MS Certification Training.

[Ed2020]

Hi,

I've finally decided to get my finger out and study for an MCAD or MCSD qualification. I'm interested in either doing one of the boot camp style courses or solely home learning.

Can anyone recommend any good UK-based companies that offer this kind of course?

TIA,

Ed Metcalfe.

Please do not feed the trolls.....

 

[jrbarnett]

Speaking as somebody who did an MCSA via a bootcamp (and found I knew more than the instructors) so went the self study route for my MCDBA/MCSE:

The best way I've found is to buy the books, then set yourself up a test environment at home and study and code away.
When you're happy that you are ready to pass the exam, book it and try then.
Its far cheaper than a bootcamp or instructor led courses.
However, it does take away from personal time.

Having said that, I can't recommend doing any vendor certification of any sort unless you already hold a degree (not necessarily in IT/computer science), since most employers take these far more seriously than any vendor certification.

John

 

[mattKnight]

Having said that, I can't recommend doing any vendor certification of any sort unless you already hold a degree (not necessarily in IT/computer science), since most employers take these far more seriously than any vendor certification

So how do us poor people who don't have a degree get any kindof qualification that means anything?

Take Care

Matt
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

 

[jrbarnett]

A qualification (whether degree, diploma, cert or other) is only worth something when it gets you or helps get you ahead of other people in one way or another.

For example:
* New Job
* Payrise
* Promotion

I've worked with employers who thought my IS degree was worthless, likewise I currently work with an employer who thinks my certs are a waste of paper.
However, I use the knowledge gained from the study from the certs every day, so the study itself was far from wasted. Its the knowledge, rather than the qualification itself, that is more likely to get you that new job. A company will appoint a candidate because of their skills/expertise making them the best person for the particular post, rather than because of the pieces of paper they hold.

Generally speaking, if you look at the job boards, you will find many ask for a degree ahead of a vendor cert, and those that ask for vendor certs ahead of degrees typically will be organisations that need to maintain a number of certified staff to retain "Certified Solution Provider" or similar status, although this is not always the case.

Thinking long term, a degree gives you the knowledge to think or apply general principles, whereas a certification gives you a piece of paper in one specific version of a product. The knowledge gained during the degree would be applicable to specific products (eg relational databases in my case). Although I studied Oracle at University, I don't touch it now - I use SQL Server mostly, with MySQL secondary. I've also used Sybase and PostgreSQL over the years, but they all apply the standard relational database principles.

Matt - in order to answer your question: to get a qualification that means something (I'm assuming you don't have a degree already given your comment), study the products, tools, techniques that you use or want to use in depth.
Its the knowledge of the product, rather than the qualification in itself, that will get you that job.

John

 

[Crowley16]

I once did a 5 day development course, and found it was a very fast way to get me into working with the technologies in question, plus gave me a good grounding on the stuff I needed to know.

however as for taking an exam immediately afterwards, I probably would have failed.

Still, if you have the money, I would recommend a training course if you are a beginner. If you are already familiar with the technology in question, then don't bother.

Also, from my limited experiance to interviewing, I would value real life relevant experiance a lot more than a certificate.

--------------------
Procrastinate Now!

 

[Ed2020]

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

I'm not a beginner in the topics I want to cover for my certification so I may choose to go the self-stufy route, rather than instructer-led training.

I would still be interested in any recommendations as to companies that provide this sort of training...

Cheers,

Ed Metcalfe.

Please do not feed the trolls.....

 

[NickFerrar]

I'd highly recommend a decent bootcamp, I did mine at

http://www.thetrainingcamp.co.uk

There's a thread running about bootcamps here

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1335290&page=1

They aren't an easy option but can be a quick option if you have a decent background in server stuff.

 

[Ed2020]

Nick,

Thanks for the URL to the other thread and the recommendation. I'll check them out.

Ed Metcalfe

Please do not feed the trolls.....

 

[regcw]

The degrees and certs DO help!

HOWEVER nothing beats experience (I've got 20 years of it)
and can prove my knowledge during an interview.

What companies are looking for these days is..

1. Having some certs.
2. Having relevant experience (the more, the better)
3. A passion for what you do (this may sound a bit weird but I still love what I do... Sr. Network Administrator)

I've managed to survive the dot-bomb era, lay-offs, mergers, the off-shore calamity and end-user support hell.

Now the IT pendelum is swinging back OUR way folks. As the cost of those cheap coders abroad starts to go up in smoke and companies are really, REALLY scrambling to hire competent IT professionals they're looking for a mix of IT education, experience in the trenches and now some business process-savy.

I'm happy to say that I have all three points.