Colleague Jessé van Loock took the lead on the initiative, drew up a plan, shared tips, and in June already obtained the Azure Administrator Associate certificate: “I delved into user roles and permissions. That’s useful for our payroll software Buddy, which runs in the Microsoft cloud. That extra knowledge is valuable for our team.”

"As a developer, you don’t need to delve into those technologies to be able to develop. But I find it fascinating to know what's happening under the hood. I already notice that I can identify problems and fix errors more quickly."

Jessé took the exam online. "It was tougher than I expected. For several months, I studied in the evenings and on weekends and practiced in the labs, the virtual training environment."

His most important tip? "The labs were crucial for me. By actually performing the tasks, I really mastered the material. We share those kinds of tips among colleagues. Time is an obstacle; it's helpful to motivate each other."

According to Jessé, Teal Partners offers great support for continuous learning. "I studied partly in my free time and partly during working hours. The Pluralsight subscription I received helped me tremendously. Microsoft's own courses are useful, but the Pluralsight videos are an added value."

Jessé plans to maintain his certificate annually—and earn more. "I want to become an expert in the field. Such a certificate is useful for our clients, for our teams, and of course, for yourself. It looks good on your CV and your LinkedIn profile. Everyone wins."

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