But there is one thing you can’t deny, and that’s the proliferation of the MCSE name/brand and how recognizable it is. Well Microsoft has gone and brought the name back! It no longer stands for Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer however. It now stands for Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert, so all you professional engineers out there can relax.

You can read more about it here.

-RP

I have written many an exam and done quite well on them in my IT career but I still feel that there needs to be some sort of governing body that should manage quality control and insure consistent testing standards across the board just like we do for Universities and High Schools.

All to often I find exams full of spelling and grammatical errors, or just plain wrong answers that would make the beginner test taker panic out right if they were dipping their toe into the waters of certification for the first time. By having a governing body to ensure that these certifications are created and done properly, I think we would eliminate a lot of the crappy tests out there and also eliminate a lot of the “paper” certified people out there as well.

Also all to often companies use certifications not as a point of learning but as a point of marketing instead. Hoping to prod the people who have the certifications into becoming drones of pushing their product just because they have the certifications.

-RP

The classroom time will always give you the opportunity to ask those questions in class of the teacher that you otherwise couldn’t get answered through another medium. This kind of one on one interaction is always great for the budding IT engineer first venturing out into the world of certification.

The Microsoft Press study guides direct from Microsoft are also great. You can easily find them at Amazon and order them online. They are larger than some of the smaller exam cram books but they definitely cover all the material.

Then the approved practice exams are the final step. I find that the Microsoft recommended Self Test Software exams are great as they really do a great job of testing on the proper exam objectives to prepare you for the exam. There are a lot of companies out there that claim they have good practice tests but the reality of it is that a lot of them are just garbage.

Finally, last but not least….schedule the exam already!!!! I see lots of people who have every intent of writing the exam but never go and schedule it. So what ends up happening is they keep postponing and putting off the exam until they never actually end up writing it. By forcing yourself to schedule the exam you are putting yourself into the exam/study mindset and that will give you the necessary push to go out there and do it. Trust me, it works!

 -RP

One of the reasons is because everyone and their dog thinks they know IT but unfortunately it’s getting increasingly harder for employers to tell the difference between a wannabe and the real deal. As someone who has been regularly engaged in the hiring process over the course of my career, I can tell you about two things that stand out on a resume for an IT prospect – experience, and certifications.

One without the other just doesn’t cut it. You can have all the experience in the world but if you don’t have the certs then people will wonder how good that experience actually is. You can have a billion and one certs, but if you don’t have the experience with actual projects people are going to think you’re all flash and no substance. The “paper MCSE” comes to mind here.

So how do you get both of these? Well if you are having problems finding work, what you should do is during your education get enrolled in a good co-op program (combination of study and work) where your school places you in a company to learn the trade for a few months of the year. This way you graduate with both experience and theory.

The other way is to volunteer at many organizations that need volunteer IT help. This is a great way to get experience and do something good for your community. This also looks great on resumes. This will also help you when you go to write your certification exams because some experience in the real world will always help you pass those exams.

I always hear people make fun of certifications, but those are usually the people who don’t have the kahonas to go and write them and feel like they have to put them down to legitimize themselves. Instead ignore those naysayers and go out and get that experience and those certifications. Together that will put you a cut above the rest!

-RP