Microsoft Office Specialist certification levels. The Microsoft Office Specialist certification is

Certification of office workers abroad has existed for a long time. Does the MOS certificate have any weight, how to prepare and how to pass the exam in Ukraine? Consider in the article.

Microsoft Office Certification

Certification in Office Applications confirms the qualifications of a specialist, allows you to test your knowledge and skills.

Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification can be obtained from Certiport CTs, which are more than 12,000 worldwide. Since 1997, more than 750,000 people from 152 countries have been certified. Given the special popularity, MOS exams have been localized for 27 languages ​​(unfortunately, according to Office 2013, there is not even Russian yet).

It is important for an employer who is directly interested in effective employees to understand how effectively they work with MS Office.

Certification can also be used as an independent assessment of personnel, employee abilities according to adequate criteria.

After training and preparing for certification, you can standardize personnel and work with electronic documents. This will allow you to understand the quality of work and increase the speed of searching and processing data, as a result, increase the productivity of employees.

The Accent Profi Training Center conducts testing of company specialists based on their tests, recommends and adapts MS Office programs, and also trains specialists in open groups and in a corporate format.

Frequently asked questions about certification:

  • What is the Microsoft Office Certification for?
  • What are the certifications for Microsoft Office software products?
  • What are the levels of certifications and what exams correspond to them?
  • Can I get certified for Excel only or do I need to get certified for all of Office?
  • How to prepare for the exam?
  • How is the exam - time, language, features?

What is the Microsoft Office Certification for?

To confirm the knowledge and skills of working with the Microsoft Office product, to be recognized as a software manufacturer by a specialist, to obtain an international certificate and to increase your value in the labor market.

Certification is prestigious and recognized worldwide

What are the certifications for Microsoft Office software products?

Certifications for products that are included in the Microsoft Office package and also correspond to the software edition 2007/2010/2013:

  • word,
  • excel,
  • powerpoint,
  • outlook,
  • access,
  • One note
  • SharePoint.

Types of certifications: Certification MOS- basic,MOS Expert, MOS Master

CertificationMOS– 1 compulsory exam

Name of the certificate

Compulsory Exam

MOS: Microsoft Office Word 2013 - 418

MOS: Microsoft Office Excel 2013 - 420

MOS: Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2013 - 422

MOS: Microsoft Office Outlook 2013 - 423

MOS: Microsoft Office Access 2013 - 424

MOS: Microsoft SharePoint 2013 - 419

MOS: Microsoft Office OneNote 2013 - 421

CertificationMicrosoft Office 2013 Expert

To earn the Microsoft Office 2013 Expert certification, you must pass both of the following required MOS Expert qualification exams.

Name of the certificate

Extra education

Compulsory Exam

MOS: Microsoft Office Word 2013 Expert

Teaching aid

MOS: Microsoft Office Excel 2013 Expert

Teaching aid

Microsoft Office 2013 Master

Microsoft Office Specialist certification is required

To earn the Microsoft Office 2013 Master certification, you must pass the following MOS qualification exams.

Name of the certificate

Compulsory Exams

MOS: Microsoft Office Word 2013 Expert 425 and 426

MOS: Microsoft Office Excel 2013 Expert 427 and 428

MOS: Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2013 422

MOS: Microsoft Office Outlook 2013 423

MOS: Microsoft Office Access 2013 424

MOS: Microsoft SharePoint 2013 419

MOS: Microsoft OneNote 2013 421

Exam Rules and frequently asked questions - answers from the vendor at https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/certification-exam-policies.aspx

How the exam works:

The duration of one exam is about 50 minutes.

The language is usually English.

How it happens:

You come at the appointed time with the documents to the VU to the administrator of the VU.

You are in a separate room equipped with a video camera; you cannot use anything during the exam. All personal belongings are deposited with the administrator of the testing center.

Certification ProgramMicrosoftofficeSpecialist (MOS) is focused on developing practical skills in working with Microsoft Office applications and their effective use. The MOS certification program provides for six qualification levels, three of which are related to the standard set of office applications:

and three to the Office 365 cloud service package:

Certification exams are only available through Certiport test centers, except for the MCTS Office 365 and MCITP Office 365 levels, which can be taken through the international Prometric testing system.

Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS)

The initial MOS (Office Specialist) certificate confirms the confident knowledge of most of the functions of one of the office applications -- Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, Project, SharePoint, OneNote - depending on the exam you are taking (different exams are available for different versions of Office).

MicrosoftofficeSpecialist (MOS) Expert

The MOS Expert Advanced Certification certifies the most effective use of Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel, depending on which application you took the advanced Expert level certification exam on.

