How important is MCTS for jobs??

som.nitk

Hi,
I have a question related to MCTS, although it is not related to the preparation or FAQ's..

I have just started preparing for the 70-536 exam around a week ago and from what I can see, this exam expects you to remember the Base Class library and its methods and functionalities.

It does not stress on the logic development or the intricacies and internal working of the technology. So if a person memorises the Library, its methods and the basic working of the classes, I think he will pass the test..
Am I wrong??

I have seen the Sun Java Certification questions and with all due respect to Microsoft, I feel that the Sun Certifications have much more depth than Microsoft Certifications, which only require to skim the surface.

This leads me to ask: How relevant is this certification in the industry?
I mean, u pass the test, and I am certain that after a month u would forget all those tons and tons of classes that you have memorized..

So, does having this certification help in getting better jobs? Because u just know the technology but you need not go deep to pass this test.

That is my question..
Thank you.

tjcasser

As I frequently say, it all depends on who is placing the value on the exams.

Having both of the credentials you've mentioned - SCJP (multiple versions) and the various MCTS certs in .Net 2.0... I don't know that I'd say, per se, that I think that Microsoft's are more easily passed by brute-force studying. I think both of these credentials certainly hold out the possibility that someone with sufficient recall could memorize and pass, but I don't know that it really accomplishes anything to do so. (You end up running into a wall when it comes to proving your ability with the underlying technology.) Plus, and let's be honest here, we all sit down and look at the documentation now and again while working, none of us are expected to have ALL of the language memorized for immediate recall while writing code.

The fact is this - no multiple choice exam, I feel, is going to adequately address the development of logic or intricacies of technologies. That requires a practical exam, which is a more subjective testing of one's grasp on a technology which can be biased by any number of factors. Sun does, for instance, offer a practical exam for Java programmers (SCJD), and I know that I saw, at some point, discussion of putting 'simulation' questions onto the MCPD exams for .Net. Do I know that it's going to help? Not one iota - it would all depend on the format.

All that said... are the certifications relevant? Do they help landing a job?

To the former... definitely. I think they give at least some form of an objective qualification of your potential grasp of the technologies. (I couch that very hesitantly because I'm still a believer that knowledge needs to be validated, whether we're talking certifications or degrees.) I think it demonstrates that you've achieved in some fashion or another some form of mastery with the objectives.

To the latter... that's harder to address. I know that certifications have helped my company to land clients, on the basis of increasing the client's comfort level with the use of a given technology in their situations. And I landed my current job, in part due to my certifications at the time. I wouldn't hold it out as a hard-and-fast rule that such is the case in the industry at large, though.