My Goals

MAC_Addy

Ok bare with me.

I am hoping to become:

MCP
MCSE
MCSA
MCDBA
MCAD
MCPD

I've chosen the exams I want to do; I haven't chosen what to do on the MCAD though. Some people have told me to go with the ASP.net.

Which would be best over all?

But my main question is.... Which certification should I go for first? If I take the 70-270 that counts for MCP... and one off the MCSE.

I'm not hoping to become all of those by the end of the year. I am hoping for 2 years from now.

Can anyone help me organize? What to study for first and which exams to take first.

Slowhand

I would say, take one type of technology at a time. If you're pushing for MCSA/MCSE first, then stick with that before you get into development with MCAD/MCSD, or the MCDBA cert. Other than that, just try to pace yourself, learn everything in your own way and time, and you'll do just fine. Make sure you look over the Microsoft MCP site to see exactly what path you have to take, what tests you need, and that way you can set your goals accordingly.

Other than that, speaking from experience with .NET programming, I'd say do the MCAD/MCSD, (or, rather, with the new tracks, MCPD,) before the MCDBA cert, since it's easier to deal with databasing after you've got your programming fundamentals down. (And, I know it doesn't matter which language you do, but I'd recommend going for C# over VB.NET. I'm a big fan of VB, and I wrote in it first, but C# can get you farther and will make you more sought-after by employers.)

Slowhand

Oh, and one more thing I forgot about. . . do yourself a favor and get some Linux/Unix experience under your belt. You'll be a hardcore Microsoft guy, and that's not a bad thing, but you'll set yourself apart from the pack if you have something else, even if it's just the Linux+, to show that you're more flexible than most Microsoft techs.

MAC_Addy

Thanks for your help

MAC_Addy

Slowhand wrote:

Oh, and one more thing I forgot about. . . do yourself a favor and get some Linux/Unix experience under your belt. You'll be a hardcore Microsoft guy, and that's not a bad thing, but you'll set yourself apart from the pack if you have something else, even if it's just the Linux+, to show that you're more flexible than most Microsoft techs.

I think I might go for the Linux+. I know there's a lot of versions of linux out there, which version does the linux+ concentrate on? Also, are there any other linux certs out there?

I have SUSE, but im not sure if that'll do the job.

I appreciate your help very much.

Slowhand

The Linux+ is pretty neutral, and from what I can tell, it focuses pretty heavily on Fedora and SuSE, but I'm sure there's more distros in there. I'd check out the technotes on this site for more information about it. As for other Linux certifications, there's LPI, there's Red Hat's RHCE, Novell is going to do certifications based on SuSE, and if you're looking for something more along the lines of UNIX, there's Sun's SCSA for Solaris 10.

For Red Hat certifications:
https://www.redhat.com/training/

For SuSE certifications:
http://www.novell.com/training/certinfo/

For Sun Solaris certifications:
http://www.sun.com/training/certification/solaris/index.html

For LPI:
http://www.lpi.org/en/home.html

And, of course, more on Linux+:
http://certification.comptia.org/linux/

blackzone

Are you actually going to do window programming in your job?

It'll be quite a waste of time if you arn't.

Just take one cert at a time. Besides, Vista and Longhorn is coming out soon.

And Microsoft's plan on releasing new OS/database server every 3 years.