MCP

MS Certification Profusion Leads to Confusion?

In the latest round of articles posted at one of my favorite IT Certification Websites, GoCertify.com, guest author and full-time trainer Brian Nelson raises some interesting issues about the latest crop of MS credentials, especially the many different flavors of MCTS and MCITP certifications that Microsoft now makes available (with many more to come, too, as soon as Windows 7 goes commercial). Nelson’s basic points might be summarized as follows:

• Microsoft’s decisions to create an MCTS-MCITP-MCM-MS Architect ladder creates too many rungs, with too many possibilities at the lower rungs.
• Hiring managers seem confused about the relative weight and merit of these credentials based on a survey of “mentions by name” at Monster.com.
• Microsoft has been forced to up the ante on its exams, question coverage, levels of difficulty, currency, and validity since the original MCSE came out, but too many people earn MS credentials without really mastering the associated subject matter. This comes largely thanks to multiple-choice exams, which are too easily documented online and reduced to rote memorization to ensure a passing grade.

All of this leads him to conclude that current MS credentials are somewhat debased, and that they’re not worth anywhere near what they used to be in the marketplace, thanks to the implications of the preceding summary points.

FWIW, I tend to agree with this analysis, but don’t think the situation is quite as dire as he paints it to be. In recent conversations with MS Learning I’ve also learned that they’re introducing more simulation- and hands-on based forms of testing, which work much better to assess real skills and knowledge than do multiple choice exam questions. That said, Microsoft’s emphasis on job roles and related credentials works very well for those who understand IT, job roles, and the technologies to which they pertain, and not so well for those who don’t–which probably does include hiring managers at a great many small and medium sized businesses where IT is primarily a necessary evil, rather than an important means to realizing business goals.

What do you think? Are MS certs as worthy as they used to be? Does this mean they’re becoming worthless? As with so many other grey areas in life, I think the truth is somewhere inbetween “moderate worth” and “worthless,” but certainly not all the way down at the bitter end of that spectrum.

MS Re-Betas Exam 70-563 on .NET 3.5 Development

Over the weekend (11/22) Microsoft Learning Manager Jeff Koch re-opened the beta for exam 71-563 Pro: Designing and Developing Windows Applications using the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5. Remember, most MS exams start with 71 in beta, which changes to 70 when they go into production, so this exam will eventually be numbered 70-563. If you want the exam preparation skinny, you’ll find it on an old-style (.mspx) 70-563 Prep Guide page

There are several interesting things about this announcement:

• The original beta period ran from October 13 through 30, 2008; the new period runs from 11/19-12/11/2008. What’s interesting about that is that the announcement on 11/22 follows the start day by three days.
• Microsoft usually gets more takers than seats during beta periods, but the fact that this exam is going into another beta period strongly suggests two possibilities: First (and most likely), that they didn’t get enough takers in the first go-round to completely exercise the exam; second (less likely), that problems with questions surfaced during the first beta–such as those everybody gets right or wrong, neither of which helps to distinguish know-nothings from know-somethings–that are being addressed in a repeat try.
• Might the lack of uptake on the exam indicate a similar phenomenon where the .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 are concerned? Maybe: if you look at .NET Framework 3.5 related credential counts on the MS “Number of Microsoft Certified Professionals Worldwide” page, you’ll see counts that vary from 128 to 240 on the Technology Specialist front. The Microsoft Certified Solution Developer counts, which include mostly older .NET Framework versions at this point but also include some .NET Framework 3.5 numbers, on the other hand, vary between a much more considerable 2391 (Windows Developer) and 7319 (Web Developer), with Enterprise Application Developer at 6073. Right now, it’s hard to say…

With Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 just turning one year old, it’s probably just a new development toolset, environment, and APIs still gathering momentum and finally getting off the ground. Whatever the reason for this extended beta period, it gives Microsoft Developers working on the leading edge another chance to take the exam for free. Check it out on the Beta Announcements blog.

The Next Microsoft Cert Generation Takes Wing

To me, some of the most interesting things abut the recent article in Redmond Magazine entitled “IT Salaries on the Rise” appeared in the various charts that accompany the story. Today’s blog springs more or less fully-formed from the forehead of Chart 4 “Average Base Salary by Microsoft Certification.” Because of the preceding link, I’m not going to reproduce its results wholesale; rather, I’m going to reproduce the numbers from the latest crop of MS certifications–at least, where they’re available. Let me precede that data with an important level set, however: the average base salary from all respondents who lacked any Microsoft certification of any kind was $84,775, so it should be clear that the responding population is older, more senior, better educated, and more experienced than somebody right out of school looking for a first job. In fact, these numbers probably apply best to those at mid-career stages or higher.

