Microsoft Applied Skills VS Certifications | What's the difference?

Watch Microsoft Certified Trainers Vlad Catrinescu, Tiago Costa, and Jonah Andersson in this AMA clip in which they outline what is an Applied Skill and how it’s different from a Microsoft Certification.

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Video Summary

• Introduction to Applied Skills: These are new, scenario-based credentials from Microsoft that prove proficiency in specific skill sets related to critical business challenges.
• Difference from Certifications: Unlike broad Microsoft certifications, Applied Skills focus on one specific product or task, making them more targeted and practical.
• Accessibility and Cost: Applied Skills are free and can be done anytime, removing the cost barrier associated with traditional certifications.
• Employer Benefits: Employers can use Applied Skills to test applicants’ abilities without needing internal resources, leveraging free labs and hands-on experiences available on Microsoft Learn.
• Personal Experiences: The speakers shared their favorite Applied Skills, highlighting the practical, hands-on nature and the flexibility of these credentials.

For more information, read the transcript blog below, or watch the video above!

Video Transcript

“Now let’s talk a bit about applied skills. What are applied skills? A lot of people might call them new, but in the world of tech, things change so much. They were released almost a year ago now, but with all the releases happening from Microsoft, it’s sometimes easy for some of them to get missed. Applied skills are the new Microsoft scenario-based credentials that prove proficiency in skill sets specific to critical business challenges.

Tiago did mention it a little bit, but a big change that happened in about November last year is that to get a certification or proof that you know something about Microsoft, our only option before was Microsoft certifications. That was the only way for you to get proof or a diploma for Microsoft. But in November last year, Microsoft split this up into two different things: Microsoft certifications and Microsoft applied skills, which now all fall under the Microsoft credentials umbrella.

Whenever you look at a blog on Microsoft Learn, you will often see this umbrella of Microsoft credentials, which contains both certification and applied skills. They are very different. Certifications are role-based, so are you an Azure developer, a Teams admin, an Azure architect, or a Power Platform architect? In those certifications, you often need to know multiple products. Even if it’s only Azure in the name, you probably need to know about 10 different products inside Azure to pass that certification.

They are done in a proctored way, meaning that you either have to go to an accredited testing center or do them from home with a proctor watching you on the camera. A lot of the questions are a bit knowledge-based, so you have a question, you either have multiple answers, or you have an order in which you need to put the answers in, or you need to fill in the blanks in the PowerShell commandlet that you have on the screen. Those are certifications.

Now, what’s different about applied skills? Applied skills are very specific to one single skill set. They are not your Power Platform architect; they are really about one product. For example, automating business processes with Power Automate. That’s a bit more in my Power Automate part. Tiago, what’s your one from Azure? I know both of you are from the Azure side, but let’s start with Tiago. What’s your favorite Azure one? I think for me, it was the first one that I took, which is about secure storage, basically on storage accounts.

That was one of the first ones to be available, and I think it was like three or four days after this was launched that I took that one. I think that was amazing, and it’s still one of my favorites. I have to confess because it really focuses on one very specific task. In this case, not even storage as a whole service, but just how to secure storage in Azure. That’s amazing because sometimes we just want to get accreditation that we, as professionals, know how to do that specific task.

A certification is a little bit more broad. I have to correct you on one thing you said. In the Azure architect, there are probably like 10 services that you have to know. It’s not 10, by the way. I counted them last time, and it was 23. Only 23, yeah. It’s a lot of different services that you need to know, and of course, you’re not going to be a super expert. You just can’t prove a point being a super expert in 23 different services. It just doesn’t work that way. But in here, I can actually validate my skills about a specific topic with a specific service, or sometimes it’s a little bit more than just one. What about you, Jonah? What is your favorite applied skill?

To be honest, I have taken a lot more Microsoft certifications than applied skills yet, but what I have tried first was the building cloud-native, deploying cloud-native apps using Azure container apps. That’s the first one for the Azure part, but I do have a lot of plans to take more applied skills because it’s free, you can do it anytime, it’s more flexible, and it’s one way to really have this purpose of learning by doing using the Microsoft Learn platform.

At the same time, learning the theory on the side without booking Microsoft certifications that sometimes cost money. You have to ask your employer to pay for it or pay it yourself. It’s very convenient, very flexible, and very inclusive for everybody, including beginners of all levels. I like it. It kind of removes the cost barrier that some people might have because not everyone is fortunate to have an employer that can actually pay for the certification. Sometimes there are people that struggle economically, and I think the applied skills are a great way for people from that background to grow in their careers.

Definitely, yes. Can I add something, Vlad and Tiago? I also see an opportunity for Microsoft applied skills in terms of employers. When you’re applying for a job in cloud engineering or maybe looking for someone who can work with Azure or other technologies within Microsoft, it can be a good way to test the skills of that applicant by doing this free lab and hands-on.

The employer or the management doesn’t have to ask people inside the company to make the coding labs. They can use the free resources already available on Microsoft Learn. I think it’s a good thing for all sides. You are absolutely right. I forgot to mention, but of course, they are free. I think Jonah or Tiago mentioned it. I didn’t mention it yet. I wanted to keep that a bit longer, but applied skills are free, which makes it even more awesome. We have a ton of applied skills available.”