MB6-898 Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Talent Exam Guide
MB6-898 validated functional understanding of the April 2018 release of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Talent, with emphasis on understanding the environment and setting up and using the Talent application. It was intended for Dynamics 365 partners who configured, maintained, used, or supported the application, and also suited sales professionals with business-solutions experience. The most important decision today is not when to schedule it: Microsoft states that MB6-898 retired on January 31, 2021. Use this guide to verify its status, understand its original scope, and choose a current learning path instead of preparing for an unavailable exam.
Is MB6-898 still available?
MB6-898 is retired and cannot be scheduled as a current Microsoft exam. The Microsoft Learn exam page records the retirement date as January 31, 2021, while Microsoft’s retirement policy says a retired exam can no longer be taken or used to earn its associated certification or credential. Verify current alternatives through Microsoft’s Browse Certifications and Exams page before spending time or money on preparation.
The original exam page may remain useful as historical documentation of the exam’s audience and objectives, but its Schedule exam link should not be treated as evidence that appointments are available. Microsoft keeps exam-detail pages accessible for reference in connection with retired exams, and its retirement guidance explains that certification programs are reviewed as products, technologies, and job roles change.
A Microsoft Q&A mapping entry contains an older table that lists MB6-898 for retirement on December 31, 2019. That conflicts with the exam-detail page and the later Q&A discussion identifying January 31, 2021. For a practical decision, use the dedicated MB6-898 page’s retirement statement and the retirement-policy guidance rather than relying on the older mapping table.
What was the exam designed to validate?
The exam was designed to validate functional knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Talent, specifically the ability to understand its environment and set up and use the Talent application. It was not presented as a general human-resources theory exam. Its scope combined human-capital-management knowledge with application configuration, operational use, maintenance, and support.
Microsoft identified candidates as Dynamics 365 partners who set up and used application functionality and provided application support. The page also named sales personnel with a background in business solutions who wanted to demonstrate functional understanding of Dynamics 365 for Talent. Those descriptions point to a role-oriented assessment: candidates needed to connect HR processes with product behavior and implementation decisions.
The exam applied to the April 2018 release of Dynamics 365 for Talent. That version boundary matters. A current Dynamics 365 Human Resources learner should not assume that present-day product documentation, terminology, navigation, or capabilities map directly to the historical exam. Treat the MB6-898 outline as a record of the older product release, not as a current product certification syllabus.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/mb6-898
Who was the intended candidate?
The strongest fit was a functional consultant or partner practitioner who understood human capital management, operational HR processes, and the deployment, maintenance, and use of Dynamics 365 for Talent. Sales professionals with business-solutions experience were another stated audience. If your experience was limited to generic HR concepts or sales demonstrations, the original objectives indicated a need to build application knowledge as well.
Compare your background against three requirements before studying: HR process fluency, familiarity with the Talent application, and exposure to implementation or support work. You do not need to claim all three as formal job titles; the point is to identify the work you can explain and the work that requires structured learning.
A useful self-assessment is to take a business scenario such as onboarding, identify the HR outcome, name the application area involved, describe the setup or usage decision, and explain what support issue might arise. If you can discuss only the HR outcome, your preparation should emphasize application behavior. If you can discuss only screens or features, strengthen your process reasoning.
The original page says candidates typically should have a strong understanding of human capital management, operational HR processes, and experience deploying, maintaining, and using Dynamics 365 for Talent. Those are official expectations, not a promise that a particular job title or prerequisite was required.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/mb6-898
Which skills were measured?
The published skills outline divided the exam into two domains: Understand the Dynamics 365 for Talent Environment (45-50%) and Set Up and Use the Talent Application (50-55%). Study both domains, but give slightly more practice time to the second because its published range is larger. Keep each percentage attached to its domain; the percentages describe the official blueprint, not a score requirement.
Understand the Dynamics 365 for Talent Environment (45-50%) was the first domain. Prepare to reason about the application in its business and technical context: how an HR process relates to the Talent environment, how users interact with the application, and what a partner or support practitioner needs to recognize when working with the product. The supplied official material does not provide a more granular task list, so do not invent subtopic weights.
