Certification Advice

Haroon_Khan

Hello,

I am 35 and working as IT Officer in a company for the last 5 years. I have done BS in Computer Sciences. Now I am searching for a new job and surprisingly I haven't got a single certification of any kind. I am interested in MCSA 2012 and I have the following material so far:

Trainsignal / CBT Videos.
Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 Ref Guide

Q1: How long should I Study before taking the first exam 70-410?
Q2: Is the material above enough?
Q3: How will I know that I am ready for the exam?


Suggest books, Gudies, Videos, websites

Thanks.

E Double U

No one can tell you how long you should study or if you are ready for an exam. Study until you are comfortable with the material. Take practice exams to gauge your progress. Then schedule the exam before your deadline or when you are just tired of studying.

636-555-3226

Can I ask why you are looking for a certification? I'm not sure what you do now or are looking to do in the future, but most IT officers I know wouldn't get a lot of resume-boosting benefits from a MCSA. Usually being an officer is enough of a resume booster

Lexluethar

Depends on your server experience, if you work with 2012 daily it only may take a month of studying. If you rarely to cure it, you will have to lab a lot and it may take a year or more (realize MCSA is 3 exams).

To answer your questions:
1. Depends on your experience, if you work on it daily probably a month of study, if you don't touch the technology you will be hard pressed to pass the exam unless you lab and study for a few months.
2. Those are quality material. I've always found Pluralsight / CBT Nuggets and the like to be lacking. They usually cover 60% of the exam and leave out key pieces you will be tested on. I generally go with the Microsoft Publication for the exam for these exams (taking the 417 this fall) and then go off of the exam guide provided by Microsoft. Everyone learns differently, for me i work on this stuff daily so i read the book, create an exam outline with answers to the exam guide and that is enough for me to pass (usually about 2 to 4 months of studying per exam - i have a family and life so i can't study every night).
3. Once you feel confident when asked on ANY AND ALL topics on the exam blueprint. MS has practice exams as well, but I've found getting a passing score on those don't really mean much.

cyberguypr

Yeah, IT officers are managers, rarely hardcore practitioners. Are you looking for a practitioner or a manager job?

Ritual

i use an IT Pro TV subscription which includes Transcender practice tests. so far it has worked really well for me.

Besides that I would make sure you have the Microsoft Press Books (Exam Refs), and maybe a study guide.

And of course build out a Hyper V lab and use TechNet.

I would give yourself a couple of months on each exam. Microsoft exams are notoriously challenging to some.

bettsy584

CBT Nuggets quality has dived in recent years IMO. I used to like training videos, now I cannot stand them, maybe it's me being more experienced or the content does not even scratch the surface.....

Like many have said studying is not a set amount of time. It's down to your understanding, experience etc of each topic. I took 9 months to complete my first MCITP (old MCSA) back in 2011/2012, 3 months per exam. I had about the same amount of experience you have now but had not touched anything other than basic help desk stuff.

MVA, Technet, Lab time is how to pass certs.