Pair Certification? (70-316 passed == MCAD)

Wednesday was thycotic's first Microsoft Certification Exam Day.  This is a new initiative at our company to put dates to our goals and focus our minds on certification.  Most of our consultants have one or two certifications on their list for annual employee goals.  Human nature usually allows this to slip a few months or more as deadlines, projects, vacations and life in general seems to get in the way!

How does it work?
Every 2 months a date is picked and each consultant books the next exam of their choice.  This sets a firm date and helps build developer team spirit as the date gets closer.  It also allows for some trading of company Exam Cram books and some advice (without violating NDAs of course!) on how to prepare.  thycotic reimburses consultants for each exam that they pass so there is a monetary incentive too!

The Results
I passed my third exam (70-316 ... the winform with C# one) and now have MCAD status.  I was a little apprehensive on this exam since most of our project work involves ASP.NET and not WinForms meaning some of the material was new to me.  I used my favorite series of books and really had a fun time learning some new stuff (yes, *my* definition of fun).  Bryant passed the ASP.NET exam and has a shiny new certificate to prove it.

The response to the initiative seems very positive.  Things always seem more fun when you do them together.  Pair Certication, anyone? :-)