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How important is *my* MCSE status to you?

Windows Server 2008. It finally has a name. Giving our upcoming server release a  real name means we can all start planning for  the next round of MCSE certification tests. There isn't anything on the public Training and Certification site yet except for a mention that if you get Windows 2003 MCSE certified by June 30th, 2007 you can get a 40% savings voucher toward MCSE 2008 testing.

If you are already certified and you have access to the MCP Member site there is a preview of the new certification there. There are also a few Webcasts coming up in June on the new Windows 2008 certifications if you are interested.

Introducing the Windows Server "Longhorn" Certification Roadmap (Session 1)
Introducing the Windows Server "Longhorn" Certification Roadmap (Session 2)

At this point I want to go on a bender about standardized testing (particularly the testing my daughters have to go through every year in the US public school system) but I will leave that for some other time. I am more interested in your thoughts right now.

I am not a big fan of putting a bunch of letters after my name on my business cards or email signatures. So even when I get my Windows 2008 cert, you won't see any obvious indication of it. I know some people will, but I personally ignore all that stuff. In fact, the more letters I see the less I care, but that is just me. But I would like to know your thoughts on the importance of me being certified.

 

How important is it to you that *I* be certified on the current products?

 

Cheers!

Published Wednesday, May 23, 2007 8:38 AM by chrisavis

Comments

Thursday, May 24, 2007 2:31 PM by Gene Carter

# re: How important is *my* MCSE status to you?

Your MCSE status?  I don't really care.  Technet crowds are brutal enough to weed out any presenters who are less than well-informed.  I figure that if MS put you in front of me, you must know your game.

MCSE status in general?  Me, I do put all of the letters on my cards.  The "Microsoft Stamp Of Approval" means a lot to most clients.  It provides my clients with a level of confidence "out of the gate" and places my consults in a better light than my competitors.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007 1:42 PM by johnnybad

# re: How important is *my* MCSE status to you?

Well by now you will know that in reality the MCSE is dead. MCTS 2008 plus some other funny letters for the enterprise version MCTIP or some stupid a$$ acronym.. I finished my mcse 2003 a few months ago, a totally ridiculous qualification, took me 2 years to get it, while others get it in 2 days from india...

I was going to go on and do the MCSE:security version, but seeing the new microsoft website, I've decided to chuck it all in the bin... as far as I'm concerned it's just a cash-cow cert for microsoft.. how many specialist areas are there in microsoft world? 7 exam for the mcse:2003, a possible 2 0r 3 exams for the security version, then the messaging one, maybe 2 more.. give me a break....

I'm so fed-up with this nonsense, I was forced to do the mcse by my company, and anyone who has seen the microsoft exams, know that they bear virtually no relevance to the real-world.. exactly who goes around setting rights for 5 forests and 34 domains so that some user can access his txt file from a windowNT laptop via some dial-in modem nonsense...

what a joke.. sorry I'm thru with microsoft exams.. I'm going the cisco way... microsoft can go to hell.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007 5:42 PM by chrisavis

# re: How important is *my* MCSE status to you?

@johnnybad

Well...my questions was - How important is *MY* MCSE status to you. But I can surmise that since you don't seem to see any value in the MCSE program that whether I have my certification or not doesn't mean much to you.

To clarify a few things - "took me 2 years to get it, while others get it in 2 days from india" - If someone knows the products and the material it is easy enough to take all of the tests in a week, pass them, and get the cert. I did the NT 4 MCSE in 10 weeks back in '97. Work experience and hands on experience play a huge part is passing the exams. But I have to admit, there are a many, many "braindump" sites out there that will give you the tests verbatim and allow anyone to pass to get the paper MCSE. That sucks.

"as far as I'm concerned it's just a cash-cow cert for microsoft" - The fee you pay for exams goes to the testing facility, not to Microsoft. Microsoft benefits by having trained, knowledgeable, certified admins in the field that can properly install, configure, maintain and secure the products. Better running implemenetations leads to more purchases down the line.

"no relevance to the real-world.. exactly who goes around setting rights for 5 forests and 34 domains so that some user can access his txt file from a windowNT laptop via some dial-in modem nonsense" - on a regular basis I have to VPN (RAS) in from my laptop (Vista) to copy/edit a single file. Not generally a text file but those questions are usually dealing with security and permissions where the filetype is not a limiting factor. It is relevant and people do have to do those kinds of configurations. Usually when it is the admin hired on Monday to fix the network that was screwed up by the admin that was fired on Friday. Simple is better but not always what we get handed to us.

Chris

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