Redundancy and retraining MCITP/MCSE

nshire

nshire

nshire

Associate
Joined
10 Mar 2005
Posts
696
Location
Taunton
Last week I was made redundant after 6 years service in retail and only 24years old and got too comfortable so treating it as a kick that I needed.

In college I did BTEC National Diploma and City & Guilds Networking
got Merit Pass Pass in ND and Distinction in C&G Networking.

I really didn't work hard on the diploma course and regret it now. But I am seriously considering doing MCITP. Doing server admin aswell as touching things I haven't touched since college eg Active Directory etc.

I've generally been very good with hardware/networking being unemployed scum that I am now thinking of using the time to retrain and learn what I originally wanted to get into.

What I'm really looking for is any pointers which courses and books to take I am presently looking at:

70-640 Active Directory
70-642 Configure Networks
70-646 Win2008 Server Admin
and 70-680 Configure Win7

And then possible hardware/software needed (got C2Q Q6600,4GB, plenty of HDD's, Win7 and then Laptop C2D T7700, 4gb 250gb win vista)

Thinking of also doing ITIL as well if it worth doing.

Any help be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys and gals
 
No real need for any new hardware, you can do a very large majority of the work using virtual machines/networks.
 
First off, well done for having the determination to get moving - Ive been there myself, and know how much effort it takes to self-study this, especially when you come across those that belittle such certifications. I myself just passed the Win7 MCITP and am aiming for the other 2 next.

Best advice I can give, get some more ram (8GB, allocate 2 to a DC, perhaps 1 to a file server etc) and if you have a spare 100GB+ HDD lying around, use this to host your VM's (I had a terrible time hosting just a 2008 DC and 2008 SCCM server on the same drive as my host OS, moved to a separate disk and it all works fine now..)

Then when everything's setup, just find some free training material (there is a lot) and focus on a specific section/chapter for a week or so, and just play around with it. With VM's, you can always revert to a snapshot if you bork the install. It will surprise you how fast you pick it up.

Cant comment on ITIL, but the MCITP's will look impressive on your CV - remember to make a point of saying these were self-funded and self-taught, it sounds much better in an interview and is usually guaranteed to raise an eyebrow, if only of the HR person! You might get a bit of negativity from certain IT folk who might perceive you as a 'paper-mcp', as I did, but just remember - you bothered to use your spare time to better yourself, chances are they didnt.

Best of luck!
 
Last edited:
The problem is that you won't have any industry experience to back it up.

I'd start by getting the Vista or Windows 7 certification and try getting a desktop support role. Once you get the foot in the door you will get experience of servers and their setup.

On the other hand the microsoft exams only cost £88 each to do and you can get braindumps that will ensure you pass the exam without even knowing what question they are asking. While i don't condone this, its a dog eat dog world and when you don't have a job you must do everything and anything to get on the career ladder. (examcollection.com)

Good luck.
 
Showboat said:
The problem is that you won't have any industry experience to back it up.

I'd start by getting the Vista or Windows 7 certification and try getting a desktop support role. Once you get the foot in the door you will get experience of servers and their setup.

On the other hand the microsoft exams only cost £88 each to do and you can get braindumps that will ensure you pass the exam without even knowing what question they are asking. While i don't condone this, its a dog eat dog world and when you don't have a job you must do everything and anything to get on the career ladder. (examcollection.com)

Good luck.
Click to expand...

the price has gone up now to around £109 ??

and braindumps are a no no!
 
TheDean said:
What on earth are 'braindumps' and how do they ensure you pass the exam?
Click to expand...

braindumps are the questions from the exams, that some one has remembered then shared on the internet.

so if you can remember them you can ensure a pass. but....

this will provide no experience - hence being called a paper mcitp etc....

and an ex colleague showed me one for the 70-293 (i think) which was one of the hardest exams for the old mcse series of tests. on it was around 1000 questions long, where as the official book was around 1100 pages. so overall i felt he had no benefit by trying to learn the braindump as the book was around the same lenght
 
God no I am not gonna do "BrainDumps". I would revise and learn what to do rather than learn the answers to the question, you don't learn anything like that.

Bit like doing theory I did revision quick mock. Revise weak things. Mock again. Work like that till i am comfortable that I can answer all and understand all.

I have ordered Microsoft 70-680 which I should get in couple days.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom