Failed XP MCP, but feel insulted 2

[gurner]

I took an XP MCP this morning, paid for by my employer, i like to consider my self a very competant IT Admin type of guy.

But i have spent my time working very sucessfully off my real world experiance, but my employer has been banging on for ages about getting an MCP (good for business)

The other guys all have thier 2000 track for a couple of years ago but i was persued to take the XP MCP and get some pieces of paper.

I work with XP everyday but all i had to study was this useless Micosoft book.

The thing is we all know about people that are incredibly good at brain dumping the night before and then aceing the exams and how a large amount of them don't amount to much in a live environment.

I want to hear some comments from people like myself that know this stuff inside out but still managed to fail the exam.

did you, like me start to wonder, what really is the point of this...

 

[butchrecon]

Dont Sweat the XP failure. Learn from it. If your employer really wants you to be certified then take the 2000 Pro test. It is much easier than the XP test. As for the point?...

Any more it is bragging rights among "newer" techs. Those who have been in the field longer than 5 years know they dont really measure your true skills. Certs are good resume builders, but if you are not planning on leaving your job anytime soon then why fuss? It's all about keeping up with the Joneses. Just continue to show the "Jr" certified techs that they still need to learn how to do things the real way and not the Microsoft way. James Collins
Hardware Engineer
A+ Certified Professional
Network+ Certified Professional
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft Certified System Administrator
(What does all that jargon below my name mean? I dont know I am still trying to figure it out!)

 

[edlcsre]

Hey Girth,

Don't let it get you down. There is nothing wrong with failing the exam, especially if you've not sat an MS exam before, or it was a long time ago that you last did, as, in my experience anyway, knowing the subject inside out isn't enough, you need to learn how MS ask their questions, and how they try and catch you out. I'd say that, if anything, you're fortunate to have an employer, in this day and age, willing to pay for the exam. You can always call their bluff on this and say that, if MCP's are so important to their image, they'll have no problems paying for your study materials/a quick 1-2 day course to make sure you've got the MS way in mind before you do the exam!! Got to be worth a try!

Whether it is worth doing is entirely up to you, everyone seems to have MCSE these days and, for me personally, someone currently trying to get back into the contract market within the banking industry *cough* I have to have paper qualifications otherwise they don't even consider my CV, despite over 10 years international IT experience. Its MCSE to be considered, so I have no choice but to jump through the hoops (3 down, 4 to go for me!). Its nothing to do with what I do and do not know, its purely the qualification, which I think is a sorry state of affairs.

You can either decide its a waste of time for you, or else beat MS at their own game, in which case you can learn how to sit their exams and, especially if they are areas you work in and know well already, you can be sitting and passing exams all over the place!

Don't let it get you down, though. You can do it in the real world, and thats far and away the most important thing.

all the best

 

[AHand]

Well don´t be upset!
I´m in Germany and i tell you NOBODY knows what MCSE MCP and all the other fuss is about.
Some guys as you told have their MCSE 2000 and you just can´t work with them.
For me it´s a nice Paper i just wanted to have, and as a guy who decided to go into the computer buisiness a way to start learing the MS way of live ;-) I have to admit it was the ONLY stuff available to me here in germany to get started with IT buisiness. But today my employers don´t even know about MCSE stuff.

But i like to impress other guys with that card... hehehe

Greetings
Andreas Hand
MCP MCSE MCSA

working on MCDBA ;-))

 

[gurner]

It was the first exam i have ever taken, the other techies all past their Win2k Exams on the first try.

But they are all Degree educated, and i am the only one with no qualifications.

but that it isn't the main concern

we are a DB consultancy and i do support and onsite installs and one, it looks good i suppose and two, i am rapidly getting p***ed off with, not the work but the company work ethic.

The massive reluctance to put the proverbial foot down when a client is quite obviously abusing thier position and we still have to drop everything and bend over backwards.

They probably think they have struck gold with the rediculessly low cost of SLAs and the fact that more of them seem to be negociating 15 minute response times.