With those caveats in mind, here are some numbers to chew on:

Certification AvgSalary
MCTS: SQL Server $88,110
MCTS: .NET Web $86,846
MCTS: .NET Windows $91,438
MCTS: .NET Dist Apps $84,567
MCTS: BizTalk 2006 $87,467
MCTS: MOSS 2007 $78,033
MCTS: Exch07 Config $84,157
MCTS: SharePoint (all) $92,585
MCTS: Vista Config $77,071
MCTS: Vista/Offc desk $82,840
MCTS: SharePoint 3.0 $92,071
MCTS: WinServ08 App $87,849
MCTS: WinServ08 AD $88,274
MCTS: WinServ08 NW $89,143

MCITP: Ent Admin $86,825
MCITP: Ent Msg Admin $79,727
MCITP: DB Developer $84,714
MCITP: Cnsmr Support $97,608
MCITP: Ent Support $72,649

MCPD: Ent App Dev $94,333
MDPD: .NET Windows $91,438
MCPD: .NET Enterprise $94,333

Let me expand the preceding initialisms, so those who may not already know them can understand the hierarchy. MCTS represents the entry-level MS certs, and stands for Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist. MCITP is the admin/application mid-level tier and stands for Microsoft Certified Information Technology (IT) Professional. MCPD is the developer mid-level tier and stands for Microsoft Certified Professional Developer. There’s even a Master tier above the MCPD on the development side and the MCITP on the admin/application side, but it’s still being rolled out (it hasn’t even earned a slot in the chart of MS certifications on their own site yet).

What does this single collection of salary numbers have to tell us? I’m not sure anything I say next should be considered Gospel, but I feel safe making the following claims anyway:

1. The new Microsoft certs are clearly on the radar. They’ve been out for almost three years now and are starting to build momentum, attain name recognition, and are acquiring definite value in the marketplace.
2. Old-line MS topics related to network and server administration, and even Exchange, appear to be taking a back seat to newer applications and technologies, especially SharePoint. I have to think that some of this reflects a way to acquire expertise in new areas quickly and directly, and guess that this balance will change over time.
3. Demand for Windows Server 2003/2008 and new-line technologies must be very strong and pretty new, or I don’t think we’d see the MCTS credentials matching (and in some cases, exceeding) MCITP and MCPD credentials in pay. I’m guessing that this balance will shift over the next couple of years as more companies and organizations jump onto the Server 2008 bandwagon, and more IT professionals draw on more experience in these areas to advance from MCTS to MCITP status.

No matter what your take on these numbers and what they mean might be, you have to admit that something interesting is going on here. I hope this helps give some impetus to read, and some interest in reading, my upcoming series of blogs on the MCTS, MCITP, and MCPD certifications that will follow soon.

–Ed–

New IT Salary Survey Available

In the latest issue of Redmondmag.com, you’ll find a story entitled “IT Salaries on the Rise.” It begins by observing that in times of recession, as goes the economy, so also go salaries–namely, down, down, down. But according to this latest study recent global macroeconomic events “…haven’t made any such visible impact on IT compensation–at least, so far…” Of course, it’s not clear if this is genuinely good news for IT Professionals or just a function of the lag between when the survey was conducted and when its results are published. Only time will tell. But according to this latest report “for a fourth year in a row salaries have risen, as have raises, bonuses, and job stability, sidestepping any rising recessionary tide.”

Industry observers and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics attribute this phenomenon to a function of supply and demand. That is, salaries continue to go up because there are more jobs looking for IT professionals than there are IT professionals looking for jobs. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? But alas, the picture isn’t completely rosy, though the situation is improving across the board for IT professionals, so that even entry level positions should be starting to open up. That said, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics also forecasts losses of 13,000 IT jobs for June (which gives you a good idea of when the survey was conducted) with total IT job losses for 2008 at 44,000. With the latest report from the same agency in early September raising unemployment to a higher-than-expected 6.1 percent, these number may also be on their way up as well.

