Questiong About Listing Certs on a Resume

SrSysAdmin

I just passed the 70-298 on Friday and am now in the awkward position of having an additional cert beyond just the MCSA but am not yet an MCSE. How would you go about listing this on a resume?

I'm a consultant for a big company and often have to submit my resume for bids so it is important that I keep it updated at all times.


Thanks in advance!

colemic

You are still an MCSA until you pass the other exam(s). You could list MCSE as In Progress with an expected completion date... but I think I would just keep the MCSA designation for now.

saspro

You did 298 before 293 & 294?

Depending on the position I either list all as individual certs or just list MCP & MCSA.

Psoasman

SrSysAdmin wrote: »

I just passed the 70-298 on Friday and am now in the awkward position of having an additional cert beyond just the MCSA but am not yet an MCSE. How would you go about listing this on a resume?

I'm a consultant for a big company and often have to submit my resume for bids so it is important that I keep it updated at all times.


Thanks in advance!

You could just put it below your MCSA on the resume, or it could be covered in a cover letter.
I would take the 299 exam next, since you just passed the 298. The material is basically the same, 298 is designing, 299 is more along the lines of what it is. That would give you the MCSA:Security specialization. If you haven't sent your Security+ to Microsoft, you should. It will give you credit for the MCSA:Security, if you go that route.

Is your company having you do a lot of designing? I see you have the 297 planned for later on.

SrSysAdmin

saspro wrote: »

You did 298 before 293 & 294?

Depending on the position I either list all as individual certs or just list MCP & MCSA.

Yeah, is that not normal? I like security so I wanted to take that test. I don't believe there was anything in the 70-298 that I needed from the 70-293 or 70-294. If there is I guess I just knew it already since I've been working with this stuff for years now.

SrSysAdmin

Psoasman wrote: »

You could just put it below your MCSA on the resume, or it could be covered in a cover letter.
I would take the 299 exam next, since you just passed the 298. The material is basically the same, 298 is designing, 299 is more along the lines of what it is. That would give you the MCSA:Security specialization. If you haven't sent your Security+ to Microsoft, you should. It will give you credit for the MCSA:Security, if you go that route.

Is your company having you do a lot of designing? I see you have the 297 planned for later on.

My signature needs to be updated...not planning to take the 70-297 any longer since I took the 70-298.

I did send my Security+ to MS and is included as part of my MCSA. Once I complete my MCSE, I believe all I will need is one more security exam to get that specialization if I choose to...so it may be worth going that route.

saspro

SrSysAdmin wrote: »

Yeah, is that not normal? I like security so I wanted to take that test. I don't believe there was anything in the 70-298 that I needed from the 70-293 or 70-294. If there is I guess I just knew it already since I've been working with this stuff for years now.

Each to their own I guess.

Everyone I know did the 293 then 294 then 297 or 298 (as they're the tricky ones)

Devilsbane

MCSA is unfortunately all you can list. In the interview you can talk about only being 2 exams away. Plus you can have the 293/294 down in a couple months.

Mc5ully

SrSysAdmin wrote: »

I just passed the 70-298 on Friday and am now in the awkward position of having an additional cert beyond just the MCSA but am not yet an MCSE. How would you go about listing this on a resume?

I'm a consultant for a big company and often have to submit my resume for bids so it is important that I keep it updated at all times.


Thanks in advance!

Why don't you just put down MCTS:Win7? Or something similar?

Psoasman

SrSysAdmin wrote: »

My signature needs to be updated...not planning to take the 70-297 any longer since I took the 70-298.

I did send my Security+ to MS and is included as part of my MCSA. Once I complete my MCSE, I believe all I will need is one more security exam to get that specialization if I choose to...so it may be worth going that route.

The 299 will probably be your best bet. As I stated earlier, it covers the same material of the 298 exam. The MS book for it is solid.

saspro

Mc5ully wrote: »

Why don't you just put down MCTS:Win7? Or something similar?

