MCP / MCSE Training

[ajax_andy 0]

Does anyone know a training organisation in the north east that teaches MCP & MCSE courses?

 

I'm really struggling to find anywhere and any help would be appreciated.

[NJS 4006]

Don't know of any NE based ones but most people use the self-guided training materials MS sell.

[Park Life 71]

Does anyone know a training organisation in the north east that teaches MCP & MCSE courses?

 

I'm really struggling to find anywhere and any help would be appreciated.

 

You can buy the packs and do it at home.

[ajax_andy 0]

Don't know of any NE based ones but most people use the self-guided training materials MS sell.

 

 

Thanks I looked in to that but learn better when taught by someone actually standing there teaching me. It might be the only way forward though so i'll put in a thing at work to ask them to pay for it and see what they say.

 

Cheers!

[ajax_andy 0]

Has anyone studied this using the packs or on-line training?

 

I'm wondering how easy it is to learn these things if you aren't actually sitting in front of Windows Server? Does the on-line training put you on a mock windows server to practice your learning?

[NJS 4006]

Don't know of any NE based ones but most people use the self-guided training materials MS sell.

 

 

Thanks I looked in to that but learn better when taught by someone actually standing there teaching me. It might be the only way forward though so i'll put in a thing at work to ask them to pay for it and see what they say.

 

Cheers!

 

I was going to mention cost - an outsourced course will cost a lot - I looked at one about 6 years ago that was more than £2k wheras the training kits are about £100. Of course if you can get your employer to pay thats the best way. I did it self-taught.

[NJS 4006]

Has anyone studied this using the packs or on-line training?

 

I'm wondering how easy it is to learn these things if you aren't actually sitting in front of Windows Server? Does the on-line training put you on a mock windows server to practice your learning?

 

I did MCAD/MCSD and found it okay - haven't tried MCSE.

[ajax_andy 0]

Has anyone studied this using the packs or on-line training?

 

I'm wondering how easy it is to learn these things if you aren't actually sitting in front of Windows Server? Does the on-line training put you on a mock windows server to practice your learning?

 

I did MCAD/MCSD and found it okay - haven't tried MCSE.

 

 

Cool, did you do yours on-line or using the training packs?

[ajax_andy 0]

Don't know of any NE based ones but most people use the self-guided training materials MS sell.

 

 

Thanks I looked in to that but learn better when taught by someone actually standing there teaching me. It might be the only way forward though so i'll put in a thing at work to ask them to pay for it and see what they say.

 

Cheers!

 

I was going to mention cost - an outsourced course will cost a lot - I looked at one about 6 years ago that was more than £2k wheras the training kits are about £100. Of course if you can get your employer to pay thats the best way. I did it self-taught.

 

 

Yeah 'm hoping to get them to pay for it but i'm not convinced they will!

[Anth 54]

I've just finished my MCSA and have 3 exams left to become MCSE certified. I paid for it through a training company who provided online training materials but it isnt worth it to be honest - The best thing to do it buy the books / dowload free training videos, articles on technet and set up a lab at home with Virtual PC's.

 

EDIT: The closest place to Newcastle to do the exams, now that taitec in Kingston park closed, is qa in Washington http://www.qa.com/

Edited October 22, 2009 by Anth

[ajax_andy 0]

I've just finished my MCSA and have 3 exams left to become MCSE certified. I paid for it through a training company who provided online training materials but it isnt worth it to be honest - The best thing to do it buy the books / dowload free training videos, articles on technet and set up a lab at home with Virtual PC's.

 

EDIT: The closest place to Newcastle to do the exams, now that taitec in Kingston park closed, is qa in Washington http://www.qa.com/

 

 

Wow that companies expensive lol!

 

I think i'll be going down the self taught route and just buy the books, download windows server and set up a mini network in the house.

 

Just out of interest I'm presuming Windows Server 2008 is the current platform most businesses will be using, but I can only find training packs for 2003. Is the MCSE based on 2003 now obsolete?

[Anth 54]

I've just finished my MCSA and have 3 exams left to become MCSE certified. I paid for it through a training company who provided online training materials but it isnt worth it to be honest - The best thing to do it buy the books / dowload free training videos, articles on technet and set up a lab at home with Virtual PC's.

 

EDIT: The closest place to Newcastle to do the exams, now that taitec in Kingston park closed, is qa in Washington http://www.qa.com/

 

 

Wow that companies expensive lol!

 

I think i'll be going down the self taught route and just buy the books, download windows server and set up a mini network in the house.

 

Just out of interest I'm presuming Windows Server 2008 is the current platform most businesses will be using, but I can only find training packs for 2003. Is the MCSE based on 2003 now obsolete?

