MCITP Certificate?

randomshenans · 28 Sep 2009 at 13:58

Has anyone done this? Wasn't sure if this was the right section for something like this but couldn't see anywhere else it would go.

I'm thinking about trying to get mine at the moment at work. A course I'm due to start is supposed to line me up for an MCSA, but this seems to be superseeded by MCTS's and the MCITP? So I'm just looking in to them at the moment and which exams to go for in the choices.

Any thoughts and experiences welcomed though, would be nice to hear about it.

Thanks

Gaz1988 · 28 Sep 2009 at 14:07

depends on what your working with at the moment? ie server 2003 or 2008 ? im currently half way through the exams for mcse as my current employer still uses 2003.

Dugganator · 28 Sep 2009 at 14:07

What ever you do don’t use companies that suggest that they will get you a job after completing the course. The adverts I'm talking about are the ones that suggest your do the course and walk in to job paying 37k+ (they grind my gears big time). Normally these places charge you loads and give terrible training. Regardless in most cases if you pass or fail they will still charge you. And the help they give you to find a job is the same standard as an agency would anyway so its a massive waste of money.

The best bet is get a reasonable PC to run some VMs on and self study. The exams are £88 per exam and the books per exam cost about £40. The books normally come with 6month trails of the software required for the exams anyway.

You didn’t say if you worked in IT so i might be jumping the gun a bit but just putting my view across. If you work for a company that’s paying for the course by all means take it.

HarryPainful · 28 Sep 2009 at 14:29

Agree with Duggan.

Also try some CBT learning stuff, Learnkey and CBT Nuggets are pretty good.

randomshenans · 28 Sep 2009 at 15:10

Sorry, should have stated a bit more in the post. I'm "new"ish to IT as a working sector as was in Headhunting before hand but now I'm working in a Support role for the Police, who have asked me what training I want to do really and although we're using server 2003 at the moment, I would like to do the MCITP in 2008 as it's natural progression in my eyes of where we will be heading and for me personally.

So, doing off your own back in terms of a book/some CBTs and bosh the exam off is a method many adopt? Would be a nice thing to do in the evenings to get some good experience in my eyes.

Dugganator · 28 Sep 2009 at 15:55

QuickLink said:
Sorry, should have stated a bit more in the post. I'm "new"ish to IT as a working sector as was in Headhunting before hand but now I'm working in a Support role for the Police, who have asked me what training I want to do really and although we're using server 2003 at the moment, I would like to do the MCITP in 2008 as it's natural progression in my eyes of where we will be heading and for me personally.

So, doing off your own back in terms of a book/some CBTs and bosh the exam off is a method many adopt? Would be a nice thing to do in the evenings to get some good experience in my eyes.

If you’re looking to progress within your company look at what they use is normally the best method. If they are still using server 2003 and not looking to move into server 2008 it would be a good idea to do your msce as it will still be relevant to what your currently doing and help you move forward in your company. Also there are upgrade exams from 2003 to 2008 so if the company is looking to get server 2008 your still ok in the future.

If you’re not looking to stay with your company look at what jobs are paying well on an generic job site and see what interests you. You can also see where maybe job shortages are (well maybe not so much with the recession of doom). Most companies will only offer training that they require not that you would like to do. I mean if you have a company that is willing to give you random training then lap it up

.

One thing to note is most companies will have written into the contract a time period standard is a year that if you take a training course and you leave within that time you have to pay for the course or a percentage of it.

randomshenans · 28 Sep 2009 at 16:53

Duggan said:
If you’re looking to progress within your company look at what they use is normally the best method. If they are still using server 2003 and not looking to move into server 2008 it would be a good idea to do your msce as it will still be relevant to what your currently doing and help you move forward in your company. Also there are upgrade exams from 2003 to 2008 so if the company is looking to get server 2008 your still ok in the future.

If you’re not looking to stay with your company look at what jobs are paying well on an generic job site and see what interests you. You can also see where maybe job shortages are (well maybe not so much with the recession of doom). Most companies will only offer training that they require not that you would like to do. I mean if you have a company that is willing to give you random training then lap it up .

One thing to note is most companies will have written into the contract a time period standard is a year that if you take a training course and you leave within that time you have to pay for the course or a percentage of it.

Really good advice thanks, I'll look in to the contract side of things. It would seem I do have a company that are willing to give me training, and what shocks me is that no one else really seems that keen and I'm jumping on whatever I can!! This zenos course I'm about to start at the end gives you the 2 exams to do your MCSA but I wanted to see what other options I had as I really want to do all I can and for me it's not really about the present job but to be as employable in general further on.

I'm hoping to pounce on as much as I can and get them to fund a CCNA and Prince2 as well... :lol:

We'll see!!