Microsoft Learn: Four key features to help expand your knowledge and advance your career
As a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), I can say from experience that if you want to improve your skills, expand your knowledge, and advance your career, Microsoft Learn can be an essential resource for you. This family of skill-building offerings brings together all Microsoft technical content, learning tools, and resources, providing practical learning materials both for professionals and beginners. Among the many features that Microsoft Learn offers, four of my favourites are collections, career path training, Practice Assessments, and exam prep videos. 1. Collections Collections let you customise your own learning journey. Often you come across something on Microsoft Learn that's interesting, and you want to save it for later. This is where collections come in handy. Collections let you organise and group content on Microsoft Learn—whether it's a module about a particular topic, a learning path, or an article with technical documentation. You can even share your collections via a link with others. I frequently create collections to keep track of all the content that will be useful in preparing for a Microsoft Certification exam. This might include the official learning path, along with any extra documentation that could help during exam prep. To place a module or learning path into a collection, from the Training tab, on the content of interest, select Add. You can revisit collections from your Microsoft Learn profile. The Add button on a Microsoft Learn training module. 2.Career path training As you may have already discovered, one of the challenges to learning new technologies is finding the right resources for your skill-building needs. Perhaps you’re not sure where to begin your learning journey. I’ve found that a good starting point is to explore learning content based on your career path or on one that interests you. You can find this option on the Microsoft Learn Training tab, and it points you to a collection of modules, learning paths, and certifications that are relevant and tailored to your chosen job role. Whether you want to become a business user, a data scientist, a solutions architect, a security engineer, or a functional consultant, you can find the appropriate learning content for your role and level of expertise. Plus, with career path training, you can learn at your own pace, gain practical experience, and validate your skills with Microsoft Certifications. Career path collection options on Microsoft Learn. 3.Practice Assessments If you’re preparing to earn a Microsoft Certification, you can get an idea of what to expect before you take the associated exam by trying a Practice Assessment. This option is available for some certifications and is a great way to gauge the topics you’re strong in and the ones for which you could use more practice. They help you build confidence by giving you a feel for the types of questions, style of wording, and level of difficulty you might encounter during the actual exam. Sample Practice Assessment questions. If your certification exam has a Practice Assessment available, it’s listed on the Microsoft Learn exam page, under Schedule exam. Just select Take a free practice assessment. 4.Exam prep videos Other valuable Microsoft Learn resources to help you get ready for earning a Microsoft Certification are exam prep videos, available for some certifications. These videos are designed to help you review the key concepts and skills that are covered on the exam and to provide tips and tricks on how to approach the questions. They offer an engaging way to absorb essential knowledge and skills, making it easier to grasp technical concepts and their practical applications. The videos, hosted by industry experts, provide a structured, guided approach to the exam topics. These exam prep videos complement your other Microsoft Learn study materials. Even if you consider yourself an expert on a topic, the videos are a good way to refresh your memory before exam day. To browse through available exam prep videos, check out the Microsoft Learn Exam Readiness Zone and search for your topic of interest or exam number, or even filter by product. Share your favourite Microsoft Learn features Creating your own collections of content, exploring new career paths, or preparing to earn Microsoft Certifications by taking Practice Assessments or watching exam prep videos are just some of the ways that Microsoft Learn can help you achieve your skill-building and certification goals, and they’re some of my favourite features in Microsoft Learn. What are your favourites? Share your top picks with us, and help others on their learning journeys. Meet Rishona Elijah, Microsoft Learn expert Rishona Elijah is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for Business Applications and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). She works as a Trainer & Evangelist at Microsoft Partner Barhead Solutions, based in Australia. She is also a LinkedIn Learning instructor for Microsoft Power Platform certifications. Rishona has trained thousands of individuals on Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365, delivering impactful training sessions that empower them to use the no-code/low-code technology to build their own apps, chatbots, workflows, and dashboards. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and ideas on her blog, Rishona Elijah, in addition to speaking at community conferences and user groups. “Power Platform with Rishona Elijah” is a Microsoft learning room that provides a supportive and encouraging environment for people starting their Microsoft Power Platform journey. The room offers assistance and guidance on Microsoft Power Platform topics, including certifications, Power Apps, Power Virtual Agents, Power Automate, and AI Builder. It’s also a great space to network with like-minded peers and to celebrate your success along the way. Sign up for the “Power Platform with Rishona Elijah” learning room. Learn more about Rishona ElijahIntroducing Learner Central: The empowering new Microsoft Learn learning room hub