It has been recommended that we employ more, branch out to other products (if this one current product we support goes under, and it WILL because it is so badly manufacturer supported, then this company is screwed), and the recommendation that clients pay on token calls (a certian number a year) instead of unlimited on a measily amount of return and maximum grief for us is also falling on deaf ears.

anyway back to the posting, i want out, and i suppose again it looks better for me with an MCP.

My employer will only pay for the exam and the book and thats it.

I want to get into something like Mobile Telephony Infrustructure (3G or current) or Network consultancy (installs ideally)

Anything other than MCPs i am going to have to pay for, i was going to get an MCP then pay for a Cisco then possibly Nortel cerification (sort of spread betting rather than placing all in one basket) If i thought the returns were worth it i would probably pay for a training course on it.

but it will cost a lot.

recommendations for a change of track?

 

[gurner]

It has been recommended by a mate, that is just leaving a Firewall/Telephony/Network Hardware specialist to go to a global telephony company, that i also try Nokia and Checkpoint.

Any point?

I don't have this much money

 

[Rob999]

Don't feel bad. Some experience and a Microsoft Prep book is not enough for most people to pass an exam on a product they don't yet know inside out.

My advice is simple - Transcender. Compared to classes it's pretty cheap and it's nothing but what you want - test prep. Write down what you remember about the test while it's still fresh in your mind, particularly the areas that were most difficult for you. Did you get blown away, or do you feel you were pretty close.

Whether or not you take it again is up to you, and you sound somewhat undecided, but if you take it again, get better materials. Good luck.

 

[gurner]

I've got a full set of Trancender CDs,

problem is

1, i should have used it more.
2, It doesn't have XP on it

Although it is going to be priceless for 2000 server and the other 2000 tracks.

perhaps i should try one of them

 

[setnaffa]

It's possible with the m$ books, the transcenders, and a moderate amount of practice...

It's better for some folks to have a class... but I can really tell you that a couple cheap pcs, eval software, and less than perfect books will work!

just passed w2k server last month! Setnaffa is an MCP-W2K (working on W2K) with a few other certs, too...

 

[jtb]

self-study takes more discipline than classroom... which is why my NT4 MCSE happened more quickly than my W2K is... JTB
Solutions Architect
MCSE-NT4, MCP+I, MCP-W2K, CCNA, CCDA,
CTE, MCIWD, i-Net+, Network+
(MCSA, MCSE-W2K, MCIWA, SCSA, SCNA in progress)

 

[butchrecon]

I think when you spend the time to get the certification yourself and put in the long hours studying and building your test network, you tend to apreciate the certification more and are more proud of it. At least that is how I feel. James Collins
Hardware Engineer
A+ Certified Professional
Network+ Certified Professional
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft Certified System Administrator
(What does all that jargon below my name mean? I dont know I am still trying to figure it out!)

 

[GlenJohnson]

Go with the W2K testing. I've taken 70-210 and 70-215. Just failed 70-216, which is a bummer, so I can relate to what your'e talking about. 216 is a really hard exam. Personally, don't think XP is going to be around as long as W2K. (Ever seen an XP Server?) Keep on trying, if only for yourself. Make sure you get 100% on all 3 Transcender tests before taking the MS Test. Good luck and hang in there. (MCSA in the making, no matter what it takes.) Glen A. Johnson
Johnson Computer Consulting
MCP W2K
glen@johnsoncomputers.us
(815)229.0826

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884
"Fortunately, somewhere between chance and mystery lies imagination."
Luis Buñuel (1900-1983); Spanish filmmaker.

 

[NickFerrar]

There are few, if any, people that get a broad enough real life experience to allow them to pass an MCP exam without study.

Back when I did my NT MCPs I failed Server and passed Workstation (did them on consecquitive days). I'm actually a server specialist though. I revised a bit for workstation (read a book the day before) and figured I didn't really need to for server. I got plenty of stick in the office for it to

You really have to revise for them and treat them like other exams, nomatter how much real world experience you have. I found a lot of the questions were borderline trick questions trying to catch you out if you read the question too quickly etc - rather than genuinely test your knowledge of Windows concepts and troubleshooting etc.