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3 Copilot Prompts to Help Prepare for Certification Exams

Andy Syrewicze avatarAndy Syrewicze  included in  category Copilot
     2290 words   11 minutes   CC BY-SA 4.0   

Find out how you can use Microsoft Copilot to help prepare for certification exams, including resource curation, practice questions, and more!

If you work in the IT industry you no doubt have experienced the pain that comes with preparing for a certification exam. If you’re like me, this could be a daunting process (depending on the certification). I’m not quite sure why certification exams cause me angst. I could be working on an exam for technology I’ve used effectively for YEARS and am 1000% comfortable with and I would still stress about studying to fill knowledge gaps, let alone sitting for the exam itself.

That all said, I’m a firm believer in using technology to the fullest. When Generative AI became more mainstream, one of the first things I was curious about, in addition to security implications, was how it could help with the certification process. I’ve had mixed success over the last year or so, both with varying models of GPT and Copilot, but despite that I’ve finally been able to come up with a few prompts that I have found to be consistently helpful.

Below I’ll show you 3 prompts for Copilot that will help you:

  • Curate study materials
  • Create a study plan based on your learning style
  • Prompt you with mock questions to help you get a feel for the test

With so many different Copilots out there like, Microsoft Copilot, Copilot for Microsoft 365, Microsoft Copilot for Security, and Microsoft Copilot in Azure, etc, you may be wondering which Copilot to use for the below prompts. For this exercise, I kept things simple. These prompts were used with the freely available Microsoft Copilot at copilot.microsoft.com. That said, I suspect (but haven’t tested) that Copilot for Microsoft 365 would also work with the below prompts assuming the Internet access plugin is enabled.

It goes without saying that anytime you use generative AI in an official capacity, you should scrutinize and question the output carefully. While my testing has returned (mostly) good results with the below prompts, there were a few answers for proposed questions that I questioned whether Copilot’s answers were correct or not. In those cases I did further research on my own, and it only served to deepen my knowledge of the subject and I found that Copilot was largely correct in the vast majority of cases.

Also worth noting is the fact that these prompts are used to generate study materials and practice questions. While most of the materials Copilot has provided have been from highly respected sources, I have, on occasion, had it refer me to exam dump websites. Exam dumps are generally frowned upon by the industry because they tend to turn the certification process into a memorization exercise and even if you pass the exam it doesn’t necessarily mean that you understand the material. Regardless of your personal stance on exam dumps I would recommend screening any Copilot proposed resources for validity, reputation, and proper sourcing before using them for any exam preparation.

Having to manually hunt down things like exam objectives, study guides, community resources and what not can be time consuming. When you want to just get started with studying having a tool that can quickly curate a list of useful materials is invaluable. This prompt will help you generate a list of study materials.

NOTE: I’ve used AZ-900 (Microsoft Azure Fundamentals) as an example in these prompts. You can simply insert whatever certification you’re working on into the AZ-900 place within the given prompt.

The prompt I used for this is below:

Get me resources to help me prepare for the AZ-900 exam. include official exam resources, certification tracks, official training, community resources, links to study groups, and community feedback on taking the exam itself. Include the output in a bulleted list.

The prompt should return a detailed list along with clickable links at the end, like shown below:

Copilot Study Curation Output

This works nicely if you keep the browser tab open, but if you’re like me and like to pull resources into a documentation format like markdown, you’ll likely want the links written out inline. I had to follow the original prompt with:

give me the output to the original question in this chat, but type out the links inline instead of making them clickable

After which, Copilot provided me the full list (below) of study materials for me to review along with the typed out URLs in line.

NOTE: Below is the output of the prompt with URLs included in line.

Sure! Here are some resources to help you prepare for the AZ-900 exam:

I hope these resources help you in your preparation! If you have any other questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask. Good luck with your exam!

It’s one thing to have the needed resources to study for your exam, it’s another to put those resources to use. To add to this, everyone has a different learning style that works best for them. I wondered if I could get Copilot to determine my learning style, and then propose a study plan with that learning style in mind.

The prompt I used for this is below:

I want you to ask me some questions to help determine my best learning style. Once you’ve determined my learning style, I want you to generate a study plan for the AZ-900 exam leveraging the determined learning style. Use the official exam objectives if needed.

My intention was for Copilot to ask me the learning style questions one at a time, but it output the below list all at once:

Sure! Let’s start by determining your learning style. I’ll ask you a few questions to understand how you prefer to learn. Please answer them as honestly as possible:

When you are learning something new, do you prefer to:
A) Read about it
B) Watch a video or demonstration
C) Try it out yourself

When studying for an exam, do you find it most helpful to:
A) Take detailed notes and review them
B) Discuss the material with others or teach it to someone else
C) Use flashcards or practice tests

In a classroom setting, do you prefer:
A) Listening to lectures and taking notes
B) Participating in group discussions and activities
C) Hands-on activities and experiments

When trying to remember information, do you:
A) Visualize the information in your mind
B) Repeat the information out loud or discuss it with someone
C) Write it down or use physical objects to help you remember

Which of the following best describes your approach to problem-solving:
A) Analyzing the problem and researching solutions
B) Talking through the problem with others
C) Experimenting with different solutions until you find one that works

Please provide your answers (A, B, or C) for each question, and I’ll determine your learning style based on your responses.

