Pass AZ-104 and Get Hired

How to pass the AZ-104 — and turn it into a job

By Captain O8 min read

The AZ-104 is the first Azure certificate a hiring manager takes seriously. Passing it is the easy half. The half that gets you interviews is what you do around it — and most people skip that part entirely.

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Here is the difference that matters. The AZ-900 tells an employer you have heard of Azure. The AZ-104 tells them you can run it. Microsoft positions the AZ-104 as the role-based Azure Administrator Associate credential, an intermediate certification for someone with real subject-matter expertise in implementing, managing, and monitoring an organization's Azure environment. That framing is the whole reason recruiters filter on it. It is a competence signal, not an awareness badge. So treat the exam with the respect it deserves, then do the one thing that turns the pass into a paycheck — which we will get to.

Figure 1 — The AZ-104 is the Azure Administrator cert, and unlike the AZ-900 it is a genuine hiring signal because it tests hands-on administration: identity and governance, storage, compute, networking, and monitoring and backup. It is harder and scenario-based, so it rewards lab time over memorization. Necessary, not sufficient — pair the pass with two or three real projects and it turns into interviews.

What the AZ-104 is, and who it is for

The Azure Administrator is the person who keeps the cloud environment running day to day. You are usually part of a larger team, coordinating with networking, security, database, and DevOps people, and you own the plumbing: identities, storage, virtual machines, networks, monitoring, and backups. Microsoft says a candidate should already be comfortable with operating systems, networking, servers, and virtualization, plus hands-on time with PowerShell, the Azure CLI, the portal, and ARM templates or Bicep. Read that list again. It describes a doer, not a memorizer. If you cannot spin up a VM and reach it, the cert will fight you.

The skills it measures

Microsoft's study guide breaks the exam into five weighted areas, and the weights tell you where to spend your hours:

Manage Azure identities and governance — 20 to 25 percent. Microsoft Entra users and groups, Azure roles (RBAC), Azure Policy, resource locks, tags, subscriptions, cost management.
Deploy and manage Azure compute resources — 20 to 25 percent. ARM/Bicep, virtual machines, scale sets, containers, App Service.
Implement and manage storage — 15 to 20 percent. Storage accounts, redundancy, SAS tokens, Azure Files, Blob storage, lifecycle rules.
Implement and manage virtual networking — 15 to 20 percent. VNets and subnets, peering, NSGs, Bastion, private endpoints, DNS, load balancing.
Monitor and maintain Azure resources — 10 to 15 percent. Azure Monitor, log queries, alerts, backup and Site Recovery.

Identity, governance, and compute together are nearly half the exam. If you are budgeting study time, weight it the same way Microsoft weights the questions.

The exam rewards the hours your hands spent in the portal, not the pages your eyes scanned.

How hard it honestly is

Harder than the AZ-900, and not close. You get 100 minutes and somewhere in the range of 40 to 60 questions, and a chunk of them are scenario-based: you read a small situation and choose the configuration that fits, rather than reciting a definition. There may be interactive components too. The passing score is 700 out of 1000 — and that 700 is scaled, not a flat 70 percent right. It already accounts for how hard your particular question set was, which is why the number you need can land on either side of 70 percent. Microsoft does not publish pass rates, but the exam is plainly calibrated to filter for people who have done the work. Candidates with hands-on Azure time call it challenging but fair. Candidates cramming braindumps tend to fail and blame the test.

The renewal detail is worth knowing before you invest: Microsoft's role-based certifications, this one included, expire after 12 months. You renew for free through an online assessment on Microsoft Learn, so it is a small recurring chore rather than a re-sit, but plan on it.

A study approach that works

Stop treating this like a reading assignment. The single highest-return habit is building the thing you are studying in a live subscription. New Azure accounts come with a free tier and credits, and most AZ-104 practice costs pennies if you delete resources when you are done. So for every objective, do it with your own hands: create the users and groups, assign an RBAC role at a scope and watch it take effect, write an Azure Policy that denies an untagged resource, deploy a VM from a Bicep file, break a network security group rule and fix it. The muscle memory is what carries you through the scenario questions.

