MCSA courses

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Hi

I've been working in IT for over a year now as a second line support technician for a small company down here in Cornwall. I spend my day doing everything from removing malware on home machines to phone/remote support to going onsite resolving issues and installing new hardware and I spend 3 days a week looking after 5 schools (soon to be 6) which are my sole responsibility (had to migrate the servers at 3 of them in the first couple of months, that made me jump a bit). I have done the CompTIA A+ and N+ which did the job of getting me a job but now they seem a bit pointless and I want something better. I been asking my boss if he would look at putting me on a Server 2012 MCSA course for a few months and he's always said no and I couldn't afford to do it myself as I'm on a low wage, suddenly out of the blue he's now asking me to do it and offering to pay for it as long as I do it in the evenings (which I have no issues with), I've agreed of course so he's told me find out about it. I wanted to do an evening course at college but that's looking unlikely as the local college doesn't do them so I'm thinking of getting a good resource book (or 2). What I wanted to know is:
1) Am I looking at doing the right course? It seems right as we are moving most our customers onto Server 2012 and half the schools I look after run Server 2012
2) Would doing it from a book work out ok, I did a course for my A+ and N+ but TBH I just bombed through the books at the end worried I'd fail and came out with the best scores the college ever got on all three exams (or so they said).
3) What books would you guys recommend I got?
4)Would it be fair to ask for a pay rise after (or even before), even if he's paying for the course, it seems kinda cheeky asking him for that after he puts me through the course but I'm fed up of being on £14k a year, my sister earns more looking after kids ffs
 
All these types of courses can just be crammed with some books and exams passed - but take the knowledge, apply it and improve what you look after then ask for a payrise. Boss says no - move on with your cert AND experience and get a payrise somewhere else
 
May be worth checking out Microsoft Virtual Academy as they have videos on the site relating to server 2012 and much more.

The MS website also recommend books to look at for specific examinations.
 
Hey Cooner

I think you should get a raise as the scale you are on is very low one of my friend who is in IT makes 40k easily and he did 1st line and second line support like you but thats in London.

Anyways for the training here it is what you can do .

Check the cbtnuggets.com website very very good courses and instructors seems very passionate about their stuff and will keep you intrested as most of the video tutorials these days make you sleep faster than a sleeping pill.

Also check VTC.com MCSA2012 3 videos series

Also check gumtree there are many professional who offer courses on weekend

I wish you good luck with your search.

Let me know if you need any help with anything would be happy to help.

kidge MS virtual academy is pretty good too but the courses are a bit scattered and not organised certification wise. I hope you would agree on that with me
 
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OP, I don't really know what course you should do. I guess this just depends on the direction you'd want to go in your career. Think about what it is you'd want to do in the future whether its down the server route, networking, Virtual etc etc.

If your boss is willing, instead of spreading this out over months, maybe he'd send you on an accelerated IT course?
http://www.firebrandtraining.co.uk/

A mate of mine done it for Exchange and said it's highly recommended.

EDIT: Also....Second line support with a bit of sever installations etc and you're on 14k?
Someone above said his mate was on 40k but his posts looks a bit spammy. When I was doing what you're doing now, I was on 22-25k in London. This was for a small company. I guess location matters too. Would you consider moving?
 
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wasn't trying to be spammy :) but trust me he is on 40k now doing pretty much second line support.

At the same time your scale of 22-25k would be something I would agree upon but 14k is surprising .
 
So details on the SQL Server 2012 MCSA can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-gb/mcsa-sql-certification.aspx

Each of the three exams you need to take have a corresponding Microsoft produced textbook. Read each one, carry out the practices (you'll need a VM or training server) and you should pass.

The first two are pretty useful if you want to be a DBA, the third really starts inching into data warehousing, which is a whole other area.
 
Sorry, I didn't get any emails telling me there were replies so I only just noticed (kinda feel rude). Thank you for the advice above, I will go through the things mentioned above along with everything else I've found online, at least I can start studying and then worry about the exams when I'm ready.
I thought 14k was low (put it on there to see how you guys reacted) I guess I'll ask for a small pay rise and see if I can get that then see if he'll agree to give me a bigger one once I pass the exams, he's a nice guy (not many bosses would buy you a burger and a pint every Friday lunch time) so I don't think he'll mind me asking, I'd be delighted with 22k, I don't think I'm worth 40k though lol TBH I'd be very happy with 17k. I did think of moving but my Wife loves living here so not really much chance of that, that's the problem with living down here, lovely place loads of beaches but low wages and high house prices.
Anyway thanks again for the advice so far.
 
did you start anything cooners

I'm looking to do the server 2012 or something to give my CV a boost

not sure whether to go to part time learning in my local tech before trying the exam.

did anyone do CCNA? I'm wondering if its worth doing instead
 
I work in corporate IT and recently gained MCSA 2012. I passed it entirely through home study using the steps outlined below ;

  1. Training videos from Plural Sight (www.pluralsight.com)
  2. MS Press Books
  3. Virtual Labs (I spent £500 and built a dedicated virtualisation rig - i5, 32 GB RAM, decend SSD)
  4. Reading up on any weaker areas using technet

In addition to providing training videos which cover exam objectives, Pluralsight also include free practice exams too.
 
I work in corporate IT and recently gained MCSA 2012. I passed it entirely through home study using the steps outlined below ;

  1. Training videos from Plural Sight (www.pluralsight.com)
  2. MS Press Books
  3. Virtual Labs (I spent £500 and built a dedicated virtualisation rig - i5, 32 GB RAM, decend SSD)
  4. Reading up on any weaker areas using technet

In addition to providing training videos which cover exam objectives, Pluralsight also include free practice exams too.

thanks

seems to be one of the better MS certs to have
not sure I could setup a dedicated rig etc, so probably have to go to tech to learn it

how long are each of the three exams
 
14k is a ridiculous wage for a 2nd line technician. As stated, somewhere in the 22-25k range is where I'd be expecting to see you.

It's been a while since I looked into the Server MCSA (I meant to do it about 4 years ago, but just got too busy and it fell to the wayside), but I remember CBT Nuggets being very useful for my MCPs (now MCITPs I believe).
 
The first two are pretty useful if you want to be a DBA, the third really starts inching into data warehousing, which is a whole other area.

Don't do it, OP. I've still got the scars from being a DBA and I twitch anytime somebody mentions a database...

Pick any other area of IT and you're bound to have less stress... :D
 
Bah, CCNA is the new MCSA...everybody has one. Storage is where it is at... *polishes NCDA*

Seriously, storage and virtualisation is where the money is (for now)

this is a bit of a career change for me, so looking something to spruce my CV up. I wouldn't be able to jump too much in the deep end as I don't work with any of this stuff in my day to day
I'm doing software installs and other bits and pieces so have foundation in computers skills if you like
yeah these datacentres, virtualisation etc is where its going so...
 
Really.

Edit: Actually, that is probably including the uplift for on-call so circa £27K.

Seems like a lot for 2nd line. But I guess on what is defined as 2nd line as I've seen some places have 2nd line roles advertised with a fair mix of what I'd consider 3rd line skills.
 
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