Anybody want to go in on an online petition to restart second shot?

TheDonger · July 2009

I seriously think that I should start one of these. Let's face it, the advanced tests such as 291 are HARD, long, and time-consuming, and in this kind of economy do you really have an extra 100 bucks or more lying around at any given time should you not be prepared? Indeed, I'm facing a lay-off next month and I intend to devote a week to 8 hour-a-day study for the test, but that luxury will be bifurcated by another job hunt, rent, etc.

What do they have to lose? Bird in the hand beats two in the bush, and it's not like they'll see a huge rush any time soon for applicants...

To stave off cries of "idealist", I'd like to clarify that I'm not just saying "bring it back so I have the option", I'd be willing to say to Microsoft that I'm willing to put up CASH MONEY as proof that I'm serious about doing these. It's not like I haven't spent $375 this year on MS tests alone, not to mention another $170 or so for books. Add in the next 4 I have to take and the exchange book I have to buy and that's a cool $1000 I've thrown down on MS certs!

Yowza.

Would anybody else be interested in taking a crack at this?

dynamik · July 2009

Because online petitions are so successful

skrpune · July 2009

I do wonder how many people went for MS certs during the second shot offer that otherwise wouldn't have gone for it if they didn't have that safety net. If MS crunches the numbers and sees that there was a marked increase in testing revenue, then that would likely be the way to get them to bring back second shot.

TheDonger · July 2009

dynamik wrote: »

Because online petitions are so successful

Paragraph 3, heh.

Daniel333 · July 2009

The offer comes and goes. If second shot was profitable for them, they will. But sure why not?

jnwdmb · July 2009

I am not convinced that they would care very much, but I would sign it anyways.

The fact that second shot was ending factored into my decision making process of whether or not I should start my CCNA now. I had always planned on getting my CCNA, but I was originally going to wait until I had SQL and my upgrade to 2k8 server before moving in that direction. When I knew that second shot was ending I opted to go ahead and take a break from MS certs and dive into Cisco. I am sure that they have their reasons for ending it, but it sucks that they did it when economy is in the toilet. Maybe they see a push for certifications during this time and are counting on a lot of people failing? I am just glad that I took all eight of my MS exams when it was in effect.......even though I only needed to use it once (THE BEAST!).

If any of you are students then you qualify for the "Academic Discount" through MS. Basically any exams that you take on the MCDST or MCSA track are discounted to $60 the first time you take them, you just have to be enrolled in some form of school to qualify....search the MS website for details.

Jordus · July 2009

skrpune wrote: »

I do wonder how many people went for MS certs during the second shot offer that otherwise wouldn't have gone for it if they didn't have that safety net. If MS crunches the numbers and sees that there was a marked increase in testing revenue, then that would likely be the way to get them to bring back second shot.

They have said on Born2Learn before that there was a substantial increase of people taking cert exams. But they also saw higher rates of failure because people didnt seem to "care" about the first shot.

They also mentioned that it costs them money (both from a not-getting-retake-fee standpoint but also having to pay prometric no matter what)

My guess is that it will come back, it could just be a while before it does.

Be thankful you had it while you did. And if 291 seems to hard, take 642...it wasnt too bad.

Anybody want to go in on an online petition to restart second shot?

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