MicrosoftofficeSpecialist (MOS) Master

The MOS Master level is the highest user certificate, indicating that its owner is a true professional in using the features of several Microsoft Office applications. The MOS Master certificate confirms a comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.

Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification statuses provide an opportunity to identify the most effective users of Microsoft office applications and the Windows operating system. If your company needs a qualified financial analyst, look for candidates who, in addition to expertise in finance, have an MOS certificate in Excel (preferably at the Expert or Master level). If you are looking for a sales manager or other specialist whose duties include public presentations using technical means, look for candidates with an MOS certificate in PowerPoint. An MOS certificate in Outlook and Word will help distinguish a secretary who works effectively from a PC. MOS certification exams provide a highly accurate and reliable assessment of the user's level of technical expertise. The testing process assesses both a general understanding of Microsoft Office programs and the ability to work with specific application features and use Microsoft Office programs with other software.

Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Office 365

Office365 allows you to competently organize a single information and communication space both inside and outside the company. Microsoft's cloud solution will avoid the use of a large number of disparate systems that do not integrate with each other and do not meet modern security requirements.

The most difficult thing is to establish and integrate into a single communication system large companies that have a large number of employees and geographically distributed branches. The new Microsoft Office 365 cloud solution will help organize effective communications and relationships between company employees, as well as reduce IT costs.

Office 365 not only completely solves communication issues within the company, but also, thanks to the benefits of cloud services, allows you to bring key business processes to a new level. The solution includes three integrated services: Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft ShareP oint, Microsoft Lync, and the Office Professional Plus suite of applications.

MCTS Office 365

Office 365 MCTS status requires one exam
Basic exam Preparation course

Why is certification needed?

Any software manufacturer is interested in having as many people as possible know and be able to use its software.

Microsoft is no exception - there are certifications for IT infrastructure (for Microsoft Server products, Microsoft Exchange and others), certification for developers (HTML5, C #), and, of course, for Microsoft Office products.

Who needs an Office Product Certification:

  • Analysts
  • For marketers
  • Economists
  • Leaders
  • Other specialties that require deep knowledge of Excel

Why you need an Office Product Certification:

  • Knowledge confirmation from the vendor
  • An additional certificate that you can trump with the employer
  • A way to structure your knowledge

You can read about the Microsoft Office Specialist certification itself on the official Microsoft website: https://www.microsoft.com/learning/ru-ru/office-certification.aspx

Microsoft Office Specialist Certification Levels

Certification has three levels - specialist level, expert and master.

In order to have the status of a specialist, it is enough to pass only one exam - for any Microsoft Office product - for example, Microsoft Outlook.

With an expert, it is a bit more complicated - in order to get this qualification, you already need to pass three exams (one for a specialist and two expert exams). And here there is a choice of only two products for which you will specialize - Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. If you chose Excel, you need to pass one Excel specialist exam and two Excel expert exams (in 2010 and earlier versions, there was only one exam for an expert, but starting from the 2013 version it was divided into 2)

To have a master's certificate, you must have expert status in both Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word, as well as pass two more specialist exams in any two other Microsoft Office products (Outlook + PowerPoint or Access + Outlook, and other options)

Exam preparation

Once you've decided which product to certify for, it's time to start preparing. It should start by reviewing the knowledge that is needed to pass the exam. Each product has a dedicated page with a list of topics. Specialist-level certification is currently available for the following products:

Word 2013
Excel 2013
PowerPoint 2013
Outlook 2013
Access 2013
SharePoint 2013
One Note 2013

On the links above you can also see resources with the necessary materials. I highly recommend the books of the MOS Study Guide series (available, unfortunately, only in English) - these are special books for preparing for the MOS series exams.

For expert exams, there are similar links to test knowledge:

Word 2013 Expert and
Excel 2013 Expert and

Once you've done your preparation, it's time to look for an authorized Certiport testing center (organization that organizes MOS exams). For myself, I made a choice in favor of CKO Specialist due to convenient geography and other goodies.

After you have decided on the testing center, call them and say, for example, “I want to take the exam 77-420 MOS 2013 Excel, Russian version, August 25, at 10:00. Can you sign me up for this time? It should be noted that usually the registration is carried out in advance, about a week in advance and there are usually few places.

