Certification Poll Question

barringtonjr

I was wondering if I could get everyone's opinion and input on this. My goal eventually is to get an Enterprise Administrator certification. I just started and got my 70-680, and I was looking at the 70-686 Windows 7 Desktop Administrator. Though its not needed for the EA, it would bring me to MCITP status. Though my goal is EA, I would like as many certs on my resume as I can get. But not sure if its a waste of time. Also if I decide to go the EA route, I was wondering which to start? The 70-640 (AD DS) or 70-642(Net Inf.), I don't anything about AD or know what NI will be about. Thanks.

tr1x

Why do you need MCITP status? If it's to put it on your resume, I'd advise against that - employers who see MCITP on your resume are going to expect you to know quite a bit about Server 2008. If you want to eventually get EA, don't waste your time with 7 Desktop Admin.. it will get you to MCITP, but you still won't have any server certs.. so what's the point? If you're looking for a help desk position, it may help.. otherwise nah.

barringtonjr

Thank you, I was really bent on that. I did really well on Deployment part of the 680 and thought it would be an easy route to take, but was wondering if it was a waste of time. I'm going to go after the Server admin and then the Enterprise admin. I also heard the network infrastructure is best to take 1st before the Active Directory (which I don't know anything about), so I guess I will start studying for the 70 642.

ptilsen

I wouldn't discredit the DA path. There is a real niche for workstation deployment and management as a substitute or systems administration. While EA should still be your main goal, DA can still add value.

NetworkingStudent

barringtonjr wrote: »

I was wondering if I could get everyone's opinion and input on this. My goal eventually is to get an Enterprise Administrator certification. I just started and got my 70-680, and I was looking at the 70-686 Windows 7 Desktop Administrator. Though its not needed for the EA, it would bring me to MCITP status. Though my goal is EA, I would like as many certs on my resume as I can get. But not sure if its a waste of time. Also if I decide to go the EA route, I was wondering which to start? The 70-640 (AD DS) or 70-642(Net Inf.), I don't anything about AD or know what NI will be about. Thanks.

I say get the 70-685 and then the Active Directory cert, to get the most ROI. Why Active Directory? There are a lot of companies ask that for Active Directory experience. Additionally, if you enjoy deployment I don’t think it will hurt you to get the 70-685 and then the 70-686. I believe there will still be a lot of Windows 7 deployments in the next 2-5 years.

Good luck

tr1x

Don't get me wrong, the DA cert does have value, it just doesn't sound like that the right path for the OP at this time. Also, I doubt having that cert will be the difference between getting a job or not because deploying OS's is only one small part of a server admin's job. I think the other other certs are much more relevant and will give more him more of the experience he needs.

OP, make sure you set up some virtual labs so you actually have a little experience with the technology, since you mentioned not knowing much about AD and stuff.

barringtonjr

I decided to start studying for the 686 Win7 Admin, mainly because I studied so much deployments its still fresh in my head and after skimming through the lessons, I feel I could do very well on the test, then move on to Server 2008 certs. I'm just lil eager to learn of Active Directory, I cant network a 2008 server and share files at all and I really want to know how. I've worked with Server 2003 long time ago and networked back then fine, but AD is a different animal. But I read somewhere on this forum, that when deciding which cert to take first when going for SA or EA, that going for Network Inf. (642) before AD (640) was a smarter choice because it gets you better prepared for the AD studying after. Any thoughts?

RPGChai

I understand where you are coming from going for the 686 as you already have deployment-related info in your mind, but I would encourage you to think hard about what you actually want to work on. For example, I currently work in a sysadmin job on the workstation side (deploying packages, creating images, etc), and I'm not even going to go for Win7 Admin. Reason being that I intend to work more server-side in the future, and wouldn't want to spend the time and resources on a test that wouldn't help me achieve my end goal.

The urge just to "get as many certs as you can" can actually hurt you if you take every test you can get your hands on. A handful of purpose-driven certs designed to get your dream job will do you more favors than a boatload of certs of different technologies.

Just my 2 cents .

barringtonjr

This is so crazy, so I started reading the last 3 days and watching training videos on the 70-686, it is definitely a something I'm not interested in learning at the moment. I'm upset I just wasted 3 days but I guess I'll come back to it sometime in the future, maybe after reaching my EA goal. I'm starting to really like the 685 and going to study that before jumping to the Active Directory next. I have a computer shop with my brother and friend so, 685 should be right up my alley and it will good to learn as much as I can about troubleshooting Win7.

Psoasman

barringtonjr wrote: »

This is so crazy, so I started reading the last 3 days and watching training videos on the 70-686, it is definitely a something I'm not interested in learning at the moment. I'm upset I just wasted 3 days but I guess I'll come back to it sometime in the future, maybe after reaching my EA goal. I'm starting to really like the 685 and going to study that before jumping to the Active Directory next. I have a computer shop with my brother and friend so, 685 should be right up my alley and it will good to learn as much as I can about troubleshooting Win7.

Doing the 685 will earn you the MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician and will be a nice complement to the 680, you've already passed. I think you'll find that most of the material covered by the 686 will be dealt with by earning the SA / EA certs. Several people have gone back and done the EDA after the EA and remarked it's easy.
On a side note, you seem to be in a hurry to earn certs. It's better to take some time and absorb the material.