I'm trying to get an official Microsoft Office 2007 Specialist certification. Need advice.

[BreweryYardRat]

Office 2010 certs don't have any training/prep software out yet, and a friend of mine who does IT work says that all the Office certs may not even be ready for another year or so.

I'm primarily looking at Certiport for the training/prep software (Certiprep) right now, especially since Certiport is the company in charge of administering exams. http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mos.aspx

Certiport is offering prep software for $300. (http://www.certiport.com/Portal/desktopdefault.aspx?page=common/pagelibrary/certiprep_home.html)

I think that's the best deal, given that the only other preparatory program I've found is offered through a local community college that's got an affiliation agreement with something called Ed2Go/Gatlin Education. That program is asking $1600 for what they claim is an online course. Frankly, I think that's total bullshit and a gross overcharge, so unless someone presents a really compelling reason to take it, I'm going to go with Certiport.

Has anyone here had experience with Certiport's prep software? Is it user-friendly? How long did you spend practicing before taking the exam? Were you able to pass the certification exam easily after training with the software, or did you struggle? Anything else you think I should know?

Thanks in advance to anyone able to help me, since I'll only be checking for replies intermittently.

[EOTE]

1. Are you doing all Office applications or just a select few?

I work for the FDA and recently they started paying to have me MOS certified. I've only done Excel and PowerPoint so far, but they've been ridiculously easy. Not wanting to miss anything, I attended every one of the 3 three hour long classes for Powerpoint. When I went to actually take the exam, I aced it and it was far easier than I expected. I decided to skip the training for Excel and aced that as well. This was all for the 2003 version of Office. Considering that typically the certifications cost far less than the prep for them, if you have high knowledge of Office, I'd recommend trying for the certification first before you spend so much money prepping for them. The company I did this through was called Knowlogy.

[Lance_Boyle]

2. What on Earth would you need such a 'certification' for?

It might make your resume appear a bit shinier to some HR types, but not $300 shinier, much less $1600 shinier.

[blogslut]

3. It's been a long time

But when I got my certification for Office 97 all I used for study was the MS Step-by-Step book/CD. Those books were seriously detailed at the time. Don't know about what they're like these days.

EDIT ADD LINKAGE: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=77-601&locale=en-us#tab3

[HopeHoops]

4. Check eBay. After you get the certification, you don't need the materials anymore.

I wasn't on eBay when I got my MCSE+I certification (NT 4.0) or I probably would have sold one set of materials. The other I used as a reference and still do once in a while when associates call with problems. Yes, there are still NT 4.0 machines in use. I've got several Win 95 and Win 98 machines in the house for when I need to access old files with old software that won't even run on XP.