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Posted: 10/3/2011 11:19:16 AM EDT
[#1]
Alright. I will sweeten the pot. If I pass the test utilizing the study material and labs you suggest, I will buy and have shipped to you a box of .223 20count of your choice. (Price for ammo and shipping can not total more then $15.) If more then one person suggests the same materials and I pass, the person who first suggested it will get the ammo.
ETA: You must be specific. Saying, "Use Microsoft books", is not specific. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 11:34:35 AM EDT
[#2]
If you were looking for a Red Hat certification I might be able to help. Not so much with M$.
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Posted: 10/3/2011 11:40:37 AM EDT
[#3]
I dont even look at certs most of the time when hiring , almost nothing is by the book in the real IT world. I want hands on experience more than anything , time behind the wheel dealing with unexpected crazy shit and see how many rabbits you can pull out of your IT hat.
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Posted: 10/3/2011 11:45:10 AM EDT
[#4]
I'm also a *nix guy, but I wear a few hats.
For Microsoft stuff: Memorize the Resource Kit book for the OS you are testing on, those cover 80% of the test. Then go through TechNet and read every known issue and update note on the OS. This is stuff you should have been doing during the course of your work anyway, so it'll be kind of boring at times, but do it anyway. I passed the HP-UX test after 2 weeks of using it, my boss at the time was about to make his 3rd attempt at passing. It's a different type of test, more of a "working knowledge" test similar to Cisco certs. Microsoft is kind of like the A+/Net+ tests, which are easier if you are a book learner, and harder if you just make stuff work. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 11:47:17 AM EDT
[#5]
Certifications mean you are good at taking certification tests.
You either know what you are doing or you don't. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 11:50:48 AM EDT
[#6]
For 70-680 my class used Sybex textbooks, same for Net+. It comes with CD with flashcards, and test engine and stuff. They also had a flashcard app for the IPhone which was cool.
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Posted: 10/3/2011 12:01:38 PM EDT
[#7]
I am very aware that a certification is just studying a book and taking a test. Right now San Antonio has a huge need for various IT positions. The problem is that since much of the rest of the country is in the toilet job wise, to even get pass HR anymore, they are requiring certs. As has been said by someone already, I also hire people based on what they can do, not just the certs they have. However, not every company is that way, or every HR guy\gal that is responsible at time for narrowing down the applicants. So please keep the "Certs are a waste of time" argument out of the discussion.
Some times you need a degree and experience, sometimes you need certs and experience, and at times you need all of the above. There are other factors, but since I do not have a vagina, big boobs, nor am I a female, those do not count. Not a minority either. I am a big pasty white guy with a wife and 3 kids. So I need every advantage I can get. Now that being said, back to the topic. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 12:04:49 PM EDT
[#8]
Quoted:
I dont even look at certs most of the time when hiring , almost nothing is by the book in the real IT world. I want hands on experience more than anything , time behind the wheel dealing with unexpected crazy shit and see how many rabbits you can pull out of your IT hat. I would agree, but that list of certs is nice when you are trying to get hired by someone who does want to see certs. It simply shows you are good and studying a problem and finding the answer, even if it is not real world. If I had to chose between someone with experience and certs and someone with experience only, I'm gunna go with the guy that has both. It's a rough job market out there right now. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 12:07:15 PM EDT
[#9]
Quoted: I am very aware that a certification is just studying a book and taking a test. Right now San Antonio has a huge need for various IT positions. The problem is that since much of the rest of the country is in the toilet job wise, to even get pass HR anymore, they are requiring certs. As has been said by someone already, I also hire people based on what they can do, not just the certs they have. However, not every company is that way, or every HR guy\gal that is responsible at time for narrowing down the applicants. So please keep the "Certs are a waste of time" argument out of the discussion. Some times you need a degree and experience, sometimes you need certs and experience, and at times you need all of the above. There are other factors, but since I do not have a vagina, big boobs, nor am I a female, those do not count. Not a minority either. I am a big pasty white guy with a wife and 3 kids. So I need every advantage I can get. Now that being said, back to the topic. I've always been a big fan of the Sybex books, they really helped me out in the beginning. http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470343443,miniSiteCd-SYBEX.html They also come with electronic flash cards and practice exams. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 12:27:40 PM EDT
[#10]
I studied the Exam Cram books for all of my multiple MCSE's. Haven't bothered with 2k8 because I just stopped caring. I imagine they are still just as good. The Sybex books are also good. The "Mastering Windows xxx" are normally very good resources books as well.
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Posted: 10/3/2011 12:35:57 PM EDT
[#11]
You want to pass a cert test go to pass4sure.com.
If you are able to pass the practice tests you should pass the real test. I purchased one of their MS tests, reviewed it for 3 days and went to take the test. I completed a 60 minute test in 15 minutes and didn't miss a question. YMMV |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 12:43:47 PM EDT
[#12]
Transcender is supposed to be good.
I think they got sued once for using the exact questions from the tests. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 12:45:55 PM EDT
[#13]
Quoted:
Certifications mean you are good at taking certification tests. You either know what you are doing or you don't. I've gotten 6 certifications. PHP, Linux, MySQL, UML, SQL Server 2008, and A+. I've learned new and valuable stuff in all of them (except the A+). |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 12:48:22 PM EDT
[#14]
I did the four or five tests for the MCDBA certification several years ago. I bought the official books, memorized a lot of stuff, and did practice tests online. I probably overprepped but at least I passed each test on the first go.
