HIya,

I was wondering what you’re feelings are on doing the MCSE for Windows 2003 server. Do you guys think it's worth it ? I’d appreciate some good advice on this if you have a minute. Also if not what do you guys suggest.

Thanks

Minus Human

Go for it... it can't hurt...

True, although with Lonhorn server in the pipeline how much is it worth ??

Minus Human

True, although with Lonhorn server in the pipeline how much is it worth ??

Minus Human

Longhorn Server...isnt here...and may not....Server 2003 is deployed and widely used....if i was to make money...I think I would choose something that is present and not someone dream.

there are many organizations that are still running nt 4.0(lifeline was extended)

lonhorn server or whatever its gonna be called is far far away(always postponed) and i am willing to be there will be 2003 reloaded version before that,and even if it comes out in ayear nobody is going to touch it atleast one year after the launch.

go for it

BUT remeber more then the actual "diploma" the experience speaks for itself

so you have to gain experience

Mcse nt4.0/2000/2003

Cisco ccna

Checkpoint Ccse/ccsa

Citrix Cca

<never mind>

Well.... well, turbomcp above has said most of what I was about to.

In the job-market, your certification of MCSE 2003 does not count nearly as much as the effort that you're understood to have put-in towards getting it, and the experience that you're likely to have after that course. So, its really an indirectly valued cert. Experience always counts more, people pair it with a certification to really prove that.....

That's all I can say, and good luck to you.

experience counts and hands on ;-) keep on fiddling with server and worksattion both to find it's depth

a very interesting and relative discussion...

i took a few certs back in the NT4 days, and they helped a bit in getting a job, but not much. i havent bothered since because i agree with many here that experience usually counts better, and is always more relevant than some test.

that said, many people who actually hire IT people generally dont have a clue about computers, so they look for stuff like certs and diplomas rather than what counts.

best advice i can give is get the cert to get your foot in the door, but make sure you have experience to keep the job once you get it.

That's good to know I’m quite interested in immigrating to either US/Canada so its good to see that it will still help me if/when I get there. Exp is a good thing I’ve been working with 2000/2003 server for about 3 years now but I really want to get it "Formal" seeing as my NT4MCSE is not worth much nor have I really used it.

What’s the feeling on Novell Cert VS Microsoft ?

Minus Human

Microsoft Certification is currently top-dog in the industry.

While Novell cert. isn't bad, there aren't many places you could really get to, with that (no, there are many openings for novell as well, but openings for MS-based certs. are simply higher).

as far as NT certs... you'd be shocked how many companies are still running NT, so while M$ may not recognize the cert, it's still valid in helping to get a job.

i agree with prathapml that there are much more jobs for M$ engineers than Novell, and Novell does appear to be fading a bit, but look at it this way - get a cert in a field you wish to work in and something you know. if you're good on Windows servers, dont go out and get a Novell cert so your resume looks good, because you might end up working on those and then you're back to having a cert with little experience and that doesnt help you either.

What about other Microsoft Certs ? are there any others you guys would recommend MCSA perhaps ?

Minus Human

that depends on what you want to do. please dont do what many have done and just whored all the certs they could without real life knowledge of it. that widespread practice is what has cheapened them to begin with.

the best thing to do is get the cert that best describes what you want to do. there's ones that flow along paths of teaching, developing, system administration, support, etc. figure out what you want from a job, and get the cert relevant to that.

dont get me wrong, it's good to have other qualities to fall back on, but the fact that there's an army of people out there who have loads of certs but dont know their head from their a$$ has made them not worth nearly as much as they should be. best advice i could think of is not to be one of those people.