By Kerry Herger Have you discovered Microsoft Learn learning rooms? In these dedicated environments hosted on Microsoft Teams, you can connect with colleagues and tech experts to dive deep into topic-specific questions via asynchronous discussions and virtual sessions. Current learning rooms focus on the latest tech subjects, including, “AI for everyone,” “All things Azure architecture and development,” “Cloud Security Study Group,” and many more. Are you ready to explore these rooms as you embark on an exciting journey of learning, growth, and discovery? At Microsoft Learn, our mission is to empower learners of all backgrounds, skill levels, and languages on their technical skill-building journey. We know that our learning rooms can benefit all learners, but we also understand that everyone's learning path is unique, and some learners might not be sure where to begin. Plus, they might not even know about the variety of opportunities and resources available to them in the learning rooms. That's why we're introducing Learner Central—your all-in-one hub for navigating the rich landscape of skill-building content, training, events, and experiences across all Microsoft Learn learning rooms—even those you haven’t yet joined. Expert speaking to cohort of learners. A community that's here for you In our learning rooms, you can collaborate with colleagues and subject matter experts and receive guided support by participating in peer-to-peer sessions and discussions on the tech topics that interest and inspire you the most. Start conversations, view and share files, and get expert guidance. We're dedicated to meeting you where you are in your learning journey, propelling you toward your goals, and celebrating every milestone along the way. With the addition of Learner Central, we’re continuing our commitment to building a diverse and supportive learning community. Join, learn, grow Whether you're a beginner eager to dive into new tech topics or an expert who wants to add to your expertise, you have access to a wealth of resources, events, and sessions that align with your tech interests and goals. Learner Central is designed to help ensure that you're aware of the latest happenings, opportunities, and resources in the Microsoft Learn Community—all from a single spot—regardless of which learning rooms you’ve joined. This destination goes beyond just connecting you to content about cutting-edge technology and skills—it's also about enriching your learning experience and forging community connections with fellow learners, mentors, and experts, creating a vibrant ecosystem of support. Weekly roundup of learning excellence As an added bonus, Learner Central offers a Weekly roundup channel, highlighting activities across all of our learning rooms to help you navigate the wide spectrum of skill-building opportunities and resources. This curated digest keeps you in the know about workshops, webinars, interactive “ask me anything” (AMA) sessions, videos, community meetups, and more—everything you need to fuel your tech learning journey, all in one place, so you don’t miss any opportunity to build your skills and connect with the community. For added insight, we’ve also included a Meet the Microsoft Learn experts directory. Plus, you have an easy Join a learning room option so you can participate in an activity you found in the roundup. Join the Microsoft Learn Community So, how can you access Learner Central? It’s easy! When you join a learning room, you’re automatically added to Learner Central. If you’re already part of the Microsoft Learn Community and you’ve signed up for a learning room, be sure to check out the Learner Central Weekly Roundup channel to discover up-to-date resources and opportunities for your learning journey. If you’re not yet part of the Microsoft Learn Community, you can check out available learning rooms and join them from our Learning Rooms Directory. Just select the rooms that best suit your skill-building needs and interests, and then complete the registration form for each room. Or, if you’re not ready to sign up for a specific learning room, you can select the Join Learner Central tile from the directory to get access to the new hub. Our community experience is designed to support valuable interactions, and Learner Central is no exception. Make the most of Learner Central—your gateway to our enriched learning community—and say goodbye to fear of missing out (FOMO). Learner Central has you covered! Join the Microsoft Learn Community, explore our learning rooms, and learn and grow with us.Break out of your comfort zone, and start learning new skills