Set Up and Use the Talent Application (50-55%) was the second domain. This domain points toward practical configuration and operational usage rather than memorizing isolated labels. Your study should connect a setup choice to the business process it enables, the user experience it changes, and the support or maintenance implication that follows.
The outline shows two broad skill areas rather than a detailed list of every feature. That makes scenario-based study more defensible than trying to reconstruct questions from unofficial sources. Download or review the official skills outline when available through the exam page, then make a checklist from the exact objective wording.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/mb6-898
How should the blueprint affect study time?
Use the blueprint as a prioritization tool, not as permission to ignore the smaller domain. Allocate the first block of study to the Dynamics 365 for Talent environment, then make the larger Set Up and Use the Talent Application domain the center of hands-on review and scenario practice. Rebalance after testing your ability to explain each objective without notes.
For Understand the Dynamics 365 for Talent Environment (45-50%), build a one-page map containing the HR process, the relevant application context, the user or partner responsibility, and the likely support concern. This prevents environment knowledge from becoming a collection of disconnected definitions.
For Set Up and Use the Talent Application (50-55%), create decision tables. For each capability covered by your source material, record the business requirement, setup action, expected result, affected user, and possible correction when the result is wrong. The table is more useful than a glossary because it forces you to explain cause and effect.
Do not translate the ranges into an invented pass mark or question count. Microsoft’s supplied facts establish the domain ranges only; they do not establish a passing score, number of questions, or a fixed exam duration.
What study material is safe to use?
Start with the official MB6-898 exam page and its skills outline, then use Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 training hub for product learning and role-oriented resources. Because MB6-898 applied to the April 2018 release, label every note with its product version and separate historical exam preparation from current Dynamics 365 Human Resources learning.
Microsoft’s training guidance says it provides free online training for Dynamics 365 users, preparation guidance for users and partners, and learning paths for functional consultants, solution architects, and developers. The same guidance says certifications moved toward a job-role-based system. That makes the current training catalogue useful for developing related skills, but it does not make a current course a replacement for the retired MB6-898 exam.
The current Dynamics 365 credentials page lists role-based credentials across applications such as Finance, Supply Chain Management, Field Service, Customer Service, Sales, and Business Central. It does not identify a current replacement for MB6-898 in the supplied evidence. Therefore, select a current credential only after checking its official role, product, objectives, and availability.
Use product documentation to clarify concepts, but preserve the historical boundary. If a page describes a later product or renamed feature, mark it as current-context learning rather than silently adding it to the MB6-898 scope. This simple version-control habit is especially important for an exam tied to an older release.
Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/mb6-898; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/get-started/training/; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/guidance/roles/certifications
How can I prepare without an exam environment?
Because the exam is retired, the sensible goal is to build transferable product and functional knowledge rather than simulate a booking deadline. If you have access to an authorized historical environment or documented implementation materials, use them to test workflows. If you do not, work from official documentation and write configuration-to-outcome scenarios without claiming that they reproduce the live exam.
For each study topic, answer five questions: What HR problem is being addressed? Which Talent function supports it? What must a partner or administrator set up? What should the user observe after setup? What evidence would indicate a support or maintenance issue? These prompts turn passive reading into implementation reasoning.
Use a small scenario set based on the roles named by the exam page. A partner scenario might involve preparing an application for organizational use and supporting a user. A sales scenario might require explaining functional fit to a business stakeholder. Keep the scenarios generic unless official documentation gives the exact product behavior; do not present invented workflows as exam facts.
If you are learning the current Human Resources product rather than the historical Talent release, keep a comparison log with three columns: historical MB6-898 scope, current product terminology, and unresolved differences. The log tells you where current learning is relevant and where it should not be used as evidence about the old exam.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/mb6-898
What is a practical study roadmap?
A staged roadmap works best: confirm the credential decision, establish the historical scope, study the two domains, apply the knowledge to scenarios, and then redirect the effort to a currently available credential if your goal is a new certification. Since MB6-898 cannot be taken now, the final stage is a career and learning decision, not an exam-day rehearsal.
Stage 1: verify status and purpose. Read the official exam page, note that it retired on January 31, 2021, and decide whether you are documenting an existing credential, studying legacy Talent knowledge, or seeking a current certification. Do not purchase a purported MB6-898 booking or treat an unofficial availability claim as authoritative.
