Microsoft Certification?

Question

Hello! I am looking to become certified in all aspects of Microsoft. I was wondering if this is still a good thing to do if you want to do IT Support in a company? What does the Certification include, and how much do classes usually cost? If you have taken it, are you glad you have done it? What schools do you recommend? Thank you!

Answer 1

It depends, there are multiple Microsoft Certifications. If you mean the Networking Cert of MCSE it is (I believe) 7 tests. If you are just getting into the field it is a must. If you have 5+ years it is just fluff and doesn't mean anything because you already have the experience. To me the certs mean nothing other than you are a good test taker. In the real world I want to see you do the job. Usually the people who ask for the certs are not technical and dont understand that they mean nothing. Again, that being said it is hard to break into the filed these days without a cert.
Good luck to you!

Answer 2

Microsoft Certification is useful if you want to do it. Its basically just another revenue stream for Microsoft though.

If I am hiring staff and I see that they have "MCSE" I tend to avoid hiring them - they usually have no experience outside what they did in their exam. The training is more academic than practical. Ask an MCSE to add a printer and they get confused, often replying with "that wasn't on the exam"!

If you want to do IT Support then aim for a more general IT Support training scheme - not one from Microsoft. IT Support covers many areas - not just using Microsoft Windows!

For example, take a look through some of these ITIL courses:

http://training.gbdirect.co.uk/courses/itil/

Also, A+ is more generally useful to a starter:

http://training.gbdirect.co.uk/courses/comptia_training/

You're going to be looking at about £3-5k for the minimum training - but don't expect the training to be the end of it! You'll need to work at home with your own network to get the best out of it.

Answer 3

MCSE certification is like gate pass, whether you are talented or not, whether you are working in IT industry or not if you to have identification in IT you have to MCSE certification. Its really good and you will have weigtage. Besides this you should have knowledge. If you have Microsoft certification even Microsoft will hire you.
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