If you are like me, when you get your results it is binary - you either passed or failed.  I'm going to cover both sides here.

You Passed

Congratulations!  I know it was a long and arduous process.  Now what?  Look at your feedback and take it to heart.  If you did this as a way to further develop your skills, you should find ways to incorporate the feedback into your career development. Give feedback to Microsoft about the process.  Get your MCA logo and put it on your business card, blog, and anywhere else you can use it under the programs terms of use.  Find out who the other MCA's are and find ways to network with them.  Find people that are interested in the program and mentor them.  Get active on the MCA mail list.

The biggest thing is to sign up and do a board where you can sit on the other side.  I find that doing a board is one of the best mental exercises I have ever done in my life - it is challenging to come up with the right questions that demonstrate that someone meets or doesn't meet a competency - particularly in the soft skills.  I always learn something new from each of the other board members and also from the candidates. 

You Didn't Pass

Ok, you didn't pass.  It is very disheartening and there are a number of different thoughts running through your head about the equity of the process and the fairness of the board.  I'd encourage you to stop for a minute and really take a hard look at the feedback.  The board spent a significant amount of time and thought putting together your feedback and it will tell you the areas where you didn't provide sufficient evidence to pass the certification.  Remember, this is not a numerical formula that can be calculated - the board is making a justification based on the guidelines of the strawman.  The feedback is very valuable and will tell you where you didn't provide evidence of meeting the competencies.  Remember, this is one way of measuring an architect - it doesn't make you any less successful in your career - it just tells you how you aligned with this particular measure of an architect.  You might even find some areas that you want to work on from a personal or career standpoint.  Once you have reviewed your results and taken some time to reflect, contact the program and provide feedback to Microsoft Learning.  You might also consider going through the board again in the future - discuss with your contact in the MCA program if that is a viable option for you.

This post is part of a series of articles about the MCA program.  The opinions here are solely my own and may not reflect the opinions of Microsoft or anyone affiliated with the MCA program.