Just passing is never good enough...

Who would ever be happy with just passing? It was not a difficult test. Nobody is perfect, so missing a couple of questions is understandable. Anything more should be cause for reconsidering your career choice. Is that rubbing it in? 968 today... Really, it was nothing. See you all in the 290 forum. Peace out.

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empc4000xl

HAHAHA if it was only true.

I'll take someone who struggled to pass and possibly failed a few times, over a know it all anyday. The guy that struggles will be more willing to learn and listen, instead of some punk who things just becuase he can score higher than everyone else is the best to do the job. Working on the gear is just a part of it. People skills, Communication, Personality all come into play in this field. Those I just mentioned are often the killer of many IT careers, than the guy who accidently brought down a certain service.

leefdaddy

lol passing is good enough for me.

Mishra

What study material did you use?

astorrs

I'll go with empc4000xl on this. Soft skills are just as important as technical ones.

As for the 70-270 exam (I just sat it this afternoon) I was surprised at how arcane some of the questions were. I have been an IT pro for about 12 years and was a beta tester for XP, but I really had to think about some of these - they just haven't come up for me in years.

So for someone new to IT to know that "winnt.sif is for CDs while unattend.txt is for RIS" - who cares - thats what Google's for when you find yourself needing to implement that particular piece. I wouldn't consider that knowledge to be relevant, I would much rather have someone who struggled with the exam, kept at it, and then passed it - you know there is a very real level of commitment there; there is no reason for that person to "re-evaluate their career" - thats ridiculous.

Oh and just so were clear bdrebenstedt (and maybe to knock you down off your high horse a little bit), I got a 984 on 70-270 (in ~35 minutes) and 1000 on 70-282 (in ~50 minutes) today. What does that mean to me? Nothing. I passed, that's all that matters.

ilcram19-2

dude you talking about windows xp lol come on, if you dont know windows xp all the way around you screw lol i wouldnt be bragging about the score unless i made 1000 and not even i made 963 on my ccda and i not bragging abou it come on windows xp lol

astorrs

ilcram19-2 wrote:

dude you talking about windows xp lol come on, if you dont know windows xp all the way around you screw lol i wouldnt be bragging about the score unless i made 1000 and not even i made 963 on my ccda and i not bragging abou it come on windows xp lol

huh?

bdrebenstedt

I just had to check back to see how many people I riled.

I’m posting this for the young people out there who are reading some of the responses to my previous post. Who really cares about the blustering ones? I don’t usually run around posting comments online, but, while searching for a free online practice exam to kill an hour before I took the actual test, I saw some posts here regarding some low scores and backslapping in response to people passing with those low scores. I hate it when people set their sights so low. We need more people in IT like that person with the screen name astorrs. He/she claims the scores mean nothing to him/her, but I suspect he/she expects that kind of productivity from himself/herself.

I make the comments about needing people in IT with high standards and people possibly reconsidering their career choices as somebody who has experienced difficulty staffing an IT department. You see, in IT we are not producers. We are support staff. As such, our primary responsibility is to solve problems. If these tools were usable by laypeople right out of the box, there would be no need for us. The simplest problem I can imagine is taking one of these tests. The objectives are laid out. The answers are published and readily available. All we have to do is master the objectives (defined and explained in black and white). If we cannot solve this problem, how are we going to solve a real world problem when the answer is not provided for us? Over the course of my career, I have had to design a physical network a few years after learning the difference between a hub and a switch (I was originally a programmer). I have had to learn how to configure a phone system after the vendor failed to install it according to our specifications. I have had to configure a dialer under for the same reason. In each of these instances, I had no prior experience or training. I had nothing even close considering the fact that my expertise was not on the networking/telephony side. I may or may not have done the job well according to somebody else’s standards (for those ready to blast anonymously), but I solved the problem at hand. And I did it in a timely fashion. That is what the non-IT person is going to expect of you. Heck, that is what the IT person should expect from you as well. (For those ready to blast: The things I've done probably weren't very challenging either, and I'm sure you have, and everybody else has, done many things more difficult - and done them better.)

Mastering the material for the purpose of taking the exam will not make you a hugely successful IT professional. At least half of the material covered (a conservative estimate) will not be used extensively during the course of your career. The point behind studying it is to plant a seed. It’s no different than studying Shakespeare in your English Literature class when you prefer to read Anne Rice. It’s like learning about the theory of utility when your career pursuits lean toward accounting. The seed is there should you ever need to plant it, nurture it and watch it grow. The next time you see somebody ghosting images, you just might think, “There might be a better way to do that.” Then you might Google sysprep. Is it important that you know the ins and outs of sysprep right now? It probably isn’t, but planting that seed could be very beneficial. As a manager doing the hiring, that is what I would hope to get from somebody who puts MCSE after their name. (I do hope you would never stop with just an XP test as that proves you are qualified to do little more than work on a help desk – maybe.)

For those who are offended by my original post (or this one), get over it. For those who are looking forward to a prosperous career as an IT professional, set you goals high. It is important that you’re a nice person, can communicate effectively and all of that. It is also important that you bring a well-rounded understanding of your field with you as well. Lest I forget, never be a know-it-all either. The day you stop learning is the day you stop living. Ten days ago I would not have been able to pass this exam. Today, I cannot pass the 290 exam. In about two weeks, I will and I will score in the high 900's. While timelines can vary, those are the same kinds of goals you should set for yourself. As a wise man once told me, if you're going to do something, you ought to do it right.

