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Why get certified? |
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Certification
offers vendors and employers a baseline to judge your
skills. Experience is important, but it's not always a
reliable measure of expertise. (I once heard a 26 year old
administrator claim he has 20 years of experience - sorry
Stuart, playing with your Teddy Rukspin toy and working
the register at Burger King doesn't count). Although
certification isn't a foolproof benchmark either, it
assures an employer that you at least have met some sort
of standard and have proved your knowledge via a written
test. Certification can help set you apart from other
candidates with the same level of experience, it can open
doors for you if you don't have the experience, and it can
help you negotiate a higher salary. |
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What are the certification levels? |
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Microsoft
offers a number of certification levels, but in this FAQ
we'll only focus on those that apply to administrators.
The basic level of certification is
Microsoft Certified Professional or MCP. You acquire
this level when you pass one current Microsoft
certification exam. (Except for exam 70-058: Networking
Essentials since it isn't a product exam). The next level
up is the MCSA or
Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator. MCSA
candidates are required to pass three core operating
system exams (one of the which must be exam 70-218) and
one elective exam, and is designed to test your ability to
manage and troubleshoot a Windows 2000 network. The
highest level of certification is the MCSE or
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, which not only
tests your ability to manage networks, but design and
implement them as well. To achieve your MCSE
certification, you must pass 7 exams. 5 core required
operating system exams and 2 elective exams. (For
specific details on which exams are required for each
level, click on the hyperlinks above) |
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Is the certification process worth it? |
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I certainly
think so, and I think most people with the certifications
do. The cost of the exams, study materials, test prep
tools and time have easily paid for themselves in terms of
salary increases and better job opportunities. The road is
tough and depending on your experience it could take you
1-2 years and over $1,000 to complete the MCSE
requirements, but completing says a lot to your employer
and your peers. You may hear a few people knocking the
exam process, but in my experience it's only because they
aren't certified themselves and are looking to justify it.
They claim that with their experience, they know as much
as an MCSE and shouldn't have to prove it. I think $875.00
(the cost of the 7 exams) is a small price to pay to
settle that argument. |
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How much do the exams cost? |
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The exams
themselves cost $125.00 in the U.S., but this can vary
country to country. |
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How long are the exams? |
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Each exam is
different, but typically you'll have around 2 hours to
complete 60 questions. (Some exams are a little longer,
others are shorter.) |
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How hard are the exams? |
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Again, this
varies by the exam, but the short answer is that the get
harder as you go up the MCSE ladder. The client operating
system exams are fairly easy, with a lower passing score.
In contrast, the "Designing and Implementing" exams are
brutal and have a much higher minimum passing score. |
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What kind of questions are on the exam? |
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Although most
of the questions on the exam are multiple choice, don't
let that fool you into thinking they'll be easy. Many of
the questions ask for the "best" answer from several close
responses. Others present an implementation scenario,
requirements, and a proposed solution and asks if the
solution meets all of the requirements or combinations of
the primary and secondary requirements. There are also a
few interactive questions that require you to drag and
drop components into a network diagram, or place a set of
actions in the correct order. If you've never worked with
Windows 2000 before, these questions are designed to weed
you out. |
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Where do I take the exams? |
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All of the MCP
exams in the United States are administered by either
Prometric or VUE. To take exams at any authorized
Prometric testing center around the world, call Prometric
at (800) 755-EXAM (755-3926). Outside the United States
and Canada, contact your local Prometric Registration
Center. To register online with Prometric, visit the
Prometric Web site. Register by telephone at any VUE
location worldwide by calling the registration center
nearest you. To register online with VUE, visit the
VUE Web site. Please read more details about
exam registration |
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How much does it cost to finish the MCSE certification
process? |
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Well the exams
alone will cost you $875.00, assuming you pass each one.