After you have signed up, you come a little earlier than the appointed time to the testing center to solve the org. questions:

  • Exam fees
  • If this is your first time taking the MOS exam, you will also be asked to register with Certiport

Next, you are led into a room without windows and doors, and the process of passing the exam begins. The exam itself, since the 2013 version, is a special test environment with the selected MS Office application - in the upper part you see an application with slightly limited functionality (help, for example, is not available), in the lower part - the task that needs to be completed:

It takes about 90 minutes to complete the task (more precisely, you can check with the testing center by the exam number). With proper preparation for the exam, there is more than enough time.

The exam is evaluated on a 1000 point system. The passing score is 700. Each topic has its own weight in the overall rating, something is valued more, something less.

IMPORTANT: When completing the exam, pay attention to the wording of the tasks - if you are asked to color the text in red, then any other color will be counted as a failure of the task. And not only the part that is responsible for coloring the text, but the rest of the task.

Certificate download

Once you have passed the exam, the certificate can be downloaded from the cetriport website (after some time after passing - a maximum of a week). For this you need:

  1. Log in to http://www.certiport.com/
  2. In the upper left corner select mycertiport -> my transcript
  3. Opposite the corresponding certificate, click on pdf or xps
  4. In order to see the certificate without the inscription Online Copy, you need to click on "View official Certificate" in the lower right corner.

After passing the exam, you can download signature logos, business cards, and other (non-MOS) certificates at https://mcp.microsoft.com/.

If you passed everything and became an expert/master, then you may feel sad that there is nothing more to take. But don't worry - Microsoft updates Office every three years, which means you can certify a new version every three years! 🙂

PS Subjective opinion

The 423 Outlook exam is the easiest to pass
Expert exams in Word are more difficult than in Excel
Time for expert Word exams seemed back to back

UPD The rules for obtaining a certificate have been changed - a master certificate can be obtained by passing 4 exams http://www.certiport.com/Portal/desktopdefault.aspx?page=common/pagelibrary/MOS2013_master_certification.html

MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist) certification

Do you need to check the applicant when applying for a job? Do you want effective communication between employees? Do you want to increase the prestige of the company? Use Certifications Microsoft Office Specialist and be sure of the quality!

Do you want to stand out from the crowd? Would you like to provide a quality guarantee? Do you need confirmation of your own effectiveness?

Pass Microsoft Office Specialist certification and move up the career ladder!

What is certification?

Certification - this is a knowledge test procedure, as a result of which an official document is issued confirming the level of compliance of the candidate's knowledge and experience with certain standards.

These standards are established by the international community and reflect the general list of required skills for effective work with the product.

Certification of IT specialists of the company has already become familiar and mandatory for everyone, but at the same time they completely forgot about ordinary computer users. And products such as MS Excel, for example, are comparable in complexity to Windows Server, and a modern user must work simultaneously with a whole suite of applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and sometimes even Visio and Project. Where is the guarantee that the employee will cope with his duties?

The performance and flexibility of the infrastructure depend on the actions of IT staff, but the life activity and the final product / service of the company depend on the actions of users - it is the users who fill the system with data, work with information, and exchange documents with each other. The success of the company depends on the effectiveness of such interaction no less (and, perhaps, more than on the effectiveness of IT specialists). Agree, even the most modern IT infrastructure will not speed up the work of users if employees transfer documents on flash drives among themselves. A lot depends on the ability of the end user to work with the system or application.

In the West, certification of office workers has long been used to confirm their qualifications, to test their knowledge and skills. In Russia, not all employers have yet thought about the benefits of certification, and in fact, using certification as an independent assessment of an employee's abilities according to adequate criteria, one can standardize personnel and benefit from uniform processing of electronic documents.

What does MOS status give? Self-confidence when working with the program. The prestige of international certification. An objective assessment of abilities for solving standard and special tasks.

The Microsoft Office Specialist certification is:

  • A way to test and validate skills, prove competence or identify weaknesses and fill gaps.
  • Way to stand out, favorably differ from other users of office applications.
  • A way to standardize work, the ability to check the compliance of skills with international standards for the effective processing of electronic documents and organize existing knowledge by task type.

Why is certification needed?

Why does a candidate need certification?

For an employee who is a candidate for MOS status, certification is a way to confirm qualifications. Almost everyone has used MS Office programs in their life. All office workers print documents in Word, many fill out Excel spreadsheets, some create presentations in PowerPoint.

How does your knowledge differ from the capabilities of hundreds of other people working with office applications? Why is your candidacy better than another applicant? What do you really know and can do with documents?

MOS certificate answer these questions succinctly and concisely. When you receive it, you state: Professional ". A specialist who can quickly and effectively solve a certain range of problems. Who can prove it? Independent expertise of an international company.

