Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Certification—How They Know You Know

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Make sure hiring managers and project leads notice you—with a Microsoft Certification. Combined with hands-on experience, a Microsoft Certification demonstrates your understanding of new features and technologies and inspires confidence in managers, prospective employers, and co-workers.

Introducing Visual Studio 2008 certification

We are pleased to introduce a new suite of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 certifications that focus on specific job skills and roles and provide a multitude of options.

MCTS: Demonstrate deep technical knowledge or breadth of technology skills

When you earn a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification, you validate your skills in using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 to design software applications.

These six certifications—double the number of certifications available on Visual Studio 2005—provide you with more opportunities to prove your skills and stand out in the crowd. You can show your depth of knowledge in one specific Visual Studio 2008 technology, earn multiple MCTS certifications to demonstrate breadth across different areas, or build on the MCTS certification to earn a Professional Series credential.

Each certification requires two exams: a core exam (required for all six certifications) and one additional exam for each MCTS certification.

The following core exam is required for all six certifications.

•	Exam 70-536: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework – Application Development Foundation

MCTS certifications on Visual Studio 2008:

•	MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Presentation Foundation Applications
•	MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Communication Foundation Applications
•	MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Workflow Foundation Applications
•	MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Forms Applications
•	MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, ADO.NET Applications
•	MCTS: .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Applications

Learn more about Visual Studio 2008 MCTS certifications

MCPD: Demonstrate leading professional skills with a job-role focus

When you earn the Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) credential, you demonstrate your expertise in using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 to excel in a specific, real-world job role.

Three professional certification paths build on Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) prerequisites.

MCPD certifications on Visual Studio 2008:

The MCPD certification paths offer upgrade exams that will help you smoothly upgrade from your MCPD certification on Visual Studio 2005 to Visual Studio 2008.

Learn more about Visual Studio 2008 MCPD certifications

Taking the next step in your career

No matter what your Visual Studio certification history or technology background might be, one of the certification paths makes sense for you. A practical strategy is to select a certification that is relevant to your job role today, or one that prepares you for your next career step.

The best way to prepare for exams is to spend time with the technology. Review the preparation guides and work with Visual Studio 2008 and related tools as much as you can.

The general recommendations in the following table are intended to help guide you through the next steps toward your Visual Studio 2008 certification.