MCSA in 6 months doable?
The Shadow
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I just a got a new job and I have to get my MCSA, Security+, and Network+ in 6 months or else I loss my job. I've been there for about 6 weeks now, and I passed the Security+, and I am taking the Network+ next weekend. Then I am gonna start with 70-270 exam. Is it possible to get all of these certifications in just six months?
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That being said, it's definitely doable.
CompTIA Network+ March 7, 2008
MCTS Vista 620 June 14, 2008
MCP Server 290 Nov 15, 2008
MCP Server 291 In Progress (Exam 12/28/09)
Cisco CCENT In Progress
MCP Server 291 In Progress
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Grab yourself a spare PC and stick Server 2003 on it and have a play. Its by far the best way of learning
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It just depends on your experience and the amount of quality time you can dedicate to studying. If you have been working with XP/2003/Vista for a few years in a corporate environment it should be no problem for you to study up to get into exam shape and pass the tests. If this is relatively new to you, then expect to spend a lot of time in the lab or hitting the books. Since your employer is requiring you to get certified, is he providing time and resources to prepare for the exams?
If your experience is in a vast amount, this should be an easy task. The main thing would be if you can retain the info learned/tested on in that short amount of time if your experience is limited.
Once MCSE 2k3 completed:
WGU: BS in IT, Design/Management
Finish MCITP:EA, CCNA, PMP by end of 2012
After that, take a much needed vacation!!!!!
Are they paying for the certifications?
I wish I would get a threat like that. I might just get off my Ass.
Study for 291 vs. GTA IV
GTA IV seems to always win.
I was of course, unemployed for 5 of those months but I would still say it's doable.
I little bit about my background, I have a BS in information systems, I've passed the CISSP exam (which was a major beast that I never want to have to go through again) and I am currently waiting to fulfill the experience requirement, I've been working with Server 2003 and Active Directory for the past 3.5 to 4 years; and I have server 2003 running in vmware.
I have to take the 70-270 exam in order to get reimbursed for the exam, since we don't run vista and no desire to run it.
I kind of wonder about this. I have heard other people say it is better to go with 620 as well. But I dont see ANY Vista boxes at any place I have worked at since Vista debuted. Okay one or two places had Vista running on a laptop or a GX270 over in the corner of the IT room. But you go out in the cubicles and you see more Macs than Vista boxes.
MCSE Test 70-290 70-291 70-284 12n1 EXAM QA PDF+SIM+LAB - eBay (item 280312869298 end time Mar-14-09 16:45:04 PDT)
OTOH the Microsoft press book for 70-270 is about 1400 pages? Well its as thick as my other MSP book thats 1500 pages but it doesnt have sequential page numbers. Maybe get the Sybex book and an exam cram book?
No, they aren't. These are likely to be **** which wont do you any favours at all. Memorising a bunch of Q's and A's is a waste of time, understanding the material is key.
I'd go for the MS Press/Sybex book (see each forum for the best recommendations) plus CBT Nuggets (if you can afford them) and use a respected testing software vendor such as Transcender.
Good luck with the MS exams!
Unless you have many years experience, practice exams alone are not going to be enough. I always recommend multiple study resources. Get a book (MS Press and Syngress are great), go through the Technotes, setup a lab and go through the exercises in the book, then finally go through some practice questions to see your weak areas.
I'd still do 620 out of your own pocket. You're talking $125, plus prep material.
Since it gains you MCTS certification, along with giving you a leg up on MCITP, I think it's worth spending your own money on it instead of bothering with the XP exam. The small price in $ you pay is worth more to you for your career, IMO.
Again, I am highly skeptical of 620. To me it is like taking a test for Windows ME just before XP came out. I do grunt level IT everywhere in the SF bay area. From SF to Mountain View, the peninsula and Oakland. I literally see more win 2k stuff out there than Vista. Lately I am seeing win 7 everywhere. All the developers at my morning job are running win 7. I personally cant wait until 7 comes out for reals. And I cant wait until you can cert on it.
But if you want to take the easy path I suppose 620 can fly as an elective exam for MCSE as well as the OS exam for a few others. If you are doing home user support than I guess 620 makes sense as well.
I'm confused. You're saying getting certified in Vista is bad because it will be obsoleted by Win7 certifications when they become available, and to fix this, you should get certified in WinXP?!
Win 7 looks really good so far, and may be able to get away from the stink of vista. In a year or two I can see some places wanting to migrate to 7, if for no other reason than because XP will actually, finally completely be dead and unsupported by MS.
You won't likely see two operating systems come and go and not be adopted. Companies are eventually going to use Windows 7 either because they want to, or because they have to. A lot of what you can learn about in Vista will carry over to Windows 7, that's why it's a sensible choice.
Vista's been pretty widely adopted by companies that are willing to spend the money on hardware, especially here in the Bay Area. My last employer, my current employer, and just about all the partner companies we work with use Vista Business or Ultimate as their standard workstation OS. Smaller places, or "low tech" places that may not employ internal IT tend to shy away from new things. As for issues, there have been some. Then again, I remember the nightmare days of XP just after it launched, so it hasn't been much different for me.
Either way, don't be too scared off by the hype that Vista is "just bad". If you want to wait for the Windows 7 exams, there's nothing wrong with that, but you'll have to wait until about 30 days after Windows 7 is released to the market; it just doesn't sound like you have that much time to wait. Having played with the Beta of 7, I don't see it as much different than Vista with some cooler features, and you can benefit a lot more from training on Vista and going to 7, than training on XP and making the much bigger leap to 7. (This is especially true if you haven't done any work with Vista; you'll be behind when it comes to working with Windows 7 once it's out of Beta.)
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