Certification is prestigious. You can become a big fish in the world of office plankton only by standing out from the crowd. And the timely received certificate from a well-known company for the most popular products will help this. Certificates are issued only to those who really deserve it. Only those who have proven their knowledge. Only those who successfully passed the test.

Why does an organization need certification?

Why do international companies and many domestic organizations pay so much attention to the presence or absence of a certificate? Why are statuses and certificates a prerequisite for moving up the career ladder?

It's simple: an independently certified employee guarantees efficient work, a high level of productivity, a high level of competence and a direct benefit to the company.

Certification allows companies to:

  • Increase the efficiency of employees. After passing the test, the candidate confirms that he successfully knows how to use the necessary software tools to solve typical problems.

During the limited time of the exam, it will be possible to complete all tasks only with the help of typical standard tools available in the program. This means that the employee will not need to reinvent the wheel, but will need to use already known solutions that can be easily implemented in a real work environment and will save time and effort, increase productivity and quality of work performed.

  • Standardize employee knowledge. A certified professional knows how to use the right tools for the right task. And this, in turn, will allow not only to effectively perform work, but also to transfer it to colleagues.

The time has passed when each employee created a document for personal use and could correct it at any time at his own discretion. Now the documentation is in public storage for unlimited access and can be used by an employee of a branch that is geographically remote for many thousands of kilometers. Now it is not always possible to approach a colleague and ask what he did in the document. It is not always even clear who created the document. In such a situation, the introduction of standards will save time on processing an electronic document within the company. Reduce the cost of maintaining documentation. Increase the efficiency of employee interaction.

  • Raise the prestige of the organization. In order to compare favorably with competitors, companies offer special conditions for their products and services, often forgetting about the quality support of their goods after the sale.

Having published information that even office employees have international certificates, the company publicly declares that it works as efficiently as possible and offers all services of the highest quality, instilling confidence in its customers, increasing its rating, deserving trust.

Why is HR Certification Needed?

Many hiring managers are very attentive to opportunities to test the qualifications of a candidate. Most vacancies require a certificate. It is he who allows you to confirm the competencies of the applicant and ensure the confidence of the HR manager in the right choice of employee.

Now every second computer user says that he knows how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint. But do they really meet the requirements of the company? Can templates be used? Can they calculate formulas in a spreadsheet editor? Will the correct hyperlinks to documents be created? Will the results of the work be reported in the presentation?

Certificates will answer these questions. If there is a certificate, then it can, it can, it will do it. If not, you need to check, test, test.

Certificate Microsoft Office Specialist for HR manager

  • Shows the quality of knowledge of the applicant. What the candidate can, knows and uses exactly. What tasks did he cope with, how effectively does he use the software product. The certificate gives an idea of ​​what to expect from the candidate's abilities, what can be expected.
  • Facilitates verification of documents. An international certificate cannot be faked, and the certificate data is stored in public certification authorities, where anyone can find out in whose name a well-known certificate number was issued. So you can easily recognize a fake and check the validity of the certificate.
  • Determines the suitability of the candidate for the stated position. The certificate provides confidence in the applicant's abilities, his strength and ability to perform the assigned work, allowing you to close the vacancy with a clear conscience.

Which certification to choose?

Exams Microsoft Office Specialist you can take in different areas: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, SharePoint and even OneNote. For advanced users, there is an opportunity to demonstrate deep knowledge and skills in working with Word and Excel applications by taking level exams. expert. If you are a professional in using MS Office products and know the basic package perfectly, you can get the status Microsoft Office Specialist Master, by passing both Expert level exams, the PowerPoint Core exam, and any other Core elective exam.

Who is the certification for? Microsoft Office Specialist?

  • For employees who demonstrate professionalism and competence
  • For applicants, confirming experience with the application
  • For employees seeking career advancement

Who needs certification Microsoft Office Specialist Expert?

  • For professionals who solve non-trivial tasks every day
  • For leaders who maintain the authority of their position
  • For employees involved in the reprocessing and verification of finished documents

Who needs certification Microsoft Office Specialist Master?

  • For multifunctional employees specializing in the processing of electronic documents
  • For project managers managing large volumes of documents
  • For the first line of technical support, troubleshooting user problems and maintaining office applications

What is Training and Certification? Microsoft Office Specialist?

  • Employees - status, confirming the level of professionalism, recognition of colleagues and employers;
  • Colleagues - easier to work together with certified specialists, because such an employee fully owns the necessary set of tools, and documents after him do not require processing;
  • HR manager - easier to manage development an employee, to control and ensure internal standards for working with information, it is easier to introduce a position;
  • Employer - a guarantee completion of work on time, effective interaction when distributing work among several employees, reducing costs by saving time and resources to complete the task.