Stage 2: establish the scope. Record that the exam applied to the April 2018 release and copy the two official domains into your study tracker. Add the intended audiences and the stated background in human capital management, operational HR processes, and Dynamics 365 for Talent experience.
Stage 3: study the environment domain. Build your application map and explain how HR processes, application use, partner responsibilities, and support concerns connect. Review your notes by closing the source and reconstructing the relationships from memory; this identifies conceptual gaps without relying on recalled questions.
Stage 4: study the setup and use domain. For each supported capability in your approved material, write a requirement-to-result sequence. Where possible, validate it in an authorized learning or product environment. Record not only the successful path but also what configuration dependency or user symptom would lead you to investigate further.
Stage 5: test explanation quality. Ask yourself to explain a scenario to three audiences: an HR process owner, an application user, and a technical or support colleague. A strong explanation changes emphasis for each audience while preserving the same business outcome and product logic.
Stage 6: choose the next credential. Use Microsoft’s current Browse Certifications and Exams options and role-based Dynamics 365 guidance to identify a live path. Compare the target role and product, not just the apparent similarity of a title. Microsoft’s supplied Q&A does not establish a direct replacement for MB6-898.
Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/mb6-898; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/get-started/training/; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/guidance/roles/certifications; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/385661/dynamics-365-human-resource
A short weekly practice cycle
Use a repeatable cycle rather than rereading the same pages. Begin with objective review, continue with one process-and-application scenario, check the result against official material, and finish by recording one unresolved question. This creates a visible trail of decisions and prevents confidence from being based only on recognition.
On the next study session, answer the unresolved question first. Then revisit the weaker blueprint domain and rewrite one explanation in your own words. Keep notes concise: objective, evidence, scenario, decision, and remaining uncertainty. That format is suitable for both historical study and transition into a current role-based learning path.
Which mistakes waste the most preparation time?
The most damaging mistake is preparing as though MB6-898 were an active exam. The official page says it retired on January 31, 2021, and Microsoft’s policy says retired exams cannot be taken or used to earn the related credential. Confirm the status before paying a provider, booking an appointment, or downloading a large question bank.
A second mistake is mixing product generations. MB6-898 applied to the April 2018 release of Dynamics 365 for Talent. Current Human Resources material may help you understand the business area, but it can contain different terminology, interfaces, or capabilities. Date and label your notes so that current information does not become an unsupported historical exam claim.
A third mistake is studying only HR theory. The intended candidates were expected to understand human capital management and operational HR processes alongside deploying, maintaining, and using the application. For every process note, add an application decision; for every feature note, add the business reason it matters.
A fourth mistake is treating blueprint percentages as a promise about individual questions. Understand the Dynamics 365 for Talent Environment (45-50%) and Set Up and Use the Talent Application (50-55%) are official domain ranges, not a published question count, score threshold, or prediction of the exact assessment experience.
Finally, avoid exam dumps, leaked questions, and memorization claims. They do not establish current availability, do not prove that content is accurate for the April 2018 release, and cannot guarantee a passing result. Build explanations from official objectives and product evidence instead.
Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/mb6-898; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/retired-certification-exams
What delivery and registration details are actually evidenced?
The historical exam page identifies MB6-898 as English and states that price was based on the country or region in which the exam was proctored. It does not provide a current appointment route because the exam is retired. Do not infer a present delivery method, duration, question count, passing score, or live price from archived references or third-party listings.
The page also advises candidates to register with a personal MSA account because exam records could be lost and unrecoverable if a candidate used an organizational work or school AAD account and later left that organization. This is useful historical account guidance, but it does not make registration possible today.
Microsoft says pricing can change, does not include applicable taxes, and should be confirmed with the exam provider before registration. Since MB6-898 is retired, the relevant next action is to verify a currently available exam’s official registration and delivery information on its own detail page.
No supplied source confirms a current online-proctored or test-center delivery option for MB6-898. Treat any page advertising such a booking as requiring independent verification, and do not provide personal or payment information until the provider and exam status are clear.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/mb6-898
What happens to an earned credential after retirement?