From here I simply answered each of the 5 questions one at a time, denoting which question I was answering and what the given answer was for that question. Copilot then walked me through each of those 5 questions, reiterating the remaining ones as I went along.

Copilot Determines Learning Style and Builds a Study Plan

As Copilot got the answers to it’s 5 questions regarding my learning style it provided me with my preferred learning style:

Copilot Determines Learning Style and Builds a Study Plan

Copilot had determined that I have a kinesthetic learning style, and I learn best through hands-on activities, practice, and experimentation.

With that information, Copilot then built a study plan for AZ-900 based on my given learning style. The final output of that prompt is shown below:

Study Plan for AZ-900 Exam

Week 1: Understanding Cloud Concepts
Objective: Learn the basics of cloud computing and its benefits.

Activities:
Set up a free Azure account and explore the Azure portal.
Complete hands-on labs on creating and managing Azure resources.
Use flashcards to review key terms and concepts.

Week 2: Core Azure Services
Objective: Familiarize yourself with core Azure services and solutions.

Activities:
Create and configure virtual machines, storage accounts, and virtual networks.
Experiment with Azure App Services and Azure Functions.
Take practice quizzes to reinforce your understanding.

Week 3: Security, Privacy, Compliance, and Trust
Objective: Understand Azure’s security features and compliance offerings.

Activities:
Implement Azure security features like Network Security Groups (NSGs) and Azure Security Center.
Conduct a security audit of your Azure resources.
Participate in discussion forums or study groups to share insights and ask questions.

Week 4: Azure Pricing and Support
Objective: Learn about Azure pricing models and support options.

Activities:
Use the Azure Pricing Calculator to estimate costs for different services.
Explore Azure Cost Management and Billing features.
Review case studies and real-world scenarios to understand cost management strategies.

Week 5: Review and Practice
Objective: Consolidate your knowledge and prepare for the exam.

Activities:
Take full-length practice exams to simulate the test environment.
Review your notes, flashcards, and any areas where you need improvement.
Engage in hands-on labs to reinforce your practical skills.

Additional Tips:

Stay Active: Take regular breaks and incorporate physical activity into your study routine.
Use Tools: Utilize tools like Pomodoro timers to manage your study sessions effectively.
Stay Organized: Keep track of your progress and adjust your study plan as needed.

Feel free to adjust this plan based on your preferences and schedule. Good luck with your AZ-900 exam preparation! If you have any questions or need further assistance, just let me know.

Not only did it provide a schedule plan, it also suggested the types of study activities, along with some general guidance at the end as well.

Finally, I had also noticed that there were several mentions of hands-on-labs in the plan as well. I prompted Copilot for a little more info on that and it generated some links directly to some hands-on-labs resources

Can you link me to some hands-on-labs for AZ-900?

Copilot Output Regarding Hands-On-Labs for AZ-900

Finally, before test day after all your studying is done, I find it best to complete some practice questions. I found that Copilot can be useful in this area as well.

Building on the discussion earlier about exam dumps - there is a marked difference between practice exams and exam dumps (also called brain dumps). A practice exam is often built and provided by the certification vendor, in association with the certification vendor, or from a respected member of the community and do not contain real questions from the exam. Exam dumps however, often contain REAL exam questions and are typically stolen via unscrupulous means, and are seen (by many) to de-value the certification in question.

With that out of the way, I’ve placed the prompt I used below. This prompt has worked well for me thus far in generating some useful practice questions.

I’m studying for AZ-900. I need you to act as a proctor for a practice exam. Ask me one question at a time in a multiple choice style, wait for me to answer, then tell me if I was correct or not. Regardless of the answer, I want you to explain why I was right or wrong and provide sources where applicable.

Copilot then provides a question and answer format like shown below:

How to use Copilot for Practice Exams

From here on, you’re able to provide an answer and Copilot will let you know if you were correct or not while providing further information on the answer! This effectively turns Copilot into an study-buddy!

How to use Copilot for Practice Exams

It’s worth mentioning that whenever I use Copilot in this manner for practice questions, I ask it every so often what it’s source(s) is for the questions it’s providing. As you can see in the below image, Copilot stated that a possible source was Certshero.

How to use Copilot for Practice Exams

I was unable to determine if Certshero is providing exam dumps or mock exams, so it’s best to air on the side of caution and try to define a more definitive source. I ran the prompt again and asked it to pull example questions from Microsoft Learn, and it provided the below question with Microsoft Learn as the linked “Learn More” source.

How to use Copilot for Practice Exams

These prompts should be quite helpful for anyone preparing for a certification exam. That said, there are some limitations. The information provided by Copilot is only as good as the data that the model is trained on and what it can search on the web. If you’re preparing for a very obscure and highly specialized exam, these prompts may not provide much help. However, you should still be able to use Copilot to determine your learning style, as well as point you in the direction of some communities online to learn more.

Thanks for reading!

Updated on 2024-09-02
CC BY-SA 4.0
 Copilot, Certification
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