Certification     

The Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) certification, offered by Microsoft Corporation, is a new certificate program that is rapidly gaining in popularity. Employers increasingly accept MOUS certification as a reliable indication that students possess the skills necessary to accomplish a wide variety of jobs requiring the use of the Microsoft Office.

Tests for certification are based on typical, everyday activities that an Office user might perform on the job. The test uses actual Office applications and live documents. For example, a test for Microsoft Excel might include using basic formulas such as AVERAGE, SUM COUNT, MIN, and MAX, and creating charts.

Your textbook is specifically designed to prepare you for the MOUS Windows XP Core certification exam. All MOUS Core-level activities are taught in the book's exercises. Since the actual MOUS Core certification exam is a hands-on test, using your Excel textbook will prepare you better than using a textbook that does not have the same level of hand-on exercises. Therefore, it is important that you do all the exercises in the book to reinforce the MOUS skills needed to pass the exam. The  quizzes you take online for the class test your knowledge of specific the MOUS activities to help you understand the concepts, although, there are no multiple choice, true/false, or essay questions on the MOUS exam. 

The first page of each lesson in the book includes a MOUS Activities Box that lists the code for the MOUS activities covered in the lesson. (Appendix F in the book and the tables in Section 2 link the MOUS codes, the MOUS Activities, and the Lessons). Using the MOUS Activities box, will help you understand how the MOUS activities fit into the context of the course. You can also review specific activities before taking a certification exam.

Since getting the job done in a timely fashion is important on the job, it is important for the MOUS test. Most exams must be completed in less than one hour. Although you can use the Help feature during the test, doing so may result in taking too much time to pass the test. The MOUS tests are not easy. Although it's too soon to have statistics on the Office 2000 tests, the number of people who fail the Office 97 tests ranges from 20% to 25%. Ultimately, anyone interested in taking MOUS test must be prepared.

For the test, you must bring two forms of identification, one of which must include your picture. If you have already taken another MOUS exam, you need to bring only your MOUS Identification Number. You cannot bring any reference books, notes, or calculators. You do not need pencils or paper. You can contact Zephyr, MOUS administrator, at Barstow College for further instructions.

Before testing, you must first complete a form containing basic contact information, including the address where the certificate is to be mailed. Next you will be seated at a test computer, logged on to the test system, and have a test  module opened for you. Then you will read the test instructions describing the tasks to be completed. 

The test does not actually start until you click the Start Test button. Once the test is started, a box in the bottom right corner indicates the question number. Each exam is timed and each type of exam is different. Tests typically range between 30 and 60 minutes. 

Specific exercise instructions are displayed in a separate window that can be closed to view the test document or restored to read additional instructions. The test runs on a fully functional version of Microsoft Excel. You can use all Excel's features, including Help and wizards.  If the application crashes during the test, you should inform the administrator immediately to have the exam restarted at the point where it crashed. When the test is completed, you click the Finish button.

Scoring takes only a few seconds. You are informed immediately whether you passed. When you pass, you will receive a certificate within two to six weeks following the exam. If you fail, you can ask the administrator for a printed "Score Report" that includes a summary of recommendations about what to study before retaking the exam at another time. There is no limit to the number of times you can take the same test. However, the fee applies each time, so retaking exams is not only time-consuming, but expensive.

Test results and data are strictly confidential and are only divulged to the person who took the exam and to Microsoft.