I agree with people on this thread that the certifications don't prove much, but I could see it helping in getting a job. If the company wants to be a Microsoft Partner they need certain kinds of certifications on staff, even if those people will never really work on Microsoft-centric projects. So if the company is lacking some certification they can either have one of their existing people waste a lot of time on it rather than doing billable work, or they can make sure that the next guy they hire already has it. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 12:48:48 PM EDT
[#15]
Quoted:
You want to pass a cert test go to pass4sure.com. If you are able to pass the practice tests you should pass the real test. I purchased one of their MS tests, reviewed it for 3 days and went to take the test. I completed a 60 minute test in 15 minutes and didn't miss a question. YMMV I dont even see any MS tests on that site. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 12:57:32 PM EDT
[#16]
Test king and Cert killer were the ones of choice when I went for my MCSE 2000. I didn't upgrade to 2003 because I was afraid of the 2 tests and I was too far from system administration to be knowledgable enough on the system. Now I'm required to get one for Window 7 or Server 2008. I really hate the IT certification tracks because you need to continually pursue updating them (every 3 years or so) and I'm in an IT backwater that the certs won't help.
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Posted: 10/3/2011 1:05:22 PM EDT
[#17]
I wholeheartedly recommend Mark Minasi's books on the subject. He has an amazing (and often hilarious) writing style that makes the information much more digestable than other reference books.
Although he doesn't appear to have a blanked Windows Server 2008 book, he did co-author a book for the MCITP Network Foundations exam. It can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Windows-Server-Networking-Foundations/dp/0470249846/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1 |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 1:08:58 PM EDT
[#18]
Quoted:
Quoted:
You want to pass a cert test go to pass4sure.com. If you are able to pass the practice tests you should pass the real test. I purchased one of their MS tests, reviewed it for 3 days and went to take the test. I completed a 60 minute test in 15 minutes and didn't miss a question. YMMV I dont even see any MS tests on that site. Crap, sorry about that. Let me just say that the tests were identical, down to the wording. They must have gotten their hands slapped by MS.. ETA - found this link - it sure looks like the same company and you can download a Demo of a test - if you've taken a MS test recently, download a demo of that test and see how it compares to the actual.. http://www.mypass4sure.info/70-640-dumps.html It appears that they were sued by MS a 'couple' years ago and so they changed the name but I'm not sure if the product has changed as well. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 1:11:52 PM EDT
[#19]
I'd like to point out that M$ Certs and A+ certs are somewhat close to junk.
AIX, HP-UX, Cisco, and RedHat, MySQL, and Oracle Certs are a different WORLD from M$/x+ Certs. These are written to make a person work out problems, rather than parrot test answers, unless you memorized all the questions and answers. Even then, the Cisco CCIE is something that only somebody with talent can put on their resume. I've never seen somebody Cisco certified that was a book learner, as it should be, since BGP is the most evil and unforgiving bitch an IT person will ever run into. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 1:42:59 PM EDT
[#20]
Quoted:
I'd like to point out that M$ Certs and A+ certs are somewhat close to junk. AIX, HP-UX, Cisco, and RedHat, MySQL, and Oracle Certs are a different WORLD from M$/x+ Certs. These are written to make a person work out problems, rather than parrot test answers, unless you memorized all the questions and answers. Even then, the Cisco CCIE is something that only somebody with talent can put on their resume. I've never seen somebody Cisco certified that was a book learner, as it should be, since BGP is the most evil and unforgiving bitch an IT person will ever run into. You pointed it out and yet it has already been addressed. I really don't give a shit one way or another what your opinion is about MS certs or CompTia. If an employer says "You need to have this before we will hire you", then if you want the job you get it. So then in that case it is worth that job. And if that job pays 35K more then what I am making now then it is worth $35K. Learn to read and you will be amazed how it changes your life.
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Posted: 10/3/2011 2:04:16 PM EDT
[#21]
Quoted:
Quoted:
I'd like to point out that M$ Certs and A+ certs are somewhat close to junk. AIX, HP-UX, Cisco, and RedHat, MySQL, and Oracle Certs are a different WORLD from M$/x+ Certs. These are written to make a person work out problems, rather than parrot test answers, unless you memorized all the questions and answers. Even then, the Cisco CCIE is something that only somebody with talent can put on their resume. I've never seen somebody Cisco certified that was a book learner, as it should be, since BGP is the most evil and unforgiving bitch an IT person will ever run into. You pointed it out and yet it has already been addressed. I really don't give a shit one way or another what your opinion is about MS certs or CompTia. If an employer says "You need to have this before we will hire you", then if you want the job you get it. So then in that case it is worth that job. And if that job pays 35K more then what I am making now then it is worth $35K. Learn to read and you will be amazed how it changes your life. I was somewhat agreeing with you and pointing out that certs pad out a resume over having a college degree in many cases. I merely wanted to point out to the "Certs don't matter" group, that some Certs certainly do matter, and do weed out a sheaf of applicants to a handful, especially if this is your first IT job. I wish you the best of luck on your MS Cert, and I do hope you can get your future employer to pay for "continuing education" certs I listed above, as they are quite spendy. That is something "good" brought up in an interview, the eagerness to expand what you know. |
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Posted: 10/3/2011 6:57:08 PM EDT
[#22]
Guess I will take a look at Sybex and see what they have to offer.
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