Vendor Neutral vs Proprietary Certification

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Six Steps to Microsoft Certification

1. Apply Your Skills: Make sure you have applied your skills in hands-on effort, whether on the job or in your home lab. That'll give you a taste of the kind of work Microsoft Certified Professionals do and ensure it's the direction you want to follow in your career. You need to have passion for troubleshooting (whether code or machines), tuning settings or databases, hearing out the user and coming up with the right WAN design or application.

2. Choose the Right Certification for You: Spend time considering which certification track makes most sense to you, based on the type of work you are currently doing and the kind you want to do in the future. Careful planning will help you make the most of your training time and money. For example, if you know you want to achieve the MCSA (for network administrators) but the go for the MCSE (which includes network design and implementation), choose exams that apply to both.

3. Set Your Goals: Set a personal timeframe to achieve the certification. Write it down! Tape it to your cubicle! Say it loud: "I will train for and tackle one exam before June 30th!"

4. Start Your Training Regime: Spend time at http://www.microsoft.com/technet (for networking professionals) and http://msdn.microsoft.com (for developers), great online resources full of in-depth technical articles. On a budget? Then go the self-study route. Read the study guide reviews posted at numerous certification websites and choose the videos, books and CD's that sound promising to you. Then buy the and use them. Buy the Study Test Questions offered by The Certification Hub at http://www.thecertificationhub.com/e_commerce/purchase_test_questions_main.htm and also get free Test Questions/Tips & Tricks and misc. resources posted on various pages on this site at Featured Resources and at http://www.thecertificationhub.com/training_resources/locate_training_resources.htm . Short on time, motivation, or lab equipment? Take a CTEC class! These one-day to five-day courses give you plenty of hands-on labs, tips and tricks from your instructor, and focused study time. You can find a list of Microsoft Certified Technical Education Centers (CTECs) at http://www.microsoft.com/traincert . Want to get academic credit for your studies? Take your classes through a Microsoft IT Academy program. Learn more at http://www.microsoft.com/education/msitacademy .

5. Get More Hands-on Experience: Think you are ready? Not yet! Try out a practice exam. These are simulations of the real exams you will face in the course of achieving your certification. The best ones will get you comfortable with the exam format and help you identify areas where you need to do more studying. Read the exam guidelines posted on Microsoft's website at http://www.microsoft.com/traincert , then hit your lab to work on those parts of the software where you are still weak.

6. Schedule Your Exam: You can schedule to take your exams online.

                                            - Contact VUE at http://www.vue.com/ms

                                            - Contact Prometric at http://www.2test.com

       Good Luck!                                                         

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Which Microsoft Certification is right for you?

Just Beginning? If you have never taken a Microsoft Certification exam before, your first step will be to become an MCP, which requires that you pass a single exam. All you need to do is figure out what product or technology you intend to master - whether it be server software, a developement tool, or some aspect of network-related design.

Do you  Administer Networks? This credential, new in 2002, is designed for IT professionals who implement, manage,and troubleshoot existing network and system environments based on windows 2000 and windows .NET Server platforms. Keyword here: Administer!

Do you  Design and Implement Networks? The MCSE title belongs to IT professionals who analyze business requirements and design and implement the network infrastructure based on Windows 2000 and Windows .NET Server platforms and other Microsoft Server software. Key Words here: Implement and Design! and of course an MCSE is expected to Administer Networks.

Primarily Doing Database Work? This credential is solely for those IT professionals working with Microsoft SQL Server. The certification also requires a solid understanding of Windows 2000 or Windows .NET Server [ Windows 2003 ].

Currently a Developer? Do you spend your days programming? Just as with other Microsoft titles, you start your journey by becoming an MCP first, which requires a single exam. From there, you may consider tackling the MCSD, intended for those IT professionals who define and develop business solutions using Microsoft development tools and platforms.

Visit http://www.techmentorevents.com . This site is dedicated to Training for Windows networking professionals

Visit http://www.mcpmag.com/forums/. Join your peers for technical and certification discussions

Visit http://www.mcpmag.com/mcpdatabase/ . Join the MCP Database and find fellow titleholders in your region

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The TOP-TEN Technologists most wanted by recruiters 

There are ten types of technologists every recruiter wants. While Web developers are in demand everywhere, database administrators are also a hot commodity. Data security analysts are needed to tackle firewall issues and secure networks. The explosion of Web servers has raised the need for Unix system administrators. And almost every recruiter's gotta-find-one list includes Sybase administrators. Demand for Java experts peaked a few months ago, but the need is still steady. E-commerce application experts are in high demand, along with network engineers, network administrators and technical support professionals. Thanks to high turnover, new projects and new networks and applications, most organizations are looking to recruit experts with the same skill sets.

Further Reading: RHI Consulting's report on the fastest growing jobs in Information Technology -> IT Jobs

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What are adaptive exams? 

                                                         
There are many misconceptions about this type of exam. A traditional exam presents the same number of questions  to each exam taker without considering how well the person is doing on the exam. For the average exam taker, some  Questions will be too easy and some too hard. Little value will be provided in answering these questions. Therefore  it is safe to say that the eventual score that an exam  taker will get is dependent on a much smaller subset of  questions.                                                
                                                          
Adaptive exams recognize this and present the questions  in an easier-to-harder sequence. An adaptive exam is like a high jump competition. The bar starts out low and is gradually raised after each successful jump until the high jumper has reached the maximum height of his jumping  capacity.                                                 
                                                          
A good adaptive exam first presents a question of moderate difficulty. After the answer is given, it is scored immediately. If correct, the test estimates if the person's
ability was higher than calculated before and provides another question of greater difficulty. This continues until the test has statistically determined the exam  taker's competency level.                                 
                                                          
Note several important ideas. The first is each question is scored immediately after answering. This means you, the exam taker, do not have the opportunity of marking a question in order to return to it later.                
                                                          
The second idea is that the test uses statistics to determine your competency level. This means estimation of your ability is determined by all those taking the exam before you. The bigger the sample, the more accurate the results. You will notice all Certification exams start out as multiple choice and only after a certain number of exam takers have completed the exam, can the exam be made adaptive. In recent times, some certification vendors have used the Beta exam results to determine statistical validity.

The third idea is that it is possible for a person with less competence to answer the same number of questions correctly as a more able person. However, the level of difficulty of questions presented will score differently. Therefore, your score is not relevant compared to another exam taker's results. The importance of the score is only that you pass. Your score simply reflects the difficulty of the questions presented to you.                      
                                                           
Adaptive exams are not better than traditional exams, but  they are as accurate. If this is the case, why change from the traditional model?
                                                          
The answer is that adaptive exams are more efficient. You can test more candidates in a shorter amount of time. Studies have shown adaptive exams are over 300% more efficient. More exam candidates can be processed in 1/3 the time. In addition, a pool of questions can be considered valid for a longer period of time because for any one exam, much smaller sample of questions is required. Surf to the following links for more information on adaptive testing: Galton Technologies

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