who here has an M$ certifications?

[VenomXt]

Hey all im trying to figure out what i need. what is benifical and what is a waste of m oney and im just wondering what other people who are in the IT area have.. any ideas?

 

[LordOfLA]

I had started an MCSA course but didnt get on with the managemnt of the training centre so I packed it in.

I've not hit any road bumps due to not having anything like A+ or MCSA or whatever, however it does mean I have to start on the botom rung so to speak and progress from there.

 

[Electronic Punk]

I'm an MCP, should really be an MCSA or MCSE by now but been busy with work and osnn. I don't get alot of free time to study.

 

[VenomXt]

can you go straight to MCSA? or work for one and then another? What is the money like in having to do this. Idely id like to have a company pay for it but im wondering if it would help me to do it myself. God i hate the real world. I dont like this worrying about finding a job out of school and such. thank god i have corp expeirencer or i would be *ucked.

 

[Electronic Punk]

to become MCSA you need to pass 5 MCPs (4 core, 1 elective?)
You could sit them all in one day, but that would be alot of work not only that but sitting the exams is fairly expensive and if you had to sit 5 I am sure you would fail more than if you studied for each one.

It isn't a matter of knowing how to do something, its a matter of knowing the Microsoft way of doing things, which believe it or not, is not always the best way.

 

[j79zlr]

IMHO they are worthless, they are good for employment, but don't actually teach you much. I have a couple friends who work IT in large companies, who have some certs, and they ask me for help enough to where I should get some of their salary.

 

[VenomXt]

IMHO they are worthless, t

oh im more than aware of this. hehe im asking which ones i need to be in the feild for the better jobs. I know most of the @hit anyways. and anything i dont .. one of you do! hehe.. once i get a Job a real job i really need to put some money in the admin hands. this site is like a recess and a classroom all in one.

 

[fitz]

I got my MCSE way back in the NT4 days and updated it for windows 2000. I'm in the process of updating it for win2k3 mostly because my work is paying for it so.. why not?

Are they worth it? That depends. It is true that a cert may help you get your foot in the door.. but if you don't know what you're doing, you won't get far.

Passing the Microsoft tests, in my opinion, don't really prove that you know what you're doing. They test rote knowledge, not applied knowledge. If you've worked with the MS products in question to any significant degree, you would be able to (hopefully) pass the exams without too much trouble. If you never worked with the products but studied off books to pass the test, you will be in for a shock when you see that the books (and the tests) don't tell you everything you really need to know.

The Cisco exams are a bit more difficult and, in my opinion, more meaningful. If you pass a Cisco exam, I have more respect for your ability than if you pass a MS exam. That's not to say I would hire you just because you passed a Cisco cert... you still would need demonstrative experience. Of course, if you get your CCIE.. I'll have a whole lot more respect for you.

The A+/Network+ exams I never cared for. I never obtained them but I could pass both exams if I had to take them at 6am after a hard night of partying..

I don't have as much knowledge about the various security certs.. Given my lack of respect for CompTIA, I would probably stay away from the Security+ exams.. but there are the CISSP and the SCNP/SCNA certifications. I don't know as much about these..

As always, with any certification, it's not having the paper, its what you can do with it.. your milage may vary

 

[VenomXt]

well said... i think i may wait tell i can get someone to pay for it.

 

[chrisbyrd]

I'm an MCP

Although i'll have a degree in Internet Computing before long, which is allegedly worth a lot more

 

[Un4gIvEn1]

While I understand the "glory" of M$ certifications, they have made them too easy to get. I worked with someone who woke up one day, having never touched a computer in his life and decided he wanted to work with computers. He spent a couple weeks studying books and went and passed his first MCP course. He was an idiot. I also worked with a couple MCSEs who were constantly comming to me to ask me how to do things. Book MCP/MCSE/MCSAs are idiots. You need real world experience.

 

[Electronic Punk]

To get experience you need qualifications, it is a vicious cycle.

 

[sharob]

Exams help, but they are not everything.
You need theoretical knowledge and practical experience. I've gotcertification on Novell 3.11 and MCSE in NT 3.51 - Who looks for thatanymore? But I do have a solid 10 years of real experience to boot.It's a lot of fun when the interviewer becomes the interviewee. (I'mnot so techie anymore and there is a big difference between NT and XP)
My advice - If your new to the industry and want to get your first roleor move into a new area, get a qualification or a certification. If youwant a promotion, get experience and prove to your Management WHY youare better, don't wave a piece of paper at them - deliver.

 

[Tittles]

My networking teacher goes about 2-3 times a year to get more certificates. He has about 8 or so but not to sure. Ones ranging from windows 2000 to xp. I know the school pays for him and he goes for like 3 days. Only reason he does it cause he gets payed more . I wouldnt do it unless it was gonna make me more money and/or get me a job.

 

[dave holbon]

There are many people I know with no qualifications of any sort in any type of computing subject that hold senior positions in the IT industry. When I started out there were no qualifications of any type you could get anyway. If you can remember the PC com port addresses and such issues, and have a general knowledge of PC’s i.e. you have had lots of problems with you machines and have fixed them all you will be able to obtain a A+ certification with just a few weeks study, mostly reviewing old exam papers etc, this could get you into a large organisations (like PC Word here in the UK) first line customer support department. But really the minimum certification to get your foot in any door now is MCSE. This has recently become much harder to pass as the “interactive” questions are biased to a more general understanding (and hence experience) and not so rigidly academic or based on what you can remember from memory or books.

An IT degree is the next best thing, however as graduates here only have a broad knowledge and are not experts in any specific field they are treated with caution by companies, especially those whose head of the IT department has no qualification in this area (which is most). Indeed some treat them as a direct threat. I have seen this operate first hand over the last ten years especially if the person with the degree is a woman.

There is no doubt in my mind that experience is far more valuable the academic qualifications so just don’t tell anyone what qualifications you have, that way you will not be perceived as a threat but a potential member of their team, they will even ask you different questions at the interview.

Most companies are not IT based but rely on elements of it which they consider to be side-issues unless you work for a credit card company, bank or mail-order concern otherwise you will be looking at personnel systems, payrolls, stock control and the occasional company web site, small networks (less than 100 users) and solving problems with Excel, Outlook, Access and Word, mostly of a mundane nature and network “brain-dead” problems like leads falling out of cards/sockets etc. If you can solve these basic issues quickly they will think you are wonderful.

I have learnt over the years in IT to conceal your qualifications as they will be held against you by the powers to be.