MCSA
Printed From: CertCities.com Forums
Forum Name: General Certification Discussion
Forum Discription: Post your general questions/comments about IT certification here.
URL: http://certcities.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?tid=11
Printed Date: 14 January 2010 at 11:53am
Topic: MCSA
Posted by: Becky Nagel
Subject: MCSA
Date Posted: 22 May 2002 at 10:27pm
| Hi Pivo -- I haven't seen any numbers yet that compare the salaries of MCSA v. MCSE (seems a little early -- if you have a link, please post it!), but you're probably right, MCSAs will average lower salaries than MCSEs. However, I think you have to look at the experience level of those holding the titles, NOT the titles themselves, to really see what those numbers mean. Yes, certification can give salary a boost (or not.), but it really is experience that counts in the IT industry -- and in this instance, one can suspect that, excluding those with both titles, IT pros with an MCSE are going to average of higher number of years of experience in this industry than those with an MCSA, since the MCSA is aimed at those with less expereince. In fact, if you had two candidates both with 1 or 2 years of experience -- one with the MCSA, the other with an MCSE -- I think their salaries would be fairly even, all other factors considered (location, etc.). An MCSE has even been known to be counted as a negative for entry-level IT pros by some hiring managers -- they want to see comparable real world experience to go along with any certifications. In the MCSA vs. MCSE debate, it may be better to pick the title not with a specific monetary goal in mind, but instead go with the one that best matches your current skill level. And with any certification salary survey, jump *first* to the chart that breaks down the respondants by title AND years of experience --- that's going to give you the real story. -- Becky ------------- Editor, CertCities.com, Redmondmag.com and RCPmag.com ([email protected]) |
Replies:
Posted by: John S
Date Posted: 23 May 2002 at 5:07am
| The only general question that I have is-How do u make a career change to any place within the IT field via training or certification to gain a job without any field experience? I have had the A+ for abt 2 yrs and have been unable to find anything at all in IT. I have also found age to be a negative factor in the job search. Is it still wworth the effort to continue toward any other certifications? Which ones would be desired? Any ideas from anyone? Thank you. John S |
Posted by: Administrator
Date Posted: 16 June 2002 at 10:11am
| Hi John, Thats a great question. You're right -- it's very hard to break into IT right now. Many people find it's worthwhile to voluteer their services to a community organization or other non-profit in their area; don't get paid, but you do get experience you can put in your resume. Also, make sure you're actually going for real entry-level jobs in this industry. You'll be starting out probably in computer repair (a place like CompUSA) or, possibly, tech support. Everyone has to work their way up in this industry. I wouldn't get any more certifications until you get your start in the feild -- unfortunately, a lot of certs isn't going to do much for you. It's going to be getting any experience you can that counts. Best of luck to you, -- Becky Nagel |
Posted by: kevk62
Date Posted: 17 June 2002 at 12:37pm
| hello, i am from canada and i was wondering about your opinions about certifications...i have 9 years volunteer experience ...i was thinking of taking A+,Network+, mcp, mcsa,mcse, cna... i would find out what you think about it. please help me out here |
Posted by: root
Date Posted: 17 June 2002 at 1:26pm
| starting with A+ it is a god idea ! by the time you have that cert you should be able to make your own path mine is a bit different than yours: A+,Linux+,Network+,I-net+,Server+ after that MCSA/MCSE and LPI level 1  ------------- |
Posted by: kevk62
Date Posted: 18 June 2002 at 4:00pm
| thank you, root. I am thinking of studying on my own for a+, then i can figure out. anywayz, what is LPI level 1? Wow!...what do you do for living?if you mind me asking...it sounds like that you have learned many certifications... thanks for your input. i will start studying it  |
Posted by: root
Date Posted: 20 June 2002 at 2:46am
| LPI is Linux Professional Institute www.lpi.org ------------- |
Posted by: kevk62
Date Posted: 20 June 2002 at 1:57pm
| Do you think these certifications worth what they say? I just don't know if these things will open right door or not... what did you find yourself? |
Posted by: Becky Nagel
Date Posted: 21 June 2002 at 6:34pm
| Hi Kev, Greg Neilson, a columnist of ours, recently wrote an interesting article on the value in general of certifications these days, and what they can and can't do for someone. There's also some great posts underneath with readers talking about their expectations of certs and what they found in the real world. Thought I'd mention it in case you find it helpful. You can access it through the following link: http://certcities.com/editorial/columns/story.asp?Editoria lsID=108">http://certcities.com/editorial/columns/story.asp? EditorialsID=108 -- Becky |
Posted by: roguecoolman
Date Posted: 02 December 2003 at 12:00pm
| from my experience. experience gets you in the door. Certifications gets your wage adjustments and promotions. It works the same way with degrees. Degrees only proves you have knowledge, but doesn't prove you know how to do a job. but if 5 people does the same job, now theres a promotion happening. HR is going to pick the guy with the highest credentials for promotions most of the time because why? if joe smoe has no degrees and gets promoted over a guy with a masters, then what precedent is that going to set throughout the company? Getting all the certs in the world only pads your resume. Gets your wages adjusted because its harder for HR to deny you a wage raise when you have the qualities that fit. If you didn't have any certs, they can say, we'll because youre education level isn't that high..blah blah, we can only raise it this much. (this all depends on companies of course, some will run it different than others). However, i believe certs does give you knowledge that if you may not know you would need. lets think, do you think in a IT situation that everyone is going to be able to experience the widest range of MS Server experience? Not every company needs terminal service, not every company needs clustering, not every company needs server farms, SQL servers, etc.. studying certs exposes you to new solutions that yuo may consider in the future. And atleast gives you knowledge on them. Whether you can implement them properly is a different story. just my 2 cents. certs aren't a waste. but to think certs = guarantee job = $$$ is an illusion. hard work gets you the job, money comes from experience and know how. |
