Azure Certification - Worth it ?

[willendure]

I have AWS Certifications and I would say one a couple of occasions they got me the job - particularly where a certified person was needed to qualify for some discount or other AWS accreditations on a project. But I also found the training material to be reasonably interesting and I learned a lot through passing these exams too.

Much to my frustration, there is usually more work out there on Azure, and I have a lot less experience with that. So maybe some certs might help, worth it or not ?

[hobnob]

I don't know whether it will help with getting contracts, but you can do free training for the exams via Microsoft's website. I've done AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals), and it was fairly straightforward. The main challenge I found is that Microsoft keep re-branding stuff and/or moving things around on their websites. That's a lifetime cert; the higher certs have to be renewed every year, but Microsoft don't charge for the renewal exam (which is a lot more generous than Cisco etc).

[ladymuck]

I would say it's worth the exam fee if it helps get you the next gig.

As hobnob says, there's loads of free training on the M$ website: https://learn.microsoft.com

[budgetastronaut]

I’d say it’s worth doing if Azure roles keep coming up in your job search. The cert won’t replace hands-on experience, but it can help get you through the first screening stage.

[hungry_hog]

Worthwhile

Got a role but from having Azure on CV. Hadn’t even taken the exam as was delayed due to Covid. The company that took me on ended up paying for it and I got a paid half day for it too!

[jf2010]

I have never seen a company/recruiter actually ask for any cert mentioned on a CV

Certs ARE useful because if you do the cert and its on your CV and then you get asked or you bring it up in interview, you will have some bit of depth/knowledge of the topic and therefore probably get the role

whether you pass or sit the actual cert is probably irrelevant.... but if you do not do the cert will you actually be familiar with everything the cert content covers ?

[willendure]

I have never seen a company/recruiter actually ask for any cert mentioned on a CV

Certs ARE useful because if you do the cert and its on your CV and then you get asked or you bring it up in interview, you will have some bit of depth/knowledge of the topic and therefore probably get the role

whether you pass or sit the actual cert is probably irrelevant.... but if you do not do the cert will you actually be familiar with everything the cert content covers ?

I have seen a few ads specifically mention AWS Certified Solutions Architect, or Azure equivalent. Not many.

[hobnob]

I have never seen a company/recruiter actually ask for any cert mentioned on a CV

I see it quite often, although maybe not for Azure. E.g. here's one from JobServe:
Network Engineer | Cisco | Arista | Python | Network Automation | Hybrid | UK - London - July-14-2026 (gfJQx)
I found that by searching for "Cisco", and the blurb includes this section:

Certifications (one or more of the following would be advantageous):

• CCNP Enterprise
• CCNP Data Centre
• Cisco DevNet Associate or Professional
• Arista ACE Associate or Professional
• CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure