Which might be more practical?

yoshiiaki

Hello everyone, I'm attending WGU for IT-Security, and they are giving the option to study two different server certs. One is MTA-Database Fundamentals, and the other is CIW Database Design Specialist. My question to everyone would be which is more of a practical application type of cert. My job is looking for a SQL Server Administrator, and while I imagine neither would be enough to get me a job anywhere else alone, I'm on good terms here and am hoping getting a cert can slip me in the spot before they get too deep into searching for a new employee. It will be a SQL server, so my best guess would be to go for the MTA, however sometimes looks can be deceiving. The CIW is a vendor-neutral type so I would suspect it to be the generics on "how to maintain a server" type of deal rather than more refined information, which i think I'm looking for. It may be an obvious answer, but I really just wanted to make sure that I devote the time to the cert that can get me the promotion sooner rather than later since later won't be around. As it's part of my schooling, I will be getting them both anyways, just prioritizing. Thanks for the help.

ptilsen

Neither certification denotes or imparts a significant amount of skill or experience with any form of SQL. Neither certification has any market value. MTA is not seen outside of education, and CIW is generally not seen at all.

I guess what I'm getting at is that it really doesn't matter. I don't think either certification will have any real impact on your ability to obtain or perform the job for which you're looking. MTA at least should relate to MS SQL server directly, so if that will help you, go for it.

JDMurray

I will second staying with Microsoft certs for learning SQL Server.