Free Microsoft certification exams will be offered later this month at the Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks public libraries.
The two-hour tests for Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification and Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) certification exams will be at 1 p.m. March 21 at the Forks Library, 171 S. Forks Ave.; 5 p.m. March 22 at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.; and 10 a.m. March 23 at the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.
The free exams are being offered by the North Olympic Library System — which oversees public libraries in Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks and Clallam Bay — in partnership with the Washington State Library.
Market value for a MOS exam is typically between $99 and $130 per exam, depending on the location.
Limited space is available and registration is required at www.nols.org/events.
Multiple one-hour sessions are available at each event, but it is only possible to take one exam per session. Participants have 50 minutes to complete each exam. Those who wish to take multiple exams must register for multiple sessions.
Those unable to attend one of the designated testing sessions can contact ehelp@nols.org to schedule an individual testing appointment with library staff.
Microsoft Office proficiency is one of the most requested job skills across all occupations and industries, and holding a MOS certification can earn an entry-level business employee as much as $16,000 more in annual salary than their uncertified peers, organizers said.
Those who earn MOS certification are able to demonstrate that they have the skills to excel at work or school in one or more Microsoft Office programs.
In late 2016, the North Olympic Library System was awarded a $4,500 grant from the Washington State Library to help put together a mobile laptop lab.
The laptops can now be used to offer MOS certification testing around Clallam County in addition to other library programming, such as computer coding camps being held in Port Angeles and Sequim through February and March.
To help prepare for success on MOS exams, Washington residents can take online courses through the Microsoft Imagine Academy Program free through the North Olympic Library System website.
The Microsoft Imagine Academy offers hundreds of introductory classes covering everything from sending and receiving emails to navigating the web. Popular courses cover the basics of Office 2013 and 2016, Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.
For more practiced users and IT professionals, the academy offers courses tackling advanced subjects such as SQL Server, ASP.NET, Visual Studio and Microsoft Dynamics.
All Imagine Academy courses are conducted in one-on-one virtual sessions and are free of charge with a library card.
Free certificates of completion can be downloaded at the conclusion of each course, and official Microsoft certification and testing is also available.
Access to the Imagine Academy is made possible through an ongoing public-private partnership between Microsoft, the Washington State Library, the Secretary of State’s Office and the state Legislature.
To get started, visit www.nols.org and click on “E-Resources” and then “Microsoft Imagine Academy.”
Once enrolled, participants can explore the catalog of courses and continue the self-paced coursework on any computer at the library or at home from a personal computer.
