Prepping for a Focused Career

New around here and wanted to introduce myself. My background is a mish-mash of Helpdesk, Networking, Server Administration, Graphics Design and Web Development. I've always been a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. As a result, I'm 34 and, I feel, underspecialized and underpaid.

Last year I finished an Associate's in Computer Science. I know it ain't much, but it's a start for the "paperwork". I've decided that instead of pursuing a Bachelor's, I'd focus on getting certifications.

In my current job, I'm a solo Sys Admin, Network Admin and Helpdesk person. The company is less than 20 employees and we only have 3 servers, but we are pretty tech heavy. As a result, my IT duties are part time and I do graphics design for the rest of my work day... by 2013 I expect my IT work to become fulltime.

I enjoy working on servers much more than routers and firewalls, so I've decided to go the MCITP:SA route first, and then maybe expand to EA. I want to make more money and either grow my current position or find a larger business with a team to work with.

So that's my life story. Heh. I just ordered the MS Press book for 70-640. I'm going to schedule my exam a month out and spend 2-3 hours per weeknight studying with at least the equivalent on weekends. Should come out to around 60 hours of study. My job tends to have long hours and I'm also a dad who enjoys his family time, so while I wish I had more time to devote to study, this is what I got to work with... My goal is to get the MCITP:SA cert in 4-6 months.

Not sure if I'm just looking for words of encouragement or similar stories, but here I am. Hello and thanks for having me!

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Krunchi

JPSA wrote: »

So that's my life story. Heh. I just ordered the MS Press book for 70-640. I'm going to schedule my exam a month out and spend 2-3 hours per weeknight studying with at least the equivalent on weekends. Should come out to around 60 hours of study. My job tends to have long hours and I'm also a dad who enjoys his family time, so while I wish I had more time to devote to study, this is what I got to work with... My goal is to get the MCITP:SA cert in 4-6 months.

Just like you I'm a dad with a 10 month old and just found out this weekend one on the way.

With that scheduling your 640 next month with only 60 hours of study is a mistake out of the three test your going to take for your MCITP-SA the 640 is by far the hardest.

Once you understand AD-640 inside and out you'll fly through 642 and 646 on those two you can spend a month each on them then take the exam but the 640 you need to allow allot of time 3+ months it makes things after it so much easier trust me.

ptilsen

I don't know if can agree with Krunchi on this one. Between 70-290, 70-291, and 70-648 -- three tests which, combined, contain much more information than 70-640 -- I maybe spent grand total of 60 or 70 hours. I spent less than 30 hours on 70-290 (the 2003 equivalent to 640) and less than 30 on 648. I did have a boatload of experience when I tackled 648 (this meant I didn't lab very much), but I probably didn't have much more than JPSA when I took on 290.

I don't consider myself some kind of Windows prodigy, so I'm led to disagree here. I just don't see the 70-640 as being a large enough test to necessitate more than 60 hours or three months, for that matter. For someone with minimal experience, 40-60 hours seems reasonable to me. I'm certainly open to more opinions from people with different experiences, though. Certainly, everything will vary based on an individual's experiences, study habits, study materials, determination, and aptitude.

My advice is to jump straight into 70-640. Read the entire MS press book, then take a practice exam. If you are in the 60-70% range, go ahead and schedule your test a few weeks out, then start focusing on your weak objectives and sub-objectives. I do mean very specifically that you should schedule your exam before you're ready to take but after you've studied all the material once. This gives you a relatively small gap to fill to achieve your goal and a strong incentive to do it in a timely fashion. Maybe you don't need to "trick" yourself like that, but I've found that I do and I've seen others on this site experience success using similar methods.

Krunchi

I'm coming from the view of little to no experience with AD if you are working with AD now yes it is going to help cut your study time down. I still stand by my advice to spend as much time and know more then you need to pass the Test it makes things easier down the road like the 642 to me that was the second easiest MS test I have taken Vista 620 was so easy and the 646 seems to be not to difficult because I spent allot of time understanding the in's and out's of AD. Just my 2 cent's

veritas_libertas

Krunchi wrote: »

Just like you I'm a dad with a 10 month old and just found out this weekend one on the way. With that scheduling your 640 next month with only 60 hours of study is a mistake out of the three test your going to take for your MCITP-SA the 640 is by far the hardest.

