| Product: |
Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE) |
| Date: |
08/09/00 (1438 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: A sought after qualification that proves your skills
Disadvantages: Expensive and often poorly taught
It’s the qualification that more and more employers are asking for, but how do you pass your MCSE?
The key is to find the right method for you, and what works for someone else may not work at all for you. There are 3 main ways to study and I will detail the pros and cons of each. (Note: For the purpose of this review the MCSE is for NT4 and I’ll update it when I’ve completed the Windows 2000 upgrade exams)
Home Study
Pros: The least expensive option, around £500 will get you all the study materials you need. You choose the pace of the study and the times when you can do it.
Cons: Least likely way of actually passing the exams. You will need access to at least one computer (or 2 networked PCs if at all possible) that you can install NT Server and Workstation on.
Course
Pros: Everything is spoon-fed and if you get a good teacher this will be the quickest way to learn.
Cons: Incredibly expensive (at least £4,000 for any decent course) and time consuming (4 weeks or more). They often tell you to take a break after the course before taking the exams, which means that many people never take them at all.
Home study and intensive course
Pros: Cheaper than the full course and you can study before the course at your own pace.
Cons: You need to have done about 100 hours of solid study and passed entrance exams to get on the course.
Which did I do? The home study and intensive course worked out best for me. 3 months intensive study (getting up at 3.30am!) using books, exams and online testing was followed by a two-week course. It was great because everyone else in the class had passed the entrance exam too which meant the whole two weeks was very fast-paced. I took one exam every day and a half and passed all first time round, and so did 3 out 4 of the others on the course.
Was it worth it? It cost a lot in te
rms of time and money but I do believe it was worth it. Having said that, I had to move jobs to get any recognition for my qualification – which is so often the case in Britain! The exams are not that hard if you are well-prepared for them.
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Last comments:
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- 16/10/00 It depends. I wouldn't suggest attempting it unless you have at least one year of good NT experience, and two years if at all possible. If you don't have experience and work really hard you may get lucky and pass BUT no employer worth their salt will see it as a real qualification. Best to start off in a junior IT position and do the self-study to see if it's for you. Bear in mind that the is little benefit in doing NT4 now becuase it may take you 6-12 months or so to pass. Look at the Windows 2000 course. Beleive me the upgrade from NT to 2000 is every bit as hard as starting from stratch with 2000! |
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- 16/10/00 What level of expertise/competence do you need to be at to start the course? I've never seen this info on any of the blurbs about this programme |
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- 26/09/00 Good point Dave and I hope that came through in my review. I felt the home study/intensive course suited me best, but many of my collegues who are also qualified did so through the other methods. At the end of the day each person knows how they study best and it's so important to keep that motivation going! |
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