Certificate Microsoft Office Specialist It's not an end in itself, it's a means to an end.

The Moscow government is gradually expanding the scope of targeted assistance to citizens who need it. - one of the varieties of such assistance. In the article, we will consider what it is and who is supposed to, the current varieties of a social certificate, as well as how to get it.

What is a social certificate?

social certificate- This is an electronic coupon for a certain number of points. You can use them only with the help of a social card of a Muscovite with a certain permission from the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation.

Points accrued to the card are written off in ruble equivalent (1 point = 1 ruble) in Moscow retail outlets participating in certain social programs of the capital. To know,

Find out how to get up to 30% discount on a social card in Moscow stores

These businesses include:

  • providing food;
  • acquisition technical rehabilitation facilities for the disabled(wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, anti-decubitus mattresses, exercise equipment, etc.);
  • providing durable goods(household appliances) to preferential categories of citizens;
  • acquisition children's products for families who are in a difficult financial situation.

Social certificate is a form of targeted assistance to those in need. That is, it is allocated not to all privileged categories of citizens, but to those who really need it at a given time.

Who is supposed to?

The circle of persons entitled to such assistance from the Government of Moscow, as well as its amount (number of points), commodity direction and validity period of the social certificate, is determined by a collegial method when citizens apply to social security departments at their place of residence.

Muscovites can apply for social certificates:

  • large families;
  • disabled people;
  • WWII veterans;
  • citizens in difficult situations.

The main condition for receiving social payments for the purchase of various goods is the subsistence minimum per family member (not higher than 1.5 norms per person).

What kind of certificates are there?

For 2017-2018, three types of an electronic social certificate for a Muscovite are planned and are being successfully implemented:

  1. Grocery social certificate- analogue of grocery sets. Having an active food social certificate, a citizen can spend the allocated number of points in the store at his own discretion. It is important to remember that alcohol and tobacco products are not included in the list of permitted goods.
  2. Social certificate for durable goods- points can be spent on equipment or other manufactured goods. In addition to standard outlets, the social certificate is accepted for payment in online stores. For example, on the website of the Media Markt store, you can choose the right product, order it, and then pay with a social card, writing off points for the purchase of household appliances (TV, stove, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, laptop, etc.).
  3. Social certificate for children's goods- available only to families with children. You can use points for purchases in Detsky Mir and Korablik stores. can be obtained in the social security document, which confirmed the right to social rehabilitation of citizens.

Important! The social certificate on the electronic card has nothing to do with the housing social certificate issued for the purchase of housing. These are two different government programs financed from different sources.

How to get a social certificate?

The main question that worries Muscovites who have the right to targeted social assistance is where to get it? To obtain a social certificate for durable goods, children's goods and food, citizens need to follow a certain algorithm of actions:

  1. Visit to social security at the place of residence(reception days and hours can be specified on the website of the Department of Labor of Social Protection of the Population of the City of Moscow or by phone).
  2. Writing an application for the issuance of a certificate.
  3. Submission of required documents confirming the right to use an electronic social certificate.
  4. Receive notification of points accrual to the social card of a Muscovite (indicating the quantity, product group and validity period of the social certificate). The maximum period for consideration of the application and notification of citizens is 14 days.
  5. Use of social assistance for its intended purpose in the shops of the capital.

The list of documents required for issuing a social certificate includes:

  • current;
  • applicant's identity card;
  • papers confirming that a citizen belongs to a certain preferential category (medical certificates of disability, a certificate of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War or a pensioner, a certificate of having many children, etc.);
  • certificates confirming income for the last 12 months;
  • SNILS of the applicant;
  • work book and certificates of receipt of unemployment benefits (for persons who do not have a permanent job).

Which stores can use the certificate?

You can use social certificate points only in. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that for each type of certificate a list of partner stores is defined:

  • grocery - "Pyaterochka", "Crossroads", "Carousel", "Dixie";
  • for durable goods - Media Markt online stores, the Dobrota.ru chain of stores.

The list of stores is gradually expanding, so you can check the information on the website of the Mayor of Moscow or by calling the hotline 8-495-539-55-55 daily from 8-00 to 20-00.

Healthy! To pay for the purchase with a social certificate, you need to warn the cashier about it. Points can be written off gradually, for example, by paying only part of the cost with points, and the rest with your own funds available on the Muscovite's social card or in cash. The main thing is to have time to write off all the points before the expiration date of the social certificate (usually no more than 14 days).