Hello all, I'm currently a student a tech/vocational school in Bellevue, WA. I'm going to start training and preparation for the MCSD certification. I have no "real world" experience as a dev or a tester. Does having the cert help me getting a job in this scenario? I have a basic understanding of C#/C++ and .Net, but just no professional experience. I figure that somebody has to start from somewhere when they change industies. Any foresight and feedback would be nicely appreciated.

-KingCobraLion

Here is some previous discussion on certs. There are more topics in this subforum.

I'd say that without any experience you may not be too attractive as a new hire. If you have the knowledge/ability to pass the tests then perhaps a cert could help you get a job. But some of those tests are tough to pass without real experience.

Good luck on the career change. I'll have to do that eventually and seems very daunting.

Thanks TAiN. I live in the Bellevue, WA area so I dont think getting a job will be to hard (Bellevue is right next to Redmond - which is where Microsoft along with dozens of other software companies are located, in case you were unaware). I was just kinda curious as to what to expect for interview questions? What topics and what not? Thanks again!

You should focus on your target audience. If your future boss puts a lot of weight in certs, then yes it'll help. If your future boss could care less then you're wasting your money. What you need is a plan. Make a choice - cert or no cert - and make a plan how to best leverage this.

-gosh