Announcing Microsoft Applied Skills, the new credentials to verify in-demand technical skills

Laura Longcore - Vice President of Microsoft Worldwide Learning

At Microsoft Learn, our goal is to help you acquire the technical skills you need to reach your full potential and succeed in a rapidly changing technological landscape. Each year, we help millions of learners gain expertise by developing and validating skills. Advances in AI, cloud computing, and emerging technologies have made it more important than ever to demonstrate your proficiency in the most sought-after technical skills. As a result, organizations are quickly adopting a skills-based approach as they search for the right people, with the right skills, at the right time. That’s why we’re excited to announce a new way for you to prove your technical skills for specific, real-world scenarios. It’s a game-changer. It’s Microsoft Applied Skills.

Announcing Microsoft Applied Skills

We’re thrilled to introduce Microsoft Applied Skills, a new verifiable credential that validates that you have the targeted skills needed to implement critical projects aligned to business goals and objectives. Applied Skills gives you a new opportunity to put your skills center stage, empowering you to showcase what you can do and what you can bring to key projects in your organization.

Get inspired with this Microsoft Applied Skills video.

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“Organizations are searching for talent that can spearhead their most transformational projects in cloud computing and AI,” Kim Akers, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions Enablement and Operations, points out. “With Microsoft Applied Skills, we are offering a streamlined path to validate someone’s skills. So, whether you are a hiring manager, a recruiter, or simply a teammate looking to collaborate, when you see a credential that is verified by Microsoft, you know that you can trust that individual to do the task at hand.”  

Differentiate yourself with Microsoft Applied Skills

Check out the initial set of credentials we have available now, offered at no cost for a limited time. Credentials will be offered initially in English only, and we plan to roll out additional languages beginning in late December.

• Secure storage for Azure Files and Azure Blob Storage
• Configure secure access to your workloads using Azure networking
• Deploy and configure Azure Monitor
• Deploy containers by using Azure Kubernetes Service
• Develop an ASP.NET Core web app that consumes an API
• Secure Azure services and workloads with Microsoft Defender for Cloud regulatory compliance controls
• Configure SIEM security operations using Microsoft Sentinel
• Create and manage automated processes by using Power Automate

We’re just getting started!  More news to share at Microsoft Ignite, including credentials focused on AI and other business scenarios, such as:

• Create an intelligent document processing solution with Azure AI Document Intelligence
• Build a natural language processing solution with Azure AI Services
• Build an Azure AI Vision solution with Azure AI services
• Create and manage apps with Power Platform
• Migrate SQL Server workload to Azure SQL

How to earn your Microsoft Applied Skills credentials

The process to earn your new credential is straightforward and flexible. 

1. Prepare with optional training, including free self-paced learning paths (available now on Microsoft Learn), and instructor-led training (coming in early 2024).
2. Earn your credential by passing an online, interactive, lab-based assessment that takes you through a series of scenario-based tasks in products like Microsoft Azure or Microsoft Power Platform. The lab assessment is available directly from Microsoft Learn.
3. Celebrate and share your new credential and skills. Once you’ve passed the assessment, you’ll receive a credential verified by Microsoft that can be easily shared to your LinkedIn profile giving you the opportunity to showcase your skills to your professional network.

Bridging the skills gap and finding talent with Microsoft Applied Skills

When I meet with customers and partners, I enjoy getting their insights about how Microsoft products and services can benefit their organizations. During the Microsoft Applied Skills private preview, they shared how this credential can help them efficiently pinpoint talent—within their organization or when hiring—with the specific technical skills they need to solve problems and implement better solutions.

1 World Economic Forum: Future of Jobs Report 2023

Recently Cihan Günsür, Group Head of Learning & Development and Agile Transformation at Koç Holding had this to say. “Microsoft Applied Skills credentials provide an agile way to fill skill gaps. With these credentials, we can quickly get our workforce skilled up to cover critical needs in a matter of days—not weeks or months. We plan to include Applied Skills in our Future of Work Initiative to train over 7,000 employees, helping us to drive cloud and AI transformation across all Koç Group affiliates.”  

Microsoft Credentials: Certifications, Applied Skills, or both?

For more than 30 years, our industry-recognized certifications have provided proof of world-class technical proficiency for in-demand job roles. In today’s ever-changing business environment, there are also times when you need verified project-specific skills, as offered by Applied Skills credentials.

The complementary Microsoft Certifications and Microsoft Applied Skills are all you need to take charge of your career and become indispensable. And you might be wondering which path is right for you or how you might combine them.

Here is a simple infographic to help you decide. Find it also at Choose your Microsoft Credentials.

More to come

Stay tuned for more exciting updates! You won’t want to miss Microsoft Ignite, coming up on November 15-16, 2023, to hear announcements on new available credentials, AI related training, what we have planned on the roadmap, and more.

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[Edited 10/27/2023]