MCSA/MCSE Certification Tips
Introduction
In the Information Technology, the best way to show your knowledge and skills
in a given area is to certify. IT Certifications are available from nearly all
major hardware (Cisco Systems) and software (Microsoft) vendors, as well as
others (CompTIA).
Microsoft Certifications
Recently, I have been pursuing Microsoft’s flag-ship server certification…
Introduction
In the Information Technology, the best way to show your knowledge and skills
in a given area is to certify. IT Certifications are available from nearly all
major hardware (Cisco Systems) and software (Microsoft) vendors, as well as
others (CompTIA).
Microsoft Certifications
Recently, I have been pursuing Microsoft’s flag-ship server
certification Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. This requires 4
core and 3 elective
exams. After your first Microsoft certification exam, you obtain your
Microsoft
Certified Professional (M.C.P.) designation. After completing 2 core
exams, and
2 electives, including one Operating System exam, you receive the
Microsoft
Certified Systems Administrator (M.C.S.A.) credentials.
Exam Preparation
In my experience, many different methods of exam preparation is necessary. Each
person’s experience tends to vary, as well as methods required for different
exams, but there have been a few methods I have found helpful in preparing for
exams from different vendors.
- Gain Experience with the
topics. Certification without experience, in my opinion, does not
show that you know your stuff, but rather that you know how to pass the
exam. If you are writing an exam on Windows XP, install it on a test
system and destroy the operating system then see if you can bring it back
to life. Play around with every option you can find. - Study authorized materials.
You wouldn’t use a cookbook for reference when performing a task on a
computer, would you? Make sure that the materials you are using to study
for an exam with are approved by organization administering the exam. Microsoft
Press and Sybex,
among others, offer a wide range of comprehensive materials for exam preparation. - Practice, Practice,
Practice. Practice exams are a great tool to assess what you know and
what you don’t. Though these are exams are not necessarily accurate as to
the outcome of your exam, it will present the information in accurate ways
to test your knowledge. Out of the practice exams I have used, I have
found that Measure-Up and Test King are very good,
providing challenging questions and great explanations. PrepLogic exams are good as
well, though the exams seem a lot easier, or at least less wordy. Though I
have not had any experience with them, Transcender
exams are said to be very effective as well. - Review the exam
objectives. Though time consuming, I like to sit down with a copy of
the exam objectives and write out all of the points that come to mind for
each one. Seeing the outline should trigger your memory on certain
concepts and you should be able to recall the information that each
objective requires. A free study guide from Cramsession
may also be beneficial for last minute review. - Prepare a cheat-sheet.
It’s not what you think… Usually, I prepare a single piece of paper with
all of the key concepts that are focused on in the exam. Yes, this is possible.
Create acronyms for lists. Think of related, non technical explanations
for a concept. For example: a differential backup is like rolling a
snowball; as you go, the backup (snowball) becomes larger. Create diagrams
or flowcharts for operations that might be required. Cheat-sheets are
handy for last minute review. And don’t take them into the exam.
Taking the Exam
Most people get nervous in an exam situation, and for good reason. The minimum
score required for a ‘Pass’ isn’t always the good old 50% mark. The questions
are difficult and the exams are expensive. Here are a few tips on what to do on
the day of your exam and what to do in the exam room.
- The night before.
Relax. Don’t get uptight about the exam coming up. I usually like to go
out for a jog or walk to clear my head. Don’t review late into the night.
Get to bed at a half decent hour so you are rested for the next day. - The morning of. Eat a
good breakfast. Review the cheat-sheet that you prepared previously and
nothing more. If you don’t know the information already, you are not going
to. Plan to get to the exam at least half an hour early. You can use this
time to get comfortable at the testing location, supply the test
administrator with your information, and use the washroom before you get
into the exam. - In the exam room.
Remember that cheat-sheet that I mentioned? Before the exam starts, you
usually have a period of time to go through the exam tutorial, etc before
the exam timer starts. In that time, I usually try to re-create the
cheat-sheet in the dry-erase board that they have given me. This usually
results in being less flustered as the exam goes on because you have
regurgitated most of the information you know already. Proceed through the
exam and if you get hung up on a question, don’t work on it for a long
period of time. Instead mark the question and come back to it later -
there may be another question later on that helps to explain the problem
one. Most exams give lots of time, so don’t worry too much about that. - After the exam. You
may pass, or you may fail. Passing an exam does not mean you will not need
that knowledge or your study materials anymore. In fact, you will be
surprised with how often you will need the little things that you learned
while preparing for the exams in the real world. You study guides may also
make for a great reference guide in the case of a problem as well. Every
once and a while, take a look at your cheat-sheet and see if you still
know your stuff. Unfortunately, failing an exam happens to everybody.
Don’t get down on yourself too much about it. Get back at the studying as
soon as you can while the information is still fresh in your mind. Try,
try again.
The information outlined here has been gathered throughout
my experiences with IT Certification. Each person’s path to becoming certified
will be a little different, but hopefully this guide can help you.
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Comments
there is no more information about mcsa so can u please send me more information
There are a lot of exams to take if you want the MCSE certification. And you can choose some and some are obligatory.
The article you commented is an article written by an editor we haven’t seen in quite a while, and it’s just some tips he learned on his path to MCSE certification.
Take a look at [url]http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcse/default.mspx[/url]
You’ll find all you need about the exams there.
Please what i want is the step by step requirements one needs to get the certification as an MCSE and also if one has written 70-270 thats XP, if he can write the server 2008 and if so what certification he will acquire.