Books typically cost about $30 - $60 each, but some
publishers offer MCSE Training bundles at a discount. If
this is all you need to study, you can get your MCSE for
less than $1,500.00 That's about the minimum expense
required. Exam prep software could run $50.00 - $150.00
per exam depending on which software you use. If you take
classes as part of your training, your costs could easily
jump to over $10,000.00 And regardless of which training
method you use, you should have access to a computer lab
so you can actually get some experience using Windows
2000. |
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How much time should I spend studying for each exam |
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That depends
on your level of experience with Windows 2000, or its
predecessor Windows NT 4.0 We've seen experienced
administrators complete one exam a week. Four to six weeks
per exam is a more reasonable pace for most people. This
gives you 2 -3 weeks to read the exam study guide or
Microsoft Official curriculum and complete the exercises,
and a few weeks to practice with review questions and test
prep software. |
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Should I take classes or self study? |
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This largely
depends on your experience and budget. Classes can run
anywhere from a few hundred dollars to well over a
thousand per exam. If your employer is paying for
it, great! I highly recommend taking a class with a
qualified instructor. If you're paying for it yourself,
that's fine too - but make sure you know the quality of
the school and the instructor. I've taken a few instructor
lead classes at a local Microsoft Certified Technical
Education Centers (CTECs), and each time all of the
instructors followed the Microsoft Official Curriculum to
the letter (page by page) and didn't add a whole lot of
value to the training. Self study is definitely cheaper
and more convenient, but requires a lot of discipline. It
also helps to have a fellow MCSE around to answer
questions if you get stuck. |
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What are Certification Boot Camps? |
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Boot Camps
promise that they'll make you into an MCSE in anywhere
from 1 week to 1 month. The training is very intense, with
each day dedicated to each exam. Many of these camps are
more focused on getting you to pass the exam than giving
the skill set necessary to function well as an
administrator. If you really want to go this route for
your training, do your homework carefully. Try to find
someone who actually took training via a particular boot
camp and actually passed his MCSE before committing the
time and money. Another thing to keep in mind is that the
faster you learn a skill (i.e. cramming), the faster
you'll forget it. If you already have solid experience and
are taking the boot camp to help prep you for the exams,
you'll be fine. If you're completely inexperienced and are
taking the boot camp as an alternative to in depth
classroom training, you might find yourself coming up a
little short if you actually do find a job. |
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I can't afford to take a class, and don't do well with
just books. What else can I do? |
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There are a
couple of untraditional training options that are
available.
SmartCertify offers an excellent computer based
training program that is used by many corporations
including Microsoft. Another excellent option is
CBT Nuggets, which offers a complete CD-based MCSE
video training program for around $600.00. If you have a
long commute to work,
AudioWhiz offers MCSE audio training on CD and tape. |
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I want to self study, what training materials should I
use? |
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For self
study, you'll want a book that will server you well
studying for the exams as well as a reference afterwards.
Ideally, the book should be interesting to read, call out
specific study points to watch out for on the exam, have
review questions at the end, and if possible provide a CD
with decent Test Prep software and an electronic copy of
the book so you can study anywhere. You'll also want to
set up a lab at home with a few PC's to run the exercises
in the book. (Don't skip this step - you don't want to
look like a moron when you get into a real environment)
Based on this criteria, I really like the
Osborne/Syngress MCSE Series and the
New Riders MCSE series. Both are well written, and do
a great job of preparing you for the tests. The
Microsoft Press study series is decent and parallels
the Microsoft Official Curriculum, but doesn't include
review questions or test prep software. (This is a
separate product for MS Press, called Readiness Review)
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Is Test Prep software really necessary? |
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If your study
guide didn't come with it, and you're bad at taking exams,
a good test prep software package can really make a
difference. There are a number of things you should
evaluate, including price, vendor reputation, number of
questions, refund policy, etc., For more
information, check out our Guide to
Choosing Test Prep Software |
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What's the best way to prepare for the exams? |
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Study, study,
study. Just kidding. We've actually compiled our
methodology and recommended practices into an entire
article, and can find it here |
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What is a Braindump? |
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A "braindump"
is someone's notes on the exam, usually completed
immediately upon exiting the testing facility. The sheer
volume of people who have contributed and posted
braindumps on the web eventually leads to the entire exam
pool being leaked out. Posting braindumps violates the
license and confidentiality agreement you took when you
start each exam. If are every identified, you could lose
your certifications. In addition, using braindumps is
cheating plain and simple. Sure the temptation is strong,
but you're not only cheating yourself, your cheating your
employers and peers as well. Would you hire a doctor,
lawyer, architect, or other professional who cheated on
their exams? A little knowledge on a computer network is a
dangerous thing. Don't cheat. |
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What is a "paper MCSE"? |
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A paper MCSE
is someone who managed to earn their certification, but
doesn't actually have the real world skills that should go
with their certification. (Yes, it happens) Typically,
these people either cheated on their exams outright, used
Braindumps as their sole study aid (which is still
cheating), or purchased the exam questions outright from
the web. (which again is cheating). A few paper MCSE's are
just inexperienced "book smart" folks who are good at self
study and never set up a lab. Although they didn't cheat,
they still don't know what they're doing. Every paper MCSE
cheapens the value of the certification for those who
worked for it. Don't fall into the temptation to cheat on
your exams. People will notice when you get into the
field. |
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