Some say that a MCSE does not teach you enough for the real world, what are some things it does not teach?

Question

Many people say that a MCSE cert does not give you real life solutions. What are some examples of these problems and what besides experience is a good way to learn them?

Answer 1

Microsoft teaches you the answer that are from their point of view... just like a cisco certfication focuses on cisco equipment and solutions using only cisco eq... it is vendor specific... there are some exams that are specifically NOT vendor specific.

Nothing can take the place of real world experience. Hands-on. Troubleshooting. Networks and Users are all unpredictable so someone who has been handling the day to day operations of networks will know things far more than someone with a paper cert who went to a 5 day bootcamp. All that shows is that they can memorize a few things well... it shows nothing about dealing with real world issues.

A good way to learn them would be to take a position... work your way up thru the ranks helpdesk, desktop, NOC, etc...

good luck.

Answer 2

Like Colinc says, experiance makes a ton of difference.

I followed up on an MSCE the other day that couldn't fix a server and get the system to run, the problem was the Server had the same IP as the router. He said that thought had never occurred to him in the 15 hours he spent before I looked at it. Said he didn't think that was possible?

In real situations the books don't always teach you to think.

Answer 3

To expand on what the first person said. The certifications are there to prove what you know, not that you can memorize facts from a Test King or other thing like that. It was originaly designed that after a few years of experience you could go and take the test and pass. You would still have to study because it is a big test, but most of the stuff covered on the test you will know because of your real world knowledge.

Answer 4

The whole point is that you will see problems you have not experienced before and each problem can have multiple manifestations. Only field experience can teach you these.