Reddit mentions of Exam Ref 70-761 Querying Data with Transact-SQL

I would first establish a list of expected responsibilities as an Accidental DBA with your supervisor. Do they have a CSO or other security-minded employees who have login policies in place already, or does that fall to you? Does your company design and deploy its own databases often? If so, who will be in charge of that design? Will it be you, a database developer, or someone else?

When you establish a list of responsibilities an expectations, you can then make a plan of action to learn about each of these topics. It takes an ocean of knowledge and responsibility and helps you narrow it down and focus on the fundamentals of what you will be doing day to day.

That being said, here are some resources you might consider using:

• https://www.sqlskills.com/help/accidental-dba/ is an excellent overview for "Accidental DBAs"
  
• Get in the habit of checking a couple of blogs daily. There are dozens, so you have the ability to find someone whose voice you enjoy reading. Here's a selection from my bookmarks:
  
  • https://www.sqlskills.com/help/sql101/
    
  • https://www.brentozar.com/blog/
    
  • https://sqlworkbooks.com/blog/
    
  • https://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/glenn/
    
  • https://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/kimberly/
    
  • https://blog.sqlauthority.com/
    
  • http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Articles/
    
  • https://dba.stackexchange.com/
    
  • https://sqlstudies.com/
    
  • https://www.mssqltips.com/sql-server-webcasts/
    
  • https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/tag/too-shy/
    
• Do the SQL Skills "DBA Homework" in a dev environment:
  
  • https://sqlstudies.com/sql-homework/
    
• Learn about concurrency issues and how to resolve blocking and locking.
  
• Look up common wait-types and what they mean.
  
• In a dev environment, perform your own installation of SQL Server. Anytime you don't understand what you're configuring or installing, go read up and do some research.
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Exam-70-761-Querying-Data-Transact-SQL/dp/1509304339/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=70-761&qid=1554487096&s=gateway&sr=8-2 is a very well-written exam reference, but also just a great reference in general.
  
  In addition to all of these recommendations, give priority to your Disaster Recovery and High Availability plan. It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when". A well-designed Disaster Recovery plan will let you sleep at night, and performing "fire drills" using these plans will make it second nature when you end up having problems later.
  
  ​
  
  Database Administration is a brother/sisterhood. If you have any questions, engage the community or feel free to send me a PM.

Exam 70-761 Querying Data with Transact-SQL by Itzik Ben-Gan

https://www.amazon.com/Exam-70-761-Querying-Data-Transact-SQL-dp-1509304339/dp/1509304339/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

Get this book and study it, and actually do all of the exercises and questions until you're comfortable.

I ran into a similar conundrum. If you read the 70-461 or T-SQL Fundamentals, they have practice problems that are related. The 70-761 does not contain practice testing material.

Apart from that, it's recommended to do the more official practice tests if you decide you need one. They are supposed to be more difficult than the real test, but I do not have any experience taking the practice tests. I am thinking of trying the 762 practice test though.

I did use one other resource that was a practice test and I'll list it below, but here's a copy from my site that lists my favorite resources from when I studied for my 761.

My favorite resources:

https://www.cathrinewilhelmsen.net/2015/01/28/preparing-for-and-taking-exam-70-461-querying-microsoft-sql-server-2012/

https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/4644/sql-server-exam-70761-study-material-for-querying-data-with-transactsql/

https://www.amazon.com/T-SQL-Fundamentals-3rd-Itzik-Ben-Gan/dp/150930200X

https://www.amazon.com/Training-70-461-Querying-Microsoft-Server/dp/0735666059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1513628070&sr=8-1&keywords=70%3D461

https://www.amazon.com/Exam-70-761-Querying-Data-Transact-SQL/dp/1509304339/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1513628083&sr=1-1&keywords=70-761

http://www.accelerated-ideas.com/70761-practice-test-questions.aspx#.WeeTWVtSypo

https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/4015/introducing-json-for-sql-server-2016/

https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/4073/sql-server-2016-advanced-json-techniques--part-1/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/json/json-data-sql-server

https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/3680/introduction-to-sql-server-2016-temporal-tables/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/queries/select-group-by-transact-sql

https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/1958/sql-server-cross-apply-and-outer-apply/

I completed the 70-761 T-SQL exam.

For the exam I used:

1. Edx - They have a free SQL course.
   https://www.edx.org/course/querying-data-with-transact-sql
   
2. I learnt basic and more complex topics from a book called 'Exam Ref 70-761 Querying Data with Transact-SQL' by Itzik Ben-Gan. The book has some really great examples.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Exam-70-761-Querying-Data-Transact-SQL/dp/1509304339
   
   I would recommend practising each new topic locally so you get a feel for it. I hope this helps!

If you're a quick study, this one is a great crash course:

https://www.amazon.com/Exam-70-761-Querying-Data-Transact-SQL/dp/1509304339/

I used that to brush up for the exam and pick up on new SQL Server 2016 stuff I hadn't used.