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MCSE Certification - An Insiders View |
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In this article I am going to present an insider's view of
this process. What you are about to read is the experience
of an associate of mine. He is an MCSE, or at least he was.
I'll let him tell his story in his own words. You should find
this interesting.
Hi. My name is Steven. I am 48 years old and out of work.
That may seem strange considering that I have a number of
certifications including a Novell CNA and a Microsoft MCSE.
So what's the problem?
To answer that question you need to have some background
information.
I originally went to school for Accounting but lost interest.
I eventually graduated with a degree in business, which at
the time was good for nothing. Then my wife to be brought
home an ad for computer training. This was long before Microsoft
was big. We were still on DOS 3.0. Anyway, I went to school
and learned COBOL and RPG. That did me a lot of good too because
I had no experience and at the time these languages were already
on their way out. I eventually did find a job but working
on PCs. I worked on an Apple III.
This lead to a teaching position, teaching BASIC on TRS 80
computers. Eventually this died out too and I was out of work,
yet again.
To make a very long story short, the cycle continued until
networking became big. I got a Novell CNA and then eventually
a Microsoft MCSE. I was set for life. Or so I thought. But
let me back track just a little.
Before getting my MCSE I had to go through extensive training.
The number of courses I had to take were mind boggling. The
amount of information was mind boggling. I didn't know how
I was going to keep all of that in my head, let alone pass
an exam on it.
Then the first exam came. I failed. I studied more and went
to retake it. Much to my shock, the exam was almost completely
different with probably 70% of the questions different. Yes,
there is so much information in these exams that you can actually
take one of them 3 times (which I had to do) and still not
get a majority of the same questions twice. Finally though,
I passed the first exam and then after a period of nine months
I passed all seven. It was the most horrible time of my life.
But at least I was set.
At least that's what I thought.
At the time of the exam the system was Windows NT 3.51. If
you know anything about computers and Microsoft you know that
this particular operating system is long dead and buried.
And as the changes came, I too became dead and buried.
Why?
To answer that question you have to understand how companies
work. They always feel they have to have the latest technology,
even though what they had was more than adequate to do the
job. Part of this problem though is with Microsoft. They don't
support old systems. So companies are forced to upgrade. With
that comes the forcing of employees to get recertified and
learn the new systems. This is where I just couldn't keep
up. It was hard enough for me to pass the exams the first
time. I wasn't about to even try again.
Sure enough, my company wanted me to learn the new systems
and get recertified. I asked them what would happen if I didn't.
They said they would have to let me go. I saved them the trouble.
I quit.
I am telling you this story for a reason. If you are considering
getting an MCSE certification you need to be prepared for
exactly what happened to me, not just with losing my job if
not getting recertified but the actual difficulties with the
exams themselves. The amount of information is overwhelming
and it won't be easy to pass seven exams. Then be prepared
to constantly have to upgrade your skills as Microsoft isn't
going to stop trying to make more money.
About the Author:
So there you have it. A snapshot overview of the Cisco Certification
options. For more detailed information on each of these certifications,
you can visit our website: http://www.cisco-certification-central.com
Author: Eran Malloch. Formerly a Career Advisor for one of
Australia's largest IT Certification training firms, as well
as many successful years as the owner/operator of his own
IT Training firm, Eran now freelances, offering support for
those wanting to pursue an IT Career, or wanting to advance
in the one they have now. For free news and articles about
Cisco Certification, visit http://www.cisco-certification-central.com
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