Retirement prevents new attempts and new awards, but it does not erase a credential already earned. Microsoft’s retirement policy states that an already earned certification remains on the learner’s Microsoft Learn transcript, and the retirement roundup explains that a retired certification stays in the active section until Microsoft later determines that the technology is no longer relevant and moves it to inactive.
If you earned the credential, sign in to Microsoft Learn and review your profile, transcript, certificates, and records. Microsoft specifically provides account access for reviewing and managing certificates and transcripts. Preserve the credential through the official profile rather than relying on a third-party badge page or an old exam-detail screenshot.
Microsoft also states that eligible certifications or Applied Skills earned before retirement may continue to provide Microsoft Partner points or credit for one year after the retirement date. That is a partner-program policy detail, not a general guarantee of ongoing value, so confirm any current partner requirement directly before using the credential for planning.
If you were preparing but had not passed before retirement, the policy is decisive: the exam cannot be taken afterward and the associated certification or credential cannot be earned through it. Redirect the study plan to an available credential or to product skills that support your current role.
Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/retired-certification-exams; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/posts/exam-and-certification-retirement-roundup-july-2019; https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/certifications/exams/mb6-898
How should I choose a current alternative?
There is no directly named replacement for MB6-898 in the supplied official evidence. Choose a current option by starting with the role and product you actually support, then confirm that the credential is listed as available and that its skills outline matches your work. Do not select a credential solely because its title resembles Talent or Human Resources.
Microsoft’s current Dynamics 365 guidance organizes credentials by roles such as functional consultant, solution architect, developer, business analyst, and business user, with current application examples including Finance, Supply Chain Management, Field Service, Customer Service, Sales, and Business Central. Use that catalogue to frame your search, then inspect the specific official credential page for objectives and requirements.
If your work remains centered on HR technology, use Microsoft’s current Dynamics 365 training and documentation resources to develop relevant product knowledge while checking the current certification catalogue for an applicable credential. The supplied Q&A confirms that learners asked about an alternate Human Resources certification, but it does not answer that question with a named replacement.
Make a comparison sheet with four fields: target job role, current product, official skills covered, and credential availability. Add a fifth field for version or retirement notes. This prevents an obsolete exam code from becoming the center of a current professional-development decision.
Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/guidance/roles/certifications; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/get-started/training/; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/385661/dynamics-365-human-resource
What should I do next?
First, stop treating MB6-898 as a schedulable objective and confirm the retirement notice on Microsoft Learn. Next, decide whether your purpose is legacy-product research, verification of an already earned credential, or preparation for a current Dynamics 365 role. Each purpose calls for a different next action.
For legacy knowledge, use the official two-domain outline and the April 2018 release boundary, then build scenario notes that connect HR processes to application setup, use, and support. For an earned credential, review your Microsoft Learn transcript and preserve the official record. For a new certification, browse current role-based credentials and validate the replacement decision on the relevant live exam page.
The most reliable preparation habit is evidence matching: every claimed skill should trace to an official objective or product source, every version-sensitive note should carry a release label, and every registration decision should be based on a current official page. That approach is more useful than memorizing unsupported question sets and remains valuable when Microsoft changes product names or credential structures.
Conclusion
MB6-898 is now a retired Microsoft exam, not a live scheduling target. Its historical scope remains clear: the April 2018 Dynamics 365 for Talent release, an audience of partners and suitably experienced sales professionals, and two domains covering the Talent environment and application setup and use. Use those facts to understand legacy expectations or organize product learning, but verify any current certification choice through Microsoft’s active role-based catalogue. The next practical step is to select a current, available credential that matches your role and product rather than pursuing an unavailable exam code.
Related exams
- 77-725 exam — Microsoft Word 2016 Core: Document Creation, Collaboration and Communication (MOS)
- 77-727 exam — Excel 2016: Core Data Analysis, Manipulation, and Presentation
- 77-728 exam — Excel 2016 Expert: Interpreting Data for Insights
- 77-731 exam — Outlook 2016: Core Communication, Collaboration and Email Skills
- AZ-120 exam — Planning and Administering Microsoft Azure for SAP Workloads
- AZ-400 exam — Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions
