MCSE Exam Preparation And Preview

The first new qualification - the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) on Windows 2000 - was available from January 2002. The MCSA includes a subset of the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) credential's exams, but focuses specifically on the skills needed to successfully manage, support and troubleshoot Windows 2000-based systems.

'There's a growth from a customer perspective around the networking element of our technology,' said Microsoft skills manager Ayesha Okhai. 'This new qualification provides validation of a skillset that is in high demand in today's market.'

The qualification is aimed at network administrators who support between 200 and 26,000 users, across anything up to 100 locations.

'This isn't a stepping stone to the MCSE, but it's an alternative if you want to focus on administering rather then deployment. If an MCSA then wants to go for an MCSE, some of the MCSE exams preparation will count,' said Okhai.

Michael Pang, a technical instructor for TeraBiz, agrees. A former mortgage broker, Pang decided to make a career change three years ago.

"I was thinking, 'This is crazy," Pang recalls. "I was working on pure commission, so if nobody's refinancing, I don't make a lot of money.

But Pang was able to take computer classes free through his employer One thing led to another and today his fist of certifications includes Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Microsoft Certified Trainer,

"I'm not knocking a four-year degree," Pang says, "but I think certification is just as effective in a much shorter time. By the time you get a four-year degree in computer science, the industry has changed at least a couple of times. Many people can't afford to go back to school for four more years." Both Bloom and Kimura say more people are taking this option. TeraBiz trains approximately 1,400 people each year for technical certification, while CTA trains about 2,500.

Working as a systems engineer or applications developer is much more vocational than professional, Bloom says.

"If you are going to hire a carpenter, car mechanic or plumber, do you want someone who has a master's degree or Ph.D. in auto repair or plumbing?" Bloom asks. "Or do you want someone with a lot of realworld experience?"

"We've interviewed a lot of people who want to work for us who have four-year degrees," Kimura says. "They tell me they've interviewed or applied all over the place but were not hired because they still didn't have the hands-on experience many companies require." However, certification doesn't guarantee competence, Kay says.

"There are a lot of paper MCSEs out there," Kay warns. "They may have passed the certification test, but they can't do the job."

Kimura attributes the phenomenon to both the individual student and the facility. Unlike college degrees, employers generally don't ask prospective employees where they were certified.

"An MCSE is an MCSE but to clear it needs special MCSE exam preparation" Kay says. "You just assume since they got it they can do the job. What the certificate does is give an employer an idea that the individual has some base knowledge on a highly specific platform or application."

MCSE Certification