Youngest Microsoft Certified Professional : Arfa Karim

10-year-old Arfa Karim Randhawa is a promising software programmer from Faisalabad, Pakistan, is believed to be the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional in the world.

Some snippets from a Seattle Pi report

“Arfa’s one-on-one meeting with Gates was part of a visit this week to the company’s Redmond campus, arranged and sponsored by Microsoft to better introduce Arfa to the company, and to give people at headquarters a chance to meet her. The week included lab tours and a series of informal sessions with Microsoft executives and employees, including a Pakistani employee group.”

“About 75 percent of Microsoft employees are men, according to company data. Recounting their conversation, Arfa said Gates acknowledged her concerns and talked about the broader industry’s struggles to increase the proportion of women in technology-related fields.”

“Arfa is careful to point out that she was 9 when she took the exam. More precisely, she says, she was nine years, nine months, 11 days, and six hours. Fully aware of the fact that she’s the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional, she wants to be specific about her age at the time, in case another young programmer emerges someday to challenge what she calls her “world record.”

The Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) credential is for professionals who have the skills to successfully implement a Microsoft product or technology as part of a business solution in an organization. Any more competitors for the title of youngest Microsoft Certified Professional in the world?