After being a c0mputer hobbyist since the late '70's, I decided to quit my aviation job and become an IT professional. I had zero windows NT or 2000 experience. I went to a school for 4 months, immersed myself in the MS Press books, did ALL the excercises, took all the chapter tests, read all 8,000 to 10,000 pages of the books, took 6-8 practice tests for each cert and passed all my A+, MCSE, MCDBA and MCSA tests in 2 weeks. My MCSE helped me get a job on NMCI (the largest private intranet project ever) and I now have 2 years as a pro and, in fact, I am a Tier 3 customer service Rep (part sys admin, part deskt0p support). I have been referred to by other "real" sys admins as a paper MCSE but interestingly enough, I have achieved professionally in 2 years what it took most of them 5-10 years. The certs, like degrees, just show that you have the ability to do something and complete it. You learn alot along the way but if you don't love this work, you are gonna hate it and suck at it. All you folks looking to get certified DON'T GIVE UP. And don't be deterred by the "experienced" IT guys who STILL don't know what they are doing.

And have fun or get out while you can!

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I think there is a difference that most people tend to forget, and that is the difference between a paper cert and an unexperienced cert. If you took all the tests and did not cheat and actually understood the knowledge, then you deserved the certifications. It's the people who cheat that deserve the title as a paper cert.

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After I studied, I took practice tests including ones I made from dumps. The stuff I did not know or get from the MS Press books, I took from the dumps because I could not FIND them in the books. I used the dumps to fill in the blanks that Microsoft did not cover in their study material such as several hypothetical scenarios with many possible correct answers to make sure I gave the answer they were looking for. I would say that my knowledge from proper study helped me about 75% of the way and dumps ensured I would pass. And the great thing is, I came into the industry knowing alot of things that non-certified techs are not even aware of, even with all of their experience! And the people I went to school with.... only 1 out of about 200 besides me ever got certified MCSE and about a dozen MCP's. It takes alot of effort, even if you only cheat to get there! (not that that makes it ok....lol). Knowing how to find information and use it is just as valuable as having a bunch of info stuffed in your head. I can fix anything, even if I have zero experience because I know how to find out what I do not know and most people, especially cheaters, are too lazy for that.

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I find that many people who have been in the IT business for many years think "oh well, mine as well get that cerification".
Even though they feel their 5 years of experience should be good enough to get certified, sometimes its not. Going though the ins and out fix at a PC workshop may not necessarily cover every topic for a certification. So what do they do? Their mentality is that they just "brush up" on certain sections to "get them by".
This..I totally disagree with. Persisitance, studying, on the job training, lab work, hard work, etc are the steps to it....

My two Yen...

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Users...Can't live with'em, can't leave them under the raised floor in the machine room for more than a few weeks...
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those admins are just bitter. You are not a paper cert holder. This being said, that's a bit misleading. You took the tests in 2 weeks, but it took you 4 months to study for the tests. Granted, that's still a lot of knowledge to cram for in 4 months, and one might wonder how much of that you remember at this stage.

But if anything, you have shown the ability to soak up a lot of info in a short amount of time

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I went through a similiar experience in my broadcasting career. "You were only hired because you were a female to fulfill EOE" was something I heard a lot at first. (In a radio station 7 on air jobs go to men. One goes to a woman. Of course, it's evil sex discrimination against men at work in that...)

Anyway, they shut up after I proved myself. It takes a long time & stings in the meanwhile. I can hear your frustration. This can be a great positive force to outperform your peers, but still can be painful.

Stay here. We could use your exam input!

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quote:

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Originally posted by sandy7000
Stay here. We could use your exam input!

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no kidding

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Freak, MA, M.Ed., Net+,I-Net+, Security+, CEH, CEI, CCA, CCNA, MCP+I, MCSA, MCSE NT, MCSE 2K, MCT

iCertify dot net: Free Forum, quizzes, study guides...

FreakNotes.com: free subnetting, DHCP, Network Security study guides! Also 120-page Security+ book and 100+ page Network+ book!

InfoSecWeb.com

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