Peace out for good this time. And good luck to all of you.

P.S. The materials I used for this exam: Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft XP Professional Self-Paced Training Kit, Microsoft Press; and TechSkills (Looking forward to returning to the workforce after becoming physically disabled, Social Security was kind enough to pay for TechSkills to get me back to work - can't pass it up when somebody else is paying. TechSkills is okay with practice tests and hands-on labs, but, to be honest, the book and its exercises are enough to prepare for the exam. Actually, TechSkills hands-on labs kind of blow for th Microsoft stuff - Virtual PC over the Internet. They were good for the Cisco stuff, though - I took the CCNA exam before this.)

astorrs

Now that you've taken your time to explain your position I find we are in agreement on almost everything. Your original post wasn't as eloquent... and so we all jumped on what appeared to be someone being overly condescending.

As for my scores, they mean nothing to me because I know my experience speaks for itself and I'm only going back madly writing tests because of the Second Shot offer (I don't really have time to study for them so this way if I don't pass them I can take a few days/weeks to brush up on the areas I don't use regularly).

With that said, anyone who scores above 850 on an MS test should be proud - it shows they grasp the subject matter and everyone should be aiming for it. Should you go back and reattempt the exam if you score below that? No, but that is why you get the exam results highlighting the areas you had trouble with. If there is any one area that really stands out you should probably spend a little more time on it before moving on to the next exam.

P.S. the "a" in astorrs is for Andrew.

sprkymrk

Actually I thought his first post was just a little bit of good hearted patting himself on the back. A little bit of a show off, but we all get excited when we pass an exam with a high score.

You blew it completely for me in your second rant, I mean post. You seem have a big head and may have to eat your words some day, so be careful. Thank you for sharing all your world-saving accomplishments as an example for us mere-mortals to follow. As for this comment:

bdrebenstedt wrote:

For those who are offended by my original post (or this one), get over it.

All I can say is that you need really to get over yourself. I'll congratulate anyone who passes an exam because they put forth effort and made the grade. I don't believe in setting low standards, but MS set a passing score of 700 and for those who pass, I say they deserve a pat on the back, not a kick in the pants as you have done.

doom969

bdrebenstedt wrote:

.... The answers are published and readily available. ...

... Today, I cannot pass the 290 exam. In about two weeks, I will and I will score in the high 900's....

We get that you're proud of scoring 1000. No need to kick everyone else in the nuts.

Some person with lots of exp with xp might score 890 because he gets tested on an obscure feature he never used and still be really excellent supporting the os, while someone might score 1000 because he's good at memorizing books but be bad at putting it in practice.

Heck, one person could take the exam 3 times and get 3 totally different scores based on the question pool he got.

NetAdmin2436

Nick Burns...err, I mean bdrebenstedt,
Wow, I'm just glad you're where you are and I'm in Minnesota....hopefully a long ways away from you.

While I agree everyone should try and up the bar and achieve higher scores, belittling others with lower scores with a childish rant online isn't a good way and shows a lack of class.

Sorry to say but scores don't really mean that much anyhow, low or high. I know a few IT people with NO certifications who have forgotten way more than you and I will ever know. Not to mention the majority of self made Millionaires are high school drop outs.

undomiel

You probably could pass the 290 right now, just not with the high score you expect.

As for low scores on the XP exam I consider them meaningless as well. I got a low score on the XP exam yet I know I can provide support better than most for XP. I got a much better score on the 290 with only a little more study and a lot less experience, but I know that I still know the material or where the look it up in a jam. I never studied for the ACT/SAT yet I scored very high. It's meaningless. It's just a number. Pass/fail is all that really counts on these exams. Don't know if they'll be good in your IT department? That's what interviewing is for. You can test them then to really see what their knowledge is like. I had an interview the other day where I got hit with all sorts of technical questions from what does pinging 127.0.0.1 do to explaining how I would go about designing a secure WAN. I didn't know everything but I gave what knowledge I did know which probably would not have been a 1000 score and yet it still impressed the guy. So again what I'm saying is just that test scores are not everything and congratulations to those who pass and good studying to those who haven't passed or haven't tried yet.

ilcram19-2

You seem have a big head and may have to eat your words some day

yeap let him talk we'll see, i've never seen some one so proud of passing the 70-270 come on,
everyone is expected to pass that test with a good score there is not challenge in tha test, plus the test doesnt cover all there is for windows xp it just covers the stuff you shuld know, i really hope you make same grade or better on the following tests

Claymoore

I didn't think I would have to say this here, but...

Please don't feed the trolls

Technowiz

For some reason this thread reminds me of Billy Madison triumphantly throwing his arms in the air and declaring himself the smartest man alive after winning the 3rd grade spelling bee.

astorrs

bdrebenstedt wrote:

.... The answers are published and readily available. ...

I never noticed this... did he use a ****?

Claymoore wrote:

I didn't think I would have to say this here, but...

Please don't feed the trolls

I know, I know...

snadam

Claymoore wrote:

I didn't think I would have to say this here, but...

Please don't feed the trolls

yea but its so hard NOT TO!

ilcram19-2

I didn't think I would have to say this here, but...

Please don't feed the trolls

come on man he wrote a whole assay he should get an answer back lol

michael_knight

I would comment but I see everyone else had my same sentiments