultant #
PL-200 is the hands-on Power Platform exam. The heaviest weighting sits on Dataverse data modelling (tables, relationships, business rules) and on Power Automate cloud flows; canvas apps, model-driven apps and Power Pages round it out. If you already build in Power Apps at work, most people report six to eight weeks of evening study. The common trap is treating it as a licensing/admin exam - it is not, it is a build exam.
Objective-by-objective breakdown and free practice questions: https://www.examcert.app/exams/pl-200/
PMI CAPM - Certified Associate in Project Management #
CAPM is the sensible entry point if you do not yet have the leading-projects hours PMP requires. Since the 2023 content refresh it leans much harder on agile and on business analysis frameworks than on the old predictive process groups, which catches out anyone studying from pre-2023 material. Format is 150 questions in three hours.
Study guide: https://www.examcert.app/exams/capm/
ASCM CSCP - Certified Supply Chain Professional #
CSCP is underrated outside the supply chain world. It is deliberately broad - design, planning, execution and logistics across the whole chain rather than one function - and the exam is 150 questions in three and a half hours. Because the scope is so wide, question banks are far more useful than reading the body of knowledge end to end.
Study guide: https://www.examcert.app/exams/cscp/
How I actually study #
Reading the objective domain once and then doing timed question sets beats re-reading the material. I sit a free timed practice test first, use the score report to find the two weakest domains, and only then open study material for those domains. Repeat weekly until every domain clears roughly 80%.
Free timed practice tests: https://www.examcert.app/free-practice-tests/
The full library of exam guides is at https://www.examcert.app/, and there is an AI tutor that explains the questions you get wrong at https://ai.examcert.app.