MCSE in Comminication and Messaging

I dibbled and dabbled with wanting to specialize in certain fields. About 3 months ago I settled in on O 365. I am in a helpdesk role and have been for about 3 months and this being my first IT job. It appears that you need to know a lot about a lot. Typically in jobs for exchange they want, windows server , exchange, outlook, lync, sharepoint the list goes on.

I am going for two mcse's, the one for messaging and Communication. I don't have a lot of study time available, so to the test taking studs any advice someone who has never touched the technology in any way and with time constraints? My goal is to get both by the end of the year.

Thank You!

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pjd007

I've done the MCSE server 2012 and I'm sitting the first exchange exam (341) shortly, IMO you'd be better off doing the MCSA server first as this helps to understand the underlying tech that exchange sits on such as storage, AD, hyper V etc.

Once you have the MCSA you can then do two further exams in each area to achieve MCSE's, that's what I'm doing now.

You'll find more resource info in this forum:

MCSA / MCSE on Windows 2012 General Forums

cyberguypr

^ I agree. Having deployed all this stuff I can say I would've been lost if I didn't have a solid OS base equivalent to MCSA/MCSE.

thatguy67

I wouldn't recommend pursuing the MCSE for Communication. The exams for that will be retired at the end of November, according to the Microsoft website.

https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/retired-certification-exams.aspx

I am not sure what you mean by not a lot of study time. Do you mean you have a strict deadline to obtain the certs, or you work 12 hour days and then come home to 5 crying kids?

pjd007

thatguy67 wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend pursuing the MCSE for Communication. The exams for that will be retired at the end of November, according to the Microsoft website.

https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/retired-certification-exams.aspx

I am not sure what you mean by not a lot of study time. Do you mean you have a strict deadline to obtain the certs, or you work 12 hour days and then come home to 5 crying kids?

More info:
https://borntolearn.mslearn.net/b/weblog/archive/2015/05/15/why-are-the-microsoft-lync-2013-exams-retiring

joemc3

I work long hours and have a young one at home. I might get about 10 hours of study time a week.

nascar_paul

joemc3 wrote: »

I work long hours and have a young one at home. I might get about 10 hours of study time a week.

Then you've got a pretty serious road ahead, but the rewards will be great! And I think that you're going to have a great time getting there.

1. Build a machine that you can lab on.
2. Build a lab on that machine.
3. Start out with the basics on machine and network operations and see how it relates to what you're doing on a daily basis.
4. Use your work as your lab. Get familiar with troubleshooting using the command line interface. It'll make you stand out amoung your peers and it will double the rate at which you learn.

Congratulations on your progress so far! Keep everyone up to date!

Claymoore

It depends how you want to approach this. You can use either the Office 365 MCSA or the Server 2012 MCSA as the MCSA requirement for the MCSE:Messaging. You would be better served going the Server 2012 route so you get the required server background. I wouldn't bother with the MCSE:Communication, I would complete the MCSE: Server Infrastructure (and one of these months I will) if I were you. Exchange on-prem is really being replaced by Exchange Online, and Skype for Business (Lync) is moving online as well, so there won't be much need for Exchange or Skype architects in the future.

joemc3

Thank you all for the advice, I have the server 2012 R2 book. I just haven't really got into it yet. I love tech in general so I will go any path that I can find gainful employment. You guys have destroyed my template, but I take all your advice to heart and will follow it. Things are a bit in flux since I have received two job offers in the past week. I had no idea going from Shipping and receiving supervisor to IT would have such quick gains. I am still trying to find my path and I get closer everyday thanks to this community.