Microsoft Certifications are one of the most widely pursued and
acclaimed professional certifications in the IT industry.
Preparing MS certification tests, however, is a significant
undertaking whether you’re just out of college or have been in
IT field for years. IT professionals are continuously demanded
to acquire new knowledge in order to perform well on their jobs
as new technology in the IT industry emerged at a pace that has
never been seen before. Regardless what certifications
(Microsoft Certified Professional or MCP, Microsoft Certified
System Administrator or MCSA, Microsoft Certified System
Engineer or MCSE ) you are pursuing, a thorough planning will
increase the chance of success.
1. Pick the Right Certification
There’re two questions to answer while pursuing a MS
certification:
a) Whether a particular MS certification helps the long-term and
short-term goals of your career path. If your passion is in IT
consulting, MCSE certification is likely more valuable than a
MCSA certification, which may help you land a system
administrator job at companies which are MS shop.
b) Whether you have both sufficient knowledge and hands-on
experience to pass a series of tests for the certification. You
may want to talk to your friends who have taken the tests
before, or examine the questions from previous certification
tests to identify the gap between what you’ve known and what you
need to know. Braindumps or actual test questions from past
exams will help learn the format and the scope of the tests.
2. Gain Hands-on Experience
Besides the official certification guide and reading materials
published by vendors or authorized organizations, there’re
numerous other helpful learning materials available online or in
print. A few years ago, we’ve heard the stories that employees
with MS certifications who couldn’t do their job. They passed MS
certifications with little hands-on experience but a lot of
knowledge on paper gained from purely studying practice test
questions and braindumps. As
certification vendors improved the test questions and introduced
new test formats, it’s almost impossible to pass those tests
without years of hands-on experience. The real value of hands-on
experience is to prepare you for the job, not just to gain a
certification.
3. Consolidate Knowledge with Training
The value of hands-on experience can not be replaced with
studying sample certification tests, and systematical knowledge
of a particular subject can’t be replaced by hands-on experience
either. Use of Computer Based Training software is a very
effective way to speed up your Microsoft certification
preparation. For instance, many companies offer vendor-co
developed CBT or Computer
Based Training for IT professionals to have a comprehensive
understanding of Microsoft products and practice.
4. Take Sample Exams
Once you have both systematical knowledge and hands-on
experience of Microsoft software products, you’ll still need to
know the format and style of certification test questions to
perform well in the exams. Use of sample tests and braindumps
will often further improve your test score.
5. IT certification exams.
Mi
crosoft certification exams, like other major IT
certifications – Cisco, Oracle etc, are administered by
independent testing organizations at major cities worldwide.
Registration can be done online or via phone. More important
than anything else is to relax and have a good night of sleep
before the actual test date.
Copyright @2005, Bruce Zhang
You have permission to publish this article electronically free
of charge, as long as the bylines and links in the body of the
article and the bylines are included.
About the author:
Bruce Zhang has over 10 years of experience in web applications
development, web design and database design.