When we’re kids, we explore our interests and abilities, adopting what we like and leaving what we don’t. In this way, we create our comfort zone, where we find less stress, increased efficiency, and improved confidence. But given today’s fast-paced world and ever-growing opportunities, staying in our comfort zone can limit our perspectives and lead to stagnation, ultimately resulting in a lack of personal and professional growth. It’s important to be willing to stretch and learn new skills, especially in the tech community. There are countless examples of people who stepped outside of their comfort zone and achieved great success, including Microsoft Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella. I remember reading his book, Hit Refresh, in which he discussed leading different businesses, and breaking out of his comfort zone before becoming Microsoft CEO. The question I want to address in this post is, How do you break out of your comfort zone? It can be challenging—but also rewarding. It’s definitely a process, so I recommend taking things one step at a time. In my career as a Solution Architect, I’ve discovered some useful tips on going beyond my comfort zone, and I’d like to share some of them with you. Identify your fears It’s absolutely natural to be afraid of something unknown to you. So, start by asking yourself: Are you scared of failure, rejection, or the unknown—and why? Once you’ve identified your fears and the reasons for them, you can work on overcoming those fears. This process may involve small steps outside of your comfort zone, and these don’t need to be perfect on the first try. For example, let’s say you’re a technology expert and you want to teach others about it, but you’re afraid of addressing a large audience. A great way to counter this is to start by teaching a small group of people. You can also join a Microsoft Learning Room and co-present there with other experts. Set clear goals Clear goals can provide you with a solid sense of purpose, motivating you to go outside of your comfort zone and take on new challenges. Although there are different frameworks for setting up goals, I recommend that you follow SMART—that is, your goals should be: Specific. Clearly define what you want to achieve. Measurable. Set milestones to track your progress and to evaluate when you have achieved them. You can even divide individual goals into smaller milestones, making them less daunting. Achievable. Be sure your goals are realistic and attainable. Relevant. Build your goals on professional or personal aspirations to help maintain your motivation. Time bound. Set deadlines by which to achieve these goals. For example, if you’re a Microsoft Power Platform expert who wants to get out of your comfort zone and stretch your abilities, your SMART goal could be, I want to learn AI and find out how to add value to my business applications with it. A logical next step would be to start with a learning path on Microsoft Learn, such as Bring AI to your business with AI Builder or Improve business performance with AI Builder. Embrace failure Everyone experiences failure at one time or another, and this is to be expected when you venture out of your comfort zone. This is because you’re taking risks and trying out new things. Instead of avoiding failure, embrace it as part of the learning process. In fact, failure can give you valuable feedback and help you identify areas for improvement. Use it as a steppingstone toward great success, as it helps you build resilience and develop a growth mindset. Surround yourself with supportive people As a human, it’s important to have a solid support system around you—family, friends, mentors, colleagues, and others. Moving out of your comfort zone can result in many challenges, but people in your support circle can help keep you motivated, boost your confidence, and cheer you on as you overcome obstacles. As you set your goals, look for people who can provide you with constructive feedback. Seek advice from those with experience in the area you’re pursuing. One place to connect with peers and experts who are exploring technology is the Microsoft Learn Community, where you can engage with others and get guidance on your journey. Break out of your comfort zone Saying goodbye to your comfort zone can be scary, but it’s important to do so—for your personal and professional growth. By identifying your fears, setting clear goals, embracing failure, and surrounding yourself with supportive people, you can set yourself up to achieve great success. Ready to explore new tech skills? Microsoft Learn provides you with an opportunity to learn new things every day. Invest your time trying out new technologies, building new skills, and breaking free from your comfort zone. To find out more about how we can learn together, join me in my Learning Room, AI for Everyone. Meet Arafat Tehsin, Microsoft Learn expert Arafat Tehsin is a Solution Architect at EY and a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) (AI) in Sydney, Australia. With over a decade of software development experience, he specializes in digital transformation and business automation using innovative technologies. Arafat has a passion for solutions around Azure AI, .NET, and Microsoft Power Platform. He's a speaker at several developer conferences and loves to contribute to the democratization of AI. Learn more about Arafat Tehsin
