alt.certification.mcse - What can I realistically expect to do...

Author

What can I realistically expect to do...

Najena

2003-01-18, 2:24 am

.... with MSCE, MSCA, MCDBA, and MCSD certifications in the IT industry?

I haven't finished my degree yet, and I have no relevant work experience.

I've been using/building/upgrading PC's for the last 8 years. I have a
small network made up of PC's from old parts and a $30 router sitting
around the house that I tinker with. I've also done some dabbling with
Visual Studio and ColdFusion.

Until I finish my degree, would I have any chance of landing a job over my
present $30k with those certs?

Dean S. Lautermilch®²ºº³

2003-01-18, 11:24 am

Your local job market holds the answer as techs are not evenly distributed.
Browsing the Sunday classifieds should give you a good initial impression.

Companies view certs, degrees and experience in different ways.

For some, a degree is all the matters. I have found that banking, legal, and
engineering companies I have contracted for have made a four year an
absolute need for any position. I have seen four year a requirement for help
desk at one major law firm. Sure, someone gets a four year IT degree for
help desk.

For others experience is what counts. Most managers I have known prefer
experience to anything on paper. These people are known to test you on the
spot or send you and a tech they trust into the back for a brutal technical
interview. Many have been burned by those holding paper but lacking the
ability to troubleshoot. There are people out there who can impress you with
paper but really can't fix anything. Getting a degree does not mean you can
troubleshoot.

Others feel that having a MS network means MS certs are mandatory. If you
have the ones they want they are happy. They start out this way but once
they get burned by a bozo they will look for a proven track record.

Each company is a bit different so you have to get out there and apply. If
your local market is flooded with IT people with certs, degrees, and
experience then you are better off staying where you are.

"Najena" <najena@coldmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns93071F572AB76najenahot
mail@209.94.30.21...
> ... with MSCE, MSCA, MCDBA, and MCSD certifications in the IT industry?
>
> I haven't finished my degree yet, and I have no relevant work experience.
>
> I've been using/building/upgrading PC's for the last 8 years. I have a
> small network made up of PC's from old parts and a $30 router sitting
> around the house that I tinker with. I've also done some dabbling with
> Visual Studio and ColdFusion.
>
> Until I finish my degree, would I have any chance of landing a job over my
> present $30k with those certs?

smackedass

2003-01-18, 1:24 pm

With all of them, or with one or several of them? I can't speak for a
recruiter, but I'd be impressed with anyone that had all of them...

smackedass

Najena wrote in message ...
>
>Until I finish my degree, would I have any chance of landing a job over my
>present $30k with those certs?
>

Najena

2003-01-19, 1:24 am

All of them.

Thierry Philippet

2003-01-19, 6:24 am

Hi,

I was in a private banking group in Geneva, Switzerland and I have only a
analyst-programmer paper incomputer and I had the responsability of 250
computers and the previous server administrator didn't have any paper and
not the MSCE. He had responsability of 55 servers and supervising my job.

All of that only for say that if you have "big" knowledge on a activity
sector (25 years for me), you can find job with responsability on all of
banking company. Before this bank I was on an another where the server
administrator and have responsability of all production on this bank...

For your salary is only after when you negociate it.

Regards,

Thierry Philippet

"Najena" <najena@coldmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns93071F572AB76najenahot
mail@209.94.30.21...
> ... with MSCE, MSCA, MCDBA, and MCSD certifications in the IT industry?
>
> I haven't finished my degree yet, and I have no relevant work experience.
>
> I've been using/building/upgrading PC's for the last 8 years. I have a
> small network made up of PC's from old parts and a $30 router sitting
> around the house that I tinker with. I've also done some dabbling with
> Visual Studio and ColdFusion.
>
> Until I finish my degree, would I have any chance of landing a job over my
> present $30k with those certs?

2003-01-22, 2:24 pm

There is no substitute for experience. With little or no experience you'd be
lucky to make over 30K your first year.
One way to get experience is to "volunteer" your time to a non-profit
organization that is in need of IT Services. You can then hone your skills
that way. When I hire a person to consult for me they MUST have
certification and experience. I give every final candidate a hands on
practical exam consisting of Adding/editing user accounts. Performing a
backup, creating a network share and assigning permissions to it. These are
basic things that I do on a regular basis for my customer's so my people
must be able to perform them. I also always ask how they got their
certifications and how long it took them. If they have boot-camp certs I
give them an extensive written exam as well as a hands-on Technical test.
When I hire I need people who can "Hit the ground running". In this current
situation I just can't take the time to train newbies no matter how
promising they seem. I flat out can't afford it. I think this true for any
consulting firm or even large company right now.

With the end of support for NT by Microsoft and the security measures
required by the HIPAA act to ensure privacy of personnal medical data I
believe these 2 things will begin to drive company's to upgrade their
network infrastructure this year whether they want to or not. All signs
point to things not getting any worse and beginning to improve mid-year.

Finally my advice to you is stay where you are and continue getting hands on
experience any way you can. Build a test environment in your living room and
actually do the things the exams test you on. Take your time and make sure
you understand these concepts throughly; Active Directory, DNS, DHCP,
Routing and Remote Access, Client/Server OS Installation and upgrade to
include data backup and migration.

Good luck to you!

"Chance favors the prepared mind"

"Najena" <najena@coldmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns93071F572AB76najenahot
mail@209.94.30.21...
> ... with MSCE, MSCA, MCDBA, and MCSD certifications in the IT industry?
>
> I haven't finished my degree yet, and I have no relevant work experience.
>
> I've been using/building/upgrading PC's for the last 8 years. I have a
> small network made up of PC's from old parts and a $30 router sitting
> around the house that I tinker with. I've also done some dabbling with
> Visual Studio and ColdFusion.
>
> Until I finish my degree, would I have any chance of landing a job over my
> present $30k with those certs?

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