The self tought route is the best like I say, make sure you set up a home lab as practice is essential

Aye QA are expensive but that's for their training courses . Work have sent me on them a few times for Ms server and Exchange and stuff, they are good though.

What I meant it, QA is the closest examination centre, the price of the exams are the same everywhere and last time I checked there are roughly £100 per exam.

They have scrapped the name MCSE for 2008 and created a new acronym MS Technology specialist or something.

Most companies getting new servers will obviously be looking at server 2008 or exchange 2007, but loads of places still use server 2003, and alot of technology jobs still ask for server 2003 certification. Its up to you though

[ajax_andy 0]

I've just finished my MCSA and have 3 exams left to become MCSE certified. I paid for it through a training company who provided online training materials but it isnt worth it to be honest - The best thing to do it buy the books / dowload free training videos, articles on technet and set up a lab at home with Virtual PC's.

 

EDIT: The closest place to Newcastle to do the exams, now that taitec in Kingston park closed, is qa in Washington http://www.qa.com/

 

 

Wow that companies expensive lol!

 

I think i'll be going down the self taught route and just buy the books, download windows server and set up a mini network in the house.

 

Just out of interest I'm presuming Windows Server 2008 is the current platform most businesses will be using, but I can only find training packs for 2003. Is the MCSE based on 2003 now obsolete?

The self tought route is the best like I say, make sure you set up a home lab as practice is essential

Aye QA are expensive but that's for their training courses . Work have sent me on them a few times for Ms server and Exchange and stuff, they are good though.

What I meant it, QA is the closest examination centre, the price of the exams are the same everywhere and last time I checked there are roughly £100 per exam.

They have scrapped the name MCSE for 2008 and created a new acronym MS Technology specialist or something.

Most companies getting new servers will obviously be looking at server 2008 or exchange 2007, but loads of places still use server 2003, and alot of technology jobs still ask for server 2003 certification. Its up to you though

 

Ok thats really helpful, thank you!

 

I think i'd be best off learning 2003 as tbh i've not touched networks since 2000 and even then that was only briefly.

 

If I learn 2003 then i'm sure the step up to 2008 wont be that big anyway so its the best place to start.

 

I'll ask at work if they will pay for my exams if I teach myself should they refuse the £1,000 course I was looking at.

 

Would you say its fairly easy to teach yourself using the training packs? How long did each MCP take you to learn?

[ajax_andy 0]

works sent me on a bundle of microsoft courses the last while, everything from advanced c# .net to sql server

and i can safely say they have all been a bunch of shite.

 

basically the tutor puts up slides from the pages in the book your given and you work through crap labs in a virtual machine.

(the labs aren't so much labs as they are step by step guides with the answers...)

 

your much much better off saving your cash and learning it all yourself

 

That does sound like a waste of money like! Speaking from a teaching point of view (thats the profession i'm in) that kind of learning experience is shockingly bad!

[wykikitoon 17052]

I know a few IT managers and when they have someones CV that has MCSE 95% of them go straight in the bin.

[NJS 4006]

I know a few IT managers and when they have someones CV that has MCSE 95% of them go straight in the bin.

 

I wouldn't go that far but from a development pov I usually ignore them and look at job history above all else.

 

The thing about the MS quals is that you can get the answers off E-Bay which everyone knows so there is an air of distrust. Of course if you know your stuff anyway then that's okay as it would only take 5 minutes to work out someone was completely clueless.

[khay 8]

I know a few IT managers and when they have someones CV that has MCSE 95% of them go straight in the bin.

 

 

So what do they look for?

[Anth 54]

I've just finished my MCSA and have 3 exams left to become MCSE certified. I paid for it through a training company who provided online training materials but it isnt worth it to be honest - The best thing to do it buy the books / dowload free training videos, articles on technet and set up a lab at home with Virtual PC's.

 

EDIT: The closest place to Newcastle to do the exams, now that taitec in Kingston park closed, is qa in Washington http://www.qa.com/

 

 

Wow that companies expensive lol!

 

I think i'll be going down the self taught route and just buy the books, download windows server and set up a mini network in the house.

 

Just out of interest I'm presuming Windows Server 2008 is the current platform most businesses will be using, but I can only find training packs for 2003. Is the MCSE based on 2003 now obsolete?

The self tought route is the best like I say, make sure you set up a home lab as practice is essential

Aye QA are expensive but that's for their training courses . Work have sent me on them a few times for Ms server and Exchange and stuff, they are good though.

What I meant it, QA is the closest examination centre, the price of the exams are the same everywhere and last time I checked there are roughly £100 per exam.

They have scrapped the name MCSE for 2008 and created a new acronym MS Technology specialist or something.

Most companies getting new servers will obviously be looking at server 2008 or exchange 2007, but loads of places still use server 2003, and alot of technology jobs still ask for server 2003 certification. Its up to you though

 

Ok thats really helpful, thank you!

