MCSE advice

Adam18290

Adam18290

Adam18290

Associate
Joined
26 Jan 2007
Posts
728
Location
Surrey
Currently looking at getting a MCSE in server 2003 and considering where the best place is for me to do it. I know you can study at home and just take the exams but I'd prefer to have hands on courses. Can anyone recommend or give advice on where and how they did their course and also how much it cost? I've also read that its best to be working in an IT environment for min 6 months to a year before you carry out the course or at least do an A+ if you havent been working for that long. I've only been in my current job 2-3 months and I've looked over the course content for the A+ which I feel I have already covered. Im based in the Surrey/London area so if anyone could recommend any places that do the MCSE 2003 it would be great! BTW this will be going through work - not privately
 
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Don't bother if you want a hands on course, the thousands of pounds you'll spend on it won't be worth the letters after your name.
 
The courses are only taken by companies wishing to put their employees through the training. You would be silly to go on one of those courses privately.
 
smoove said:
Dont bother with the hands on course, been there done it and I came out not learning much. They cram so much into the short space of time and its very repetative 'ie, click start' etc.

Im due to be sitting my exams soon and I'm going to have to learn everything from scratch. Im lucky though that I had all my MCP's etc paid for.
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Like I said above I simply wont have enough experience/knowledge to self study - thats why I think its best to go for a hands on course.
 
Adam18290 said:
Like I said above I simply wont have enough experience/knowledge to self study - thats why I think its best to go for a hands on course.
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If you don't have the experience then don't do the course. The hands on course expect a certain level of experience anyway, something you don't have yet.
 
Get 6-12months experience at your work first, then have a look into buying the MCSE books. Thats what i did, and currently 1 exam down and studying for the next one.

Having a cert without experience is pointless, so there is no rush.
 
Certs are supposed to demonstrate that you have skills in a specific area. If you don't have the skills and experience, then go away and learn / do it before even thinking about taking any certs.

As already mentioned, the boot camp courses aren't intended to teach you all the content over a few days - they're supposed to be considered as refreshers.

What use is having a cert if you don't have the knowledge to back it up in any case? You might as well just use one of the brain dumps and learn the answers parrot fashion. Someone with only "paper experience" wouldn't even get an interview at my place. Certs plus demonstrable experience are necessary.

This is why Microsoft certification is considered a joke within the industry... because people straight out of high school without any experience whatsoever sit the exams and end up with the letters after their name.
 
To be honest if you are starting now, I probably wouldn't even consider the MCSE and look at the MCITP or MCTS qualifications in the newer technologies.

Regardless the qualifications themselves are not very useful unless you can back them up with experience, any time we were doing interviews a CV that had MSCE without experience would go straight into the bin.
 
Ive only just started in the IT industry and got a job without any qualifications but through knowledge ive developed in my own time building PCs & troubleshooting software/hardware problems. Part of the deal for getting employed was to go out and get some sort of qualification which I am now trying to decide. I have the option to possibly join first line support mixed in with general fixing of PCs and going out to clients places to install machines and/or troubleshoot any issues they may be experiencing. I thought an MCSE would be a great place to start as it will give me a good idea of how everything works and would allow me to help out in first line if need be and also aid me with all the other things mentioned. Now your saying I don't have enough experience I'm unsure of which qualification will be best for me, whether to go for a CompTIA A+ exam first and then in the future once ive learnt more carry out the MCSE or even CCNA.
 
RDM said:
To be honest if you are starting now, I probably wouldn't even consider the MCSE and look at the MCITP or MCTS qualifications in the newer technologies.

Regardless the qualifications themselves are not very useful unless you can back them up with experience, any time we were doing interviews a CV that had MSCE without experience would go straight into the bin.
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Agreed - that's why I like the way that the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) is managed.

Wikipedia said:
Requirements

Candidates for the CISSP must meet several requirements:
  • Possess a minimum of five years of direct full-time security work experience in two or more of the ten ISC2 information security domains (CBK). One year may be waived for having either a four-year college degree, a Master's degree in Information Security, or for possessing one of a number of other certifications from other organizations[8].
  • Attest to the truth of their assertions regarding professional experience and accept the CISSP Code of Ethics.[9].
  • Answer four questions regarding criminal history and related background.[10]
  • Pass the CISSP exam with a scaled score of 700 points or greater. The exam is multiple choice, consisting of 250 questions with four options each, to be answered over a period of six hours.[10]
  • Have their qualifications endorsed by another (ISC)² certified professional in good standing. The endorser attests that the candidate's assertions regarding professional experience are true to the best of their knowledge, and that the candidate is in good standing within the information security industry.[11]
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Adam18290 said:
Now your saying I don't have enough experience I'm unsure of which qualification will be best for me, whether to go for a CompTIA A+ exam first and then in the future once ive learnt more carry out the MCSE or even CCNA.
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This sounds a much better approach to me.

Although the Microsoft and the Cisco certs don't really cover the same things. Are you doing networking or Windows admin stuff?
 
GarethDW said:
This sounds a much better approach to me.

Although the Microsoft and the Cisco certs don't really cover the same things. Are you doing networking or Windows admin stuff?
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Indeed, although try to get a varied set of qualifications. An MS cert, a networking cert (Cisco) and a Linux or Unix cert and then go for specialisations such as security specific or management certs.

The thing is, most of that requires you to have a decent level of expertise first, so I wouldn't expect to have all of that without at least 7-10 years of experience.
 
So if I were to go for the A+ course first would it be best to self study or go on a course? Going over the course content I fell I know a pretty good percentage already except the network stuff.
 
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Only you can really answer that, as we don't know your level of understanding on the subject. Personally, I'd try the self-study route first, simply because it's cheaper, you can do it in your own time (maybe ask your boss for some self-study time to be scheduled into your weekly calendar, i.e. a couple of hours every Wednesday afternoon where you're allowed to stop your normal work and concentrate on revising for the cert).

Have a look at the table of contents for one of the study guides... Google has an example here:

CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide

Do any of the subjects seem new or unfamiliar? Do you think you could answer questions on all of these areas?

It could be that you just need to refresh yourself in a handful of areas, in which case spending £30 on a book is a better investment than spending several hundred quid on a course, imo. In that way, you can use your training budget on something more worthwhile ;)
 
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