Posted by: wv_mark
Date Posted: 24 December 2003 at 6:19pm
| Hello, From my perspective, certs are mostly good in one situation: a tough IT job market. I have about 14 years of work related IT experience. In that time, I started out at the very bottom as an IT computer lab support person. It was a small lab on a University campus and it was work study. I worked my way up from minimum wage to being a systems admin at about $57k/year + stock option. I had no certifications, only experience. My yearly raises ranged anywhere from 6% to 15%, which I thought was pretty good. I worked for about seven different companies and I can't remember being asked about certifications. Then the tech slump hit and suddenly, I was like everyone else, looking for a job amidst millions of other people. I applied for any job that I could find in an area encompassing a good bit of the Eastern US. At every interview I was asked what certifications I had. Of course, I didn't have any, I had experience. I found that experience wasn't enough now. There were other people out there equivalent to me and some of them had certs. I finally found a job and I'm now working toward certifications. I started working in September and hit the ground running. This month, I received the CCNA and Network + certification. Next year I'm going to work towards MCSA (as a stepping stone to MCSE) and Security + (as a stepping stone to other security certs). So, in short, in a good IT job market, I never had to worry about certs. I found great jobs without them. In this tough IT job market, certs help you stand out from the 500+ other people applying for that position. Mark |
Posted by: gadric
Date Posted: 08 March 2004 at 8:54pm
| IMHO if you are going to go for a cert go for the "Top Dog" MCSA is just a "MCSE Lite " If you want to get good and useful certs try these: MCSE, MCDBA, MCSD (Microsoft) CCNA and above (CISCO) A+, N+ Security+ (Comptia) Stay Away From These: MCSA, MCDST, (Microsoft) Server + (Comptia) It is not that these are BAD certifications mind you BUT the issue here is getting the most "bang for your buck" Good Luck!!  ------------- Gadric Roaming the wilds of cyberspace!! |
Posted by: Munck
Date Posted: 09 March 2004 at 12:12am
| gadric, I don't quite understand why you promote various + certs (150$ each), when you state the issue are getting the most 'bang for your buck'. + certs. are very basic, and IMO only qualify as a entry point into the industry. |
Posted by: Munck
Date Posted: 09 March 2004 at 6:03am
| Wildcat, the + certs. only count for a MCSA elective. You still need the client and 2 core tests. http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcsa/windows2003/">M S:%20MCSA cheers! |
Posted by: gadric
Date Posted: 09 March 2004 at 8:58am
| gadric, I don't quite understand why you promote various + certs (150$ each), when you state the issue are getting the most 'bang for your buck'. + certs Here is the deal with that. In this job market there are about 500 or more resumes for each position. Now if you are the stack with an MCSA ans someone else has the MCSE the MCSE is probably going to get the interview over the MCSA. Why? you ask. Because certs are one way that the employer uses to filter out people for the position in question. So why not "go for the gold"?? ------------- Gadric Roaming the wilds of cyberspace!! |
Posted by: theMightyK
Date Posted: 03 May 2005 at 5:23pm
| GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCC!!!! Uh, is it really you? ------------- --Karen |
Posted by: Wildcat_Dude
Date Posted: 03 May 2005 at 9:52pm
| He hasn't been around since last year Karen. ------------- MCSE:Security & MCSA:Security, MCDST, MCP XP, CompTIA Sec+, A+ & N+ USAF (68-77) SP K9 Vietnam Vet 1969-DaNang, 1970-Tuy Hoa, Retired Police Detective/Narcotics/K9 |
Posted by: csannerit
Date Posted: 10 May 2005 at 1:04pm
| Here a couple of things to think about when considering certs. Certs, any certs show knowledge. I'm sorry I've been called in too many times to fix "bob�s� mistakes.�Bob� was an uncertified tech, but he's been working on computers for years. He knows just enough to be dangerous. And he patches things great.... For a week or two. And then �bob� leaves or can�t fix things and quits and that�s were the nightmare begins. I�ve seen techs that have worked in computers for 5, 7, 10 years and cant run a cable correctly. When I hire I look for certified techs and ask question that show me they know what they are taking about. Keep you Certs current. While yes I would probably pick an MCSE over an MCSA, this would only matter if there certs where the same and where current. I would rather hire an MCSA 2000 over a MCSE NT 4.0 that never upgraded there certs. I�ve been brought in to too many upgrade projects when the only techs where NT 4.0. Every try to teach to a Network Administrator with 10 years experience in NT 4.0, active directory, what a nightmare. Most of them already know everything about computers and ran the old network fine why do they need to learn anything new. So while I don�t disagree experience is important, I believe current knowledge is just as important. Study hard, practice what you learn, volunteer every chance you get, even after you land that job, and most important be confident in your skills and sell yourself. Good Luck ------------- Chris 2000\03 MCSE\MCSA-Messaging,CCNA,CCSP, A+, N+, Security+ |
Posted by: Jeremiah256
Date Posted: 11 May 2005 at 5:06pm
| Good points all. And with Microsoft stepping up and helping to reduce the number of paper MCSAs/MCSEs, your certs will automatically indicate to a potential employer a certain level of experience. Like the ISC2 and higher end CISCO certs. ------------- 'He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.' - Friedrich Nietzsche |