Is it worth it for a newbie to take the MCITP exam for Windows 7?

heidegger

The 680 one? I have no experience and am trying to complete an AS degree in systems support/help desk.

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Slowhand

If you put in an honest effort, which would include both reading and making sure you get some hands-on experience with the things you're learning, then it's definitely worth it. I'd recommend picking up a copy of MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-680): Configuring Windows® 7, it's a fairly good read and has end-of-chapter lab assignments for you to do so that you get a chance to actually configure Windows 7 and play with the features you just read about.

Chances are, having a good understanding of how Windows 7 works is going to help you in your future career, as will the MCTS status the 70-680 exam gives you. This exam is also a great stepping-stone to other certs, like MCITP: Enterprise Administrator, for example.

Good luck with your studies!

Dr IT

As your work in the Help Desk role ( and pre assuming your users have Win 7 ) i see 680 as a great exam for you and could be handy.

You can use Virtual Box and any virtualization tool to install an Win 7 OS and get some practice . i Completed my Win Xp exam when i pretty much didnot have any working experience so i think it is doable

Good Luck

Dakinggamer87

Good luck in studies!!

it_consultant

heidegger wrote: »

The 680 one? I have no experience and am trying to complete an AS degree in systems support/help desk.

It certainly won't hurt. I think it will be better than doing A+ and you get a taste for MS tests.

ehnde

Yeah, it's worth it. Just don't kid yourself about how easy it's going to be, because it's not. I studied my butt off for that exam

....put so much effort into it that my grades in school suffered. I could have gotten A's but got mostly B's that semester!

You can say you're an MCTS if you pass that exam. You'll also be more qualified than other job seekers graduating with you.

Oh and about A+: I've applied for 4 or 5 jobs so far that have asked specifically if I have A+.

elTorito

Definitely go for it.

I'm currently doing that one, while at the same time studying for MCITP: EA. In my humble opinion, there are parts of 680 that are at least as complex as the MCITP courses. So if you manage to pass it, you're going to have a really solid, applicable set of skills.

Definitely lab any exercises, though. There's just too much stuff to cover, and just reading the text probably won't be enough.

PsychoFin

Since you refer to yourself as a newbie, I'd say that everything that will cause you to learn something new is worth pursuing.

Bl8ckr0uter

heidegger wrote: »

The 680 one? I have no experience and am trying to complete an AS degree in systems support/help desk.

This is a good question as there is a big difference between cost and worth. As a noob I think the MCTS would be worth the cost. Since you are a student it would be like 60 bucks. It also depends on what you want to do. If you want to go into a support role (helpdesk/admin etc) then sure a client exam like Win7 may be helpful. If you want to go into development, maybe not so much.

kurosaki00

I'm a network admin, but my job consist more of Unix/linux troubleshooting and Networking than MS at all.

But I'm currently studying for that cert (680 & 686).
I find it interesting and at some point I want to be able to hold my ground in many different areas on I.T.
I think this certs give you a good basic jump into the MS world, after this we can move to more specific high level certs inside MS world.

Thats my opinion and goal though.
But overall, Knowledge is always good, go for it.

N2IT

heidegger wrote: »

The 680 one? I have no experience and am trying to complete an AS degree in systems support/help desk.

I think it is to be honest.