Because 298 is just another MCP (which he's already got 4 of)

Lizano

I would just list the exams you´ve passed. For example, when I had my CCNP Security in progress I listed my cert like this:

CCNA 640-802
Cisco SNRS 642-xxx
Cisco SNAF 642-xxx

apr911

Im of the opinion you are either certified or you are not which in this case means you can only list you are a MCSA.

The fact you passed 70-298 is great but its not a certification in and of itself and while you have an additional exam completed towards your MCSE, you do not have an additional cert beyond your MCSA.

You could list it on your resume if you wish but personally, Im against it. Too often Ive seen "In Progress" or a list of completed exams on a resume where when asked, its found the last exam the person took was 5 years ago. Technically, their MCSE is in progress but clearly they have no intention of completing it. Ive also seen it used often to get by Keyword filters.

It may be great to list completed exams or "in progress" for those who actually intend to finish but I think it looks cheasy, detracts from your accomplishment of earning the MCSA and is too great of a variable (in progress could be anything from only 1 exam left that you're taking next week to Ive finished my MCSA and started studying for the first MCSE exam, 5 years ago) to be meaningful...

Basically it comes down to this, in many of the cases Ive seen, the "In Progress" and list of completed exams (with or without certs) is more often used to artificially inflate the person's resume or experience rather than actually being a meaningful and intentional "hey this is what I am working on"

The legitimate "hey this is what im working on" instances Ive seen have been more the exception than the rule.

I think this is why Microsoft has gone the way they have with the new certification path where each exam is another MCTS certification. Personally, I think this is somewhat "cheap" but I guess in the long run, it helps employees as each exam equals a new certification and it helps employers as they can legitimately say they have Microsoft certified personnel.

It seems most vendors are starting to go that route, Cisco now has the CCENT and the CCNA Voice or Security Specializations but then there is still nothing between CCNA and CCNP despite there being 3-4 exams (depending on Route/Switch, Security or Voice route) and nothing between CCNP and CCIE despite there being 2 difficult exams between them (a written and a lab).

Psoasman

apr911 wrote: »

Im of the opinion you are either certified or you are not which in this case means you can only list you are a MCSA.

The fact you passed 70-298 is great but its not a certification in and of itself and while you have an additional exam completed towards your MCSE, you do not have an additional cert beyond your MCSA.

You could list it on your resume if you wish but personally, Im against it. Too often Ive seen "In Progress" or a list of completed exams on a resume where when asked, its found the last exam the person took was 5 years ago. Technically, their MCSE is in progress but clearly they have no intention of completing it. Ive also seen it used often to get by Keyword filters.

It may be great to list completed exams or "in progress" for those who actually intend to finish but I think it looks cheasy, detracts from your accomplishment of earning the MCSA and is too great of a variable (in progress could be anything from only 1 exam left that you're taking next week to Ive finished my MCSA and started studying for the first MCSE exam, 5 years ago) to be meaningful...

Basically it comes down to this, in many of the cases Ive seen, the "In Progress" and list of completed exams (with or without certs) is more often used to artificially inflate the person's resume or experience rather than actually being a meaningful and intentional "hey this is what I am working on"

The legitimate "hey this is what im working on" instances Ive seen have been more the exception than the rule.

I think this is why Microsoft has gone the way they have with the new certification path where each exam is another MCTS certification. Personally, I think this is somewhat "cheap" but I guess in the long run, it helps employees as each exam equals a new certification and it helps employers as they can legitimately say they have Microsoft certified personnel.

It seems most vendors are starting to go that route, Cisco now has the CCENT and the CCNA Voice or Security Specializations but then there is still nothing between CCNA and CCNP despite there being 3-4 exams (depending on Route/Switch, Security or Voice route) and nothing between CCNP and CCIE despite there being 2 difficult exams between them (a written and a lab).

Good points. The 298 exam pass could be added to the cover letter, letting employers know that the MCSE is in progress and he has 2 exams left.

jmritenour

If it were me, I wouldn't list it. I'd say "MCSE in progress" with a project completion date, possibly, but I seriously doubt most HR or hiring manager are going to know/care enough about specific test numbers.