 

I think i'd be best off learning 2003 as tbh i've not touched networks since 2000 and even then that was only briefly.

 

If I learn 2003 then i'm sure the step up to 2008 wont be that big anyway so its the best place to start.

 

I'll ask at work if they will pay for my exams if I teach myself should they refuse the £1,000 course I was looking at.

 

Would you say its fairly easy to teach yourself using the training packs? How long did each MCP take you to learn?

 

I did my first exam (XP) in Nov 2006 and did my last one (Exchange 2003) In Nov 2008, thats a long time for 4 exams, I just find it difficult to motivate myself to be honest - I think im naturally lazy!

Personally I have found that I cannot get myself into study mode until I book my exam, and I reckon about 2 hours a night for about 2 months for each exam, you might try it and find you need more time or less time. get virtual PC from Microsoft (its free) and download the operating systems on 120 day trials and get experience installing and configuring Xp and Server 2003. A combination of video training / reading and practice will work. Pm me an email address and I'll dig out some resources you can use.

[ajax_andy 0]

I know a few IT managers and when they have someones CV that has MCSE 95% of them go straight in the bin.

 

I wouldn't go that far but from a development pov I usually ignore them and look at job history above all else.

 

The thing about the MS quals is that you can get the answers off E-Bay which everyone knows so there is an air of distrust. Of course if you know your stuff anyway then that's okay as it would only take 5 minutes to work out someone was completely clueless.

 

 

Ok thats something I didn't know... quite worrying in some aspects that the qualification isn't as well thought of as I expected.

 

Still my main goals for studying it are:

 

1) I am a qualified IT Lecturer but my current role at the college doesn't involve teaching. My IT knowledge is rapidly becoming obsolete so I need to find something that will bring me back up to date.

2) Ideally i'd like to become MCSE qualified, quit my job and sign up as a Microsoft trainer (using my teaching experience as the main selling point on my CV) and earn £35k a year... Happy days!

[NJS 4006]

Maybe I'm wrong as I have no experience of the public sector - I wouldn't be surprised if Government edicts mean that MCSE etc boxes have to be ticked.

 

I know the DSS are big on ITIL for example.

[wykikitoon 17052]

I know a few IT managers and when they have someones CV that has MCSE 95% of them go straight in the bin.

 

 

So what do they look for?

 

CISCO and other, just not MCSE apparently.

[Anth 54]

I know a few IT managers and when they have someones CV that has MCSE 95% of them go straight in the bin.

 

That's a shame to be honest, though as mentioned the whole certification thing is probably devalued due to people cheating. I can assure you that people who actually gain them fairly can be very knowledgeable in MS server products. The majority of well paid Infrastructure support /design jobs that use Microsoft stuff ask for them.

I was interviewed for a systems admin job within the NHS recently and at an MCSA was the minimum requirement

[wykikitoon 17052]

I know a few IT managers and when they have someones CV that has MCSE 95% of them go straight in the bin.

 

That's a shame to be honest, though as mentioned the whole certification thing is probably devalued due to people cheating. I can assure you that people who actually gain them fairly can be very knowledgeable in MS server products. The majority of well paid Infrastructure support /design jobs that use Microsoft stuff ask for them.

I was interviewed for a systems admin job within the NHS recently and at an MCSA was the minimum requirement

 

My friend is IT Director at the NHS here in Leeds and they use CISCO and will not touch MCSE cert peeps.

[Craig 6321]

Maybe I'm wrong as I have no experience of the public sector - I wouldn't be surprised if Government edicts mean that MCSE etc boxes have to be ticked.

 

I know the DSS are big on ITIL for example.

 

ITIL isn't a qualification per se, it's an industry standard that IT depts are beginning to work under.

 

MCSE is a good addition to your CV but for what it is, it's horrifically expensive. We have a couple of guys in our Infrastructure team who are MCSE certified and there's one person who's in support who has it but is by far, the least knowledgable support analyst we have.

 

The price and prestige is sadly ramped up because of the Microsoft name.

[Craig 6321]

I know a few IT managers and when they have someones CV that has MCSE 95% of them go straight in the bin.

 

That's a shame to be honest, though as mentioned the whole certification thing is probably devalued due to people cheating. I can assure you that people who actually gain them fairly can be very knowledgeable in MS server products. The majority of well paid Infrastructure support /design jobs that use Microsoft stuff ask for them.

I was interviewed for a systems admin job within the NHS recently and at an MCSA was the minimum requirement

 

My friend is IT Director at the NHS here in Leeds and they use CISCO and will not touch MCSE cert peeps.

 

Chalk and cheese really though, CISCO is mainly associated with network infrastructure as opposed to server / workstation architecture which is more Microsoft's domain.