9/4/2002 -- If you're considering becoming Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) certified, you may have heard that the exams for this certificaiton canbe difficult, or at the very least, quirky. But don't be intimidated! Almost anyone with a good grasp of the application can earn a good score by planning ahead and being a careful test-taker. These exams are based on real-world skills, not theory, so you succeed by demonstrating that you have mastered the skills using actual Microsoft Office applications. Here are 10 of the most important tips for making your MOUS testing experience as stress-free as possible.

Tip #1: Explore Every Corner of a Feature
As you prepare for a MOUS exam, make sure you do not neglect the "finer points" of a skill. When the objectives say you need to know text formatting in Word, for example, you should practice not only the simple formats like bold and underline, but also the more obscure ones such as the text effects on the Text Effects tab of the Font dialog box. Here are a few other examples:

• Make sure you can not only save files, but save them in other formats and locations than the default, including saving in Web format.
• In Word, know not only about spelling and grammar tools, but also about hyphenation and the thesaurus. And make sure you know not only how to turn on/off hyphenation for the entire document, but also for an individual paragraph.
• In Excel, be able to use not only AutoFilter but also Advanced Filter.
• In Access, make sure you know how to filter both by example and by form.
• In Excel, make sure you can fill a group of cells not only with a single value, but with a series.

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For the objectives of the various MOUS exams, click here.

Tip #2: Pack Lightly
At most testing centers you will not be able to bring anything into the testing room with you, so there's no need to bring scrap paper, pencils, reference books, or any of that. Women may even want to avoid bringing a purse unless the testing center has a safe place to store them during testing.

Tip #3: Read Carefully
As you learned if you've read any of my MOUS exam reviews here on CertCities.com, these exams test how well you can read and follow directions just as much as they test your skills in the application. The instructions for each question are multi-part, and you must read each one very carefully and figure out what is being asked before you spring into action.

For example, suppose you are taking a Word exam. A typical question might be something like this (Please note that none of the example questions in this article are actual questions from the exams):

Format the paragraph beneath the second heading with Times New Roman 12-point font, and create a 1-point border around it. Create a new style called Border based on this paragraph's formatting. Apply Border to all other body paragraphs in the document.

If you read this question carefully, you realize that the last sentence tells you to apply the new style, called Border, to other paragraphs. But if you are not reading carefully, you might misinterpret this to mean that you should simply place a border around the paragraphs, and that would be incorrect.

Tip #4: Do Only What You're Told
Reading the instructions carefully is one part of the success equation: following them is the other. Follow the question instructions to the letter. Don't add or omit anything. For example, suppose you get a question like this one on the Excel exam (again, this is just an example):

Rename the Sheet1 tab to Spring and rename the Sheet2 tab to Summer. On Sheet3, type Autumn in cell A1.

If you were creating this workbook for your own use, you might change the name of the Sheet3 tab to Autumn to match the other two's season-based naming, especially since Sheet3 is obviously going to contain autumn data. However, the test question did not say to do it, so you may lose points if you do so.

Tip #5: Don't Second-Guess the Test Writers
Some questions just don't make sense if you look at them too logically. Therefore, don't! Just do what you're told, for the highest score. Here's a rather exaggerated example, just as a what-if. Suppose you get the following question on an Excel exam:

Using Format Painter, copy the formatting from cells B6:C12 to the range D6:D11.

Let's say that B6:C12 contain data, and there are formulas in cells D6:D12 that sum each row. You think to yourself "Surely the test question has a typo in it; they must have meant to refer to D6:D12." Wrong. By trying to apply critical thinking to the exercise, you have just lost a few points. Do exactly what you are told -- never mind if it isn't what you would have done yourself.

Tip #6: Scroll Down!
The question pane at the bottom of the screen is much larger and easier to work with in the 2002 exams than it was in the 97 and 2000 ones; however, occasionally a question may be too lengthy to fit onscreen at once. So watch for a scroll bar in the question window ndicating there is more to the question. You could potentially miss a lot of points by neglecting to scroll down and read additional paragraphs beneath the first few!

Scrolling down is important not just in the question pane, but also in the document that you are working with. For example, suppose the instructions on the Word exam said this:

Use Format Painter to copy the formatting from the first heading to all other headings in the report.

At first glance it appears that there are two other headings, but if you scroll down in the document, you see that there is one more on a second page of the document. If you don't format it the same way too, you'll lose points.

Tip #7: Check Your Work
Once you move past a question, you can't go back to it. Therefore before you hit that Next button, make very sure that you have completed all the instructions for that question. Reread the question and pretend you are grading your own test: Would you give yourself points off for anything?

Tip #8: Restart the Question
If you have struggled with a particular question, and tried several unsuccessful things before you hit upon the right answer, you should restart the question and redo it. The testing software records every action you take in some cases, and if you have being taking lots of actions, a fresh attempt that the question will ensure that none of those false starts will confuse the testing software and cause you to lose points.

Tip #9: Ask for Help Recovering from Software Errors
As with any software, the testing software is not infallible. People do sometimes experience errors with it. It's important that if you do get an error, you report it immediately to the testing administrator, and not try to fix the error yourself. Under no circumstances should you attempt to restart the PC, for example, if it locks up. Get some help! That way there will be a witness if anyone questions whether you intentionally restarted because you weren't doing well on the test.

Tip #10: Save Your Results Printout
When you complete the test, your results appear immediately, indicating whether you passed or failed and showing the percentages you got correct in each of several categories. A printed certificate of achievement will come to you in the mail several weeks later. But hold onto that results printout at least until your certificate arrives, just in case there is a problem with it! You can also use your results printout as proof that you have passed the exam (for example, for a job interview).

There you have it! MOUS exams are a little trickier to take than straightforward multiple-choice exams, but they do measure your skills and performance more realistically than a theoretical test ever could. Just relax, stay alert and follow the instructions, and you will have an excellent chance at MOUS success!

Questions? Comments? Tips of your own to share? Post your thoughts below!

More articles by Faithe Wempen:

PowerPoint 2003: Taking It Easy

Excel Core 2003: The More Things Change...

Word 2003: Who's Afraid of Simulation?

The New 2003 A+ Exams