Once you understand AD-640 inside and out you'll fly through 642 and 646 on those two you can spend a month each on them then take the exam but the 640 you need to allow allot of time 3+ months it makes things after it so much easier trust me.

LOL, make that three of us.

JPSA, welcome to TE! It sounds like you have good plan, all you have to do is follow through with completing the MS certs

method115

Krunchi wrote: »

I'm coming from the view of little to no experience with AD if you are working with AD now yes it is going to help cut your study time down. I still stand by my advice to spend as much time and know more then you need to pass the Test it makes things easier down the road like the 642 to me that was the second easiest MS test I have taken Vista 620 was so easy and the 646 seems to be not to difficult because I spent allot of time understanding the in's and out's of AD. Just my 2 cent's

I'm the same way. I'm studying for the 640 now and I'm taking my time making sure I understand everything. Then again I like to over study for my certifications. Getting the cert is my second priority fully understanding what I'm studying is first.

JPSA

veritas_libertas wrote: »

LOL, make that three of us.

JPSA, welcome to TE! It sounds like you have good plan, all you have to do is follow through with completing the MS certs

Thanks!

I couldn't help but notice you're in Greenville, SC. Me too!

fly2dw

ptilsen wrote: »

I spent less than 30 hours on 70-290 (the 2003 equivalent to 640) and less than 30 on 648.

I agree with what you are saying in terms of the study you should put into 70-640, however in my opinion the equivalent of 70-640 in Server 2003 is 70-294. A lot of people did not take 70-294 until mid or late in the MCSE track as it was quite a tough exam. However in the MCITP track many people take 70-640 first as it is down as the first in the core exams, which makes sense as Active Directory is core to the Windows Server Infrastructure. Problem is 70-640 is no 70-290 as you have pointed out, therefore new comers to servers benefit greatly from the foundation course or server+ rather than jumping into 70-640.

To the OP it sounds like you have enough prior experience to start with 70-640, best of luck with your studies!

veritas_libertas

JPSA wrote: »

Thanks!

I couldn't help but notice you're in Greenville, SC. Me too!

Cool. Most folks from South Carolina on here are from Columbia or Charleston.

Psoasman

JPSA wrote: »

New around here and wanted to introduce myself. My background is a mish-mash of Helpdesk, Networking, Server Administration, Graphics Design and Web Development. I've always been a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. As a result, I'm 34 and, I feel, underspecialized and underpaid.

Last year I finished an Associate's in Computer Science. I know it ain't much, but it's a start for the "paperwork". I've decided that instead of pursuing a Bachelor's, I'd focus on getting certifications.

In my current job, I'm a solo Sys Admin, Network Admin and Helpdesk person. The company is less than 20 employees and we only have 3 servers, but we are pretty tech heavy. As a result, my IT duties are part time and I do graphics design for the rest of my work day... by 2013 I expect my IT work to become fulltime.

I enjoy working on servers much more than routers and firewalls, so I've decided to go the MCITP:SA route first, and then maybe expand to EA. I want to make more money and either grow my current position or find a larger business with a team to work with.

So that's my life story. Heh. I just ordered the MS Press book for 70-640. I'm going to schedule my exam a month out and spend 2-3 hours per weeknight studying with at least the equivalent on weekends. Should come out to around 60 hours of study. My job tends to have long hours and I'm also a dad who enjoys his family time, so while I wish I had more time to devote to study, this is what I got to work with... My goal is to get the MCITP:SA cert in 4-6 months.

Not sure if I'm just looking for words of encouragement or similar stories, but here I am. Hello and thanks for having me!

Welcome to the forum! I would download the exam objectives and take a look through them. Make sure you are comfortable with them. Set up lab, as that will help with cementing the concepts you'll encounter. With labbing, I'd focus on DNS, Certificate Services, and AD infrastructure, plus all the new roles.
It sounds like you have a lot of experience, so I think you'll be fine. If you schedule the exam a month out and find that you need more time, you can just reschedule - make sure it's within the 15 days, so you won't get a fee to reschedule.
Good luck!