Wrap that hands-on core in three supports. Use the official study guide as your checklist — it lists every measured task, so tick them off one by one. Take Microsoft's free practice assessment repeatedly, and do not book the real exam until you are clearing 80 to 90 percent, because live-exam pressure quietly costs you points and you want a buffer. And read the Azure docs for the services you keep fumbling, rather than a summary of them. Six to twelve weeks of a few focused hours a week is a realistic runway for most people coming in with some IT background.

The mistake that fails good candidates

People treat 700 as "get 70 percent right" and aim for exactly that on practice tests. Then they walk in at a 72 percent average, hit a run of scenario questions on a bad-nerves morning, and miss by a hair. The scaled score means your practice average needs headroom. Clear 85 percent on the practice assessment, consistently, before you spend the exam fee. Confidence at that level is earned, and it holds up under the clock.

Passing it is necessary, not sufficient

Here is the part nobody wants to hear. A pass gets you past the resume filter. It does not, on its own, get you hired — and if you have already passed a cert and watched the interviews not come, you know the feeling. Every other applicant has the same three letters after their name. What separates the ones who get called is evidence they can do the job, and a certificate is a claim, not evidence. So while you study, build. Turn the objectives into two or three real projects you can show and talk through: a small hub-and-spoke network with Bastion and locked-down NSGs, a governance setup with Policy and RBAC and cost alerts, a monitored, backed-up workload. Put them in a public repo with a readme, and assemble them into a portfolio a hiring manager can click through. The cert opens the door; the projects are what you say once you are inside the room.

The takeaway

The AZ-104 is the Azure certificate that reads as competence rather than curiosity, and it is worth earning properly. Study by building, not reading: work every objective in a live subscription, lean on the study guide as your checklist, and do not book the exam until your practice scores clear the mid-eighties. Then remember that the pass is the entry ticket, not the prize. Pair it with two or three projects that prove the work and a portfolio that shows them off, and you turn a line on a resume into a reason to call you. That is the whole game — pass the exam, then make sure you have something to say when it gets you the interview.

Questions people also ask

How hard is the AZ-104 exam?

It is a real step up from the AZ-900. You get 100 minutes, roughly 40 to 60 questions, and many of them are scenario-based: you read a situation and pick the configuration that fits, not a definition. Microsoft says you should already be comfortable with the portal, PowerShell, the Azure CLI, and ARM or Bicep. People with hands-on Azure time find it manageable. People memorizing find it brutal.

What is the passing score for AZ-104?

You need 700 on a scale of 1000. That 700 is not the same as answering 70 percent of questions right — it is a scaled bar that already accounts for how hard your particular question set was. Because of that, aim higher than 70 percent on your practice tests. An 80 to 90 percent practice average gives you a buffer against exam-day nerves and time pressure.

What does the AZ-104 exam cover?

Five areas, per Microsoft's study guide: manage Azure identities and governance (20 to 25 percent), implement and manage storage (15 to 20 percent), deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20 to 25 percent), implement and manage virtual networking (15 to 20 percent), and monitor and maintain Azure resources (10 to 15 percent). Identity, governance, and compute carry the most weight, so spend your time there.

Is the AZ-104 worth it for getting a job?

Yes, more than most entry certs. Unlike the AZ-900, which is awareness-level, the AZ-104 is the role-based Azure Administrator credential and reads as a genuine competence signal to hiring managers. It is necessary but not sufficient. The people who convert it into interviews pair the cert with two or three real projects that prove they can do the work, not just pass a test.

How long does it take to study for the AZ-104?

Most candidates need roughly six to twelve weeks with a few focused hours a week, and Microsoft suggests around six months of general Azure administration experience going in. The variable that matters most is hands-on time. If you are building resources in a live subscription every week, the timeline shrinks. If you are only reading, it stretches and the pass gets shakier.