AZ-900 took me longer than the exams that I took after it. Part of that was simply because it was my first certification and I was still finding my rhythm. But that time investment paid off — after AZ-900, I was able to prepare for the other exams much faster.
While preparing, I spent a lot of time building actual understanding, and that slower approach paid off.
Because now:
- I recognize patterns faster
- Documentation makes more sense
- Architecture decisions feel more intuitive
- I spot recurring fundamentals faster, like choosing between storage redundancy tiers and the difference between availability sets and availability zones.
Instead of asking "what is this?", I focus on: "when should I use this, and why?"
It's tempting to skip fundamentals or optimize too early, but strong foundations compound. If you're starting with Azure, don't rush AZ-900, and definitely try the free Microsoft practice assessment on Learn before the exam. And you can also use my cheat sheet, shared here.
Bonus tip: use AI to generate practice questions and get extra explanations when something is unclear.