To me one of the most interesting data points from this survey is that average age and number of years in IT has increased by more than one year since the previous survey in 2007, which indicates that the population being surveyed is pretty static. By extension this means that very few, if any, newcomers at the entry level are feeding into this population. As the survey’s analyst/reporter observes “That’s disconcerting if it provides some evidence that…fewer college graduates will fill IT roles as older workers retire.” An aging demographic poses all kinds of interesting problems, particularly as a cohort (demographics talk for a group of people about the same age, or within 5 years to either side of some midpoint) ages toward the retirement. With the average age of IT professionals surveyed at 42.7, figuring on a retirement age of 67 (by the time we get to 2033, it may be even higher than that!), that means we could be facing serious staffing issues in about 25 years.

Also, quite interestingly, the mean salary for individuals with MCP certification or better is about $7,500 less than that for individuals with no certifications (which I have to believe vindicates my recent blogs and contentions that soft skills play an important role in job success and pay, perhaps more so than do certifications nowadays). That said, I also see very interesting and sometimes surprising numbers for those who’ve already earned some of the new MS credentials: $82,420 for the new MCTS on Vista/Office Desktops, $92,017 for MCTS on SharePoint Services 3.0 Configuration, and an astounding $97,608 for an MCITP on Computer Support Technician. Those interested in MS credentials, particularly the new ones, will want to dig into Chart 4 (link below).

Of the charts in this story, readers are likely to find the following of great interest:

1. Chart 3: Average Base Salary by Job Title
2. Chart 4: Average Base Salary by Microsoft Certification
3. Chart 5: Average Salary by Microsoft Product Expertise
4. Chart 6: Average Salary by Technology Expertise

The section on “Why Certification Matters” is probably also worth a quick read. I’ll be discussing some of these points, and my own perspective on same, in my next blog, in fact.

Thanks, and enjoy!

–Ed–

Why Entry-Level Certs Aren’t Enough to Get You a Job

Pick a popular entry-level IT certification, I don’t care which one: MCP (Microsoft single-exam credential, Microsoft Certified Professional), any major CompTIA cert (A+, Network+, Security+,…), CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate), and so forth. For each of these items, and others I don’t mention as well, I often find myself involved in answering questions that might be summarized as “Let’s assume I earn the . What kind of job will that get me?”

Before I respond to this question, let me make some observations about IT jobs in the civilized world:
1. Right now, it’s an employer’s market. That means employers currently enjoy the upper hand over prospective job candidates, in the sense that there are more candidates looking for jobs, than there are jobs looking for candidates. This goes double for entry-level jobs.
2. IT Certification, especially at the entry level, has become a “checkbox item” for individuals, rather than a “differentiator.” In simpler language, this means employers often expect candidates to hold certain certifications, and find those expectations met rather more often than not, rather than being able to pick outstanding candidates on the basis of whether or not they hold certain certifications. Again, this goes double for entry-level jobs, especially now that so many associate’s and bachelor’s degree programs include certification opportunities or requirements along with the rest of their degree plans.
3. Employers want people with degrees, certifications, AND experience. Anyone who’s lacking in any of these areas is automatically a less attractive job candidate. Paradoxically, the experience criterion even applies to entry-level positions, where a lack of experience is not supposed to matter, but often does matter a lot.

How should aspiring and active IT professionals look at entry-level certs in this light? My answer: “Purely as stepping stones. Treat any other additional benefits as pure gravy, and expect nothing from these credentials.” Entry-level certs have always been designed to certify minimal skills, knowledge, and competence and that’s really how employers treat them nowadays. Gone are the go-go days of the late 90s and early part of this century when any certification looked like a sure ticket to a good job, or a key ingredient for hopping from a current position to a new one.

OK, it’s still the case that certain certs–such as the CISSP, CCIE, SAP Consulting, and so forth–are indeed enough to make the difference between landing a job and missing out on an offer. But entry-level certs appear nowhere in this list, nor are they likely to make this grade any time soon, barring a radical and global economic upturn.

Does this mean that entry-level certs have no value, or that you can skip them? The answer to both of these queries is “No,” and both ultimately point to where the value of entry-level certs really come from–namely, what kinds of things they entitle you to learn and earn next. Hence the term “stepping stone.” Unless you plan to climb to the next rung in a multi-step program that treats a particular cert as a pre-requisite or that satisfies certain component requirements, it may not be worth spending the time, effort, and money needed to acquire one.

‘Nuff said.

–Ed–