Re: MCSE - how easy?

Hi,

Buy the books one at a time starting with the client os books. Make sure you complete all the practice labs and have a good play about with the technology - virtual pc/vmware will come in really handy. Book the exams online when you are ready.

I signed up with a distance learning program and ended up paying a lot more money than I needed to. The only advantage I had was a telephone support line - I think I only used this twice and didn't get a proper answer on both occasions and ended up figuring it out for myself. There was also a 1 week workshop included in the price - this was a big waste of time. The trainer was Chinese and spoke poor English. He was also lacking in experience. There were 3 other people on the course with me - 2 of which were really struggling with the course. The first day was a complete write off - the second day they decided to split us off into two groups. Good idea, but it was the same guy teaching both groups going back and forward between the two rooms. To top this off the company went bust before I completed my MCSE and I lost out on the last few exams. Might as well name and shame - the company was called MicroTec and was based in London.

I don't regret doing my MCSE though - the first few MCP's got me my first IT job as a computer technician (which also paid for the remainder of my MCP exams). After completing my MCSE and gaining experience I was able to move on to higher paid jobs.

I've been on a few courses funded by work - some are great. They are all expensive when funding out of your own pocket though. Self study is definitly a good option - can be hard work though and you need to be motivated.

Hope this helps,

David


"MSExchangeStudent" <exchangestudent@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%23jIek0g1IHA.3756@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thank you that helped alot - sorry for posting in the wrong group

So, maybe i can give the easier ones ago myself (like XP and Vista) and write those and enroll for the more difficult exams so that i can have the help of a college if need be?What do you think?


"Florian Frommherz [MVP]" <florian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%23zp7zKg1IHA.524@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Howdie!

MSExchangeStudent schrieb:
Just a question - how easy would you say is it to buy the MCSE set of books, self study it, ask friends and in forums what you dont know; and go write the exams WITHOUT registering at a educational organization.
...or would you advise to do it through a college, technickon, etc?
Obviously you need to have done the coarse to answer the question

There are specific .certification. newsgroups for your questions, just to let you know.

I'm doing this self-study thing myself. It can be quite time-consuming depending on what you know (where your experience is) and how strong your expericence is. There may be fields you work on every day which will be easy to learn but there will be fields you've not touched much yet so they'll be more work in the first place.

It's up to yourself, how much you are of a diciplinite learner and how much time you can dedicate to it. Why don't you just start off with a client exam book, study it (Windows XP 70-270 or Windows Vista 70-620) and see how far you get? The client exams are the easier ones (especially Vista) so you should take one of those - just to get the feeling of how those exams are - but don't get yourself fooled: the server and design exams (design exams are needed for MCSE) are a lot harder. Those questions can be tricky and nasty.

I wouldn't recommend doing this all the self-study-way if you're not that much experienced.

cheers,

Florian
--
Microsoft MVP - Windows Server - Group Policy.
eMail: prename [at] frickelsoft [dot] net.
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