MCSD

[thegameoflife]

I have now passed the 70-100 and 70-175

What exam should I take now?

For my elective the Microsoft site says that SQL7 is an option. Can I take a SQL2000 exam in place of the SQL7 exam?

 

[culshaja]

Yes, you can take the SQL2000 exam as an elective. I would take 70-176 next, especially if you have recently done 70-175 as a lot of stuff will still be fresh in your mind.

James James Culshaw
james@miniaturereview.co.uk

http://www.miniaturereview.co.uk

http://www.caninerescue.co.uk

 

[Rob999]

I did the 175, 176, 100 and 229 for my MCSD. I went thru the same "7 vs. 2000?" question and chose 2000 because we had started using it AND because if you take those four tests, you only need to take 2 more for your MCDBA. Also, I believe the 229 will be valid for the .Net exams (and others), whereas I doubt the earlier exam would be. It's also supposed to be a bit easier.

I too would take the 176 next. The Desktop exam is muuucccchhhhh more difficult - pay a lot of attention to the Package & Deployment portion of the exam. Good Luck!

 

[Bstrick75]

I've been reading alot from other forums about how the market is flooded and how certifications don't mean anything any more. I've also heard that the amount of money IT professionals have decreased recently. This is always from the MCSE and CCNA crowds but not the MCSD or MCDBA crowds. I'm curious about how you all feel about the job market right now.
Are certifications pointless? Are you all having hard times locating decent jobs? What about the pay? Any suggestions for an aspiring developer?

Any help is apprechiated.

Bobby Strickland

Visual Basic
Visual Basic.net

 

[thegameoflife]

it's hard to say. without the experience a certification is no good at all. when I started my mcsd training back in dec of 2001 my teacher said world wide there was around 20,000+ mcsd professionals. compare that to the several hundred thousand msce's.

from what I’ve seen the pay scale for all or most IT professionals has decreased greatly over the past several years.

when looking for jobs use all the job sites and headhunters.

if i can be of any help let me know.

 

[Bstrick75]

Yeah I have noticed the available jobs have significantly decreased. To make myself more marketable, I've been reading all I can about project management and systems engineering. I figure a programmer is a dime a dozen. But someone who can actually come up with solutions to big problems and then implement the fix is a rare find.