Lukas Beeler’s IT Blog

I’ve written about IT Certifications before. There are several reasons why you want/need to get certified. Your company might want to present more certified people to their customers, there are internal audit requirements that depend on certifications, or you’re looking for a new job and want to differentiate yourself from other candidates.

The first thing you’ll need to make sure before getting certified is that certification is really the thing you want. Certification is not education, it is not learning. Certification is about showing what you already know, and what you already can do. Certification is not an entry point into the IT market. Only certify in areas you already have expertise and experience in. With that said, it is not wrong to learn for certificate exams - exams usually cover the whole product, and chances are you haven’t used every product to the fullest in your company. That’s what you’ll need to learn, and not the product in itself.

Especially if you’re the one paying for the certification, cost is an issue. For example, an MCSE Bootcamp from Digicomp costs 15′000 CHF. This it not much money for a company where the CEO drives a new 150′000 CHF car every year, but it is much for someone who just has a regular job. So if you want to get certified on your own, these Bootcamps might not be your best choice. There are also other things to consider when thinking about taking bootcamps. You can get an MCSE Certification for 1505 CHF (in Exam fees - you’ll still have to travel to a test center).

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Test centers are locations where you can pass Microsoft exams. They’re usually maintained by a company which franchises their Testing stuff from Microsofts testing providers Prometric (earlier there also was Pearson Vue, but that runs out on 31.08.2007). You book appointments through the Prometric website, pay with your credit card, and then go to the testing center.

Exams are fully computer based, you’ll answer multiple choice, drag and drop and simulation questions, and get your result immediately after clicking “Finish”. This is instant gratification at it’s best. Usually you’ll need multiple exams to obtain a credential, and there are often multiple paths to a single credential. Think of it as a role playing game, it’s pretty much the same.

Credentials consist of multiple passed exams, and usually give you a fancy logo and text like “Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer”. These are your real goal.

Defining your goal

At first you’ll need to know what credential you want to achieve. Microsoft is currently restructuring their certification program with the release of Windows Server 2008, so things can be a bit confusing at times. Though i’d argue that it’s currently an excellent time to get certifications on Windows Server 2003, because you’ll already have lots of experience with it and company will be using it for quite some time in the future. For admins, the interesting credentials on Windows 2003 are the MCSA and the MCSE.

I’d suggest you to read through but of these pages closely, and make sure you understand what they’re saying. The whole thing looks complicated at first, but you’ll understand the logic behind it soon. You might also notice that the MCSE and MCSA share quite a few exams - this means it’s possible to go for the MCSA first (4 exams), and then upgrade to the MCSE with 3 additional exams (total of 7). There are also specializations to both the MCSA and MCSE for Messaging and Security. The first might be very interesting for you if you use Exchange 2003 a lot, and the latter for you security specialists.

There are a few decisions you can/need to make. For example, you need a core client exam. I’ll leave Windows 2000 out of the game and concentrate on Windows XP and Windows Vista. You can take 70-270 (XP) as a core client exam, or 70-620 (Vista) as a core client OR elective exam. You could also do both exams and fulfill your core client and elective exam.

I would recommend to start out with one of these two client exams. They’re both pretty easy (with the 70-620 being a bit easier), and you don’t need to learn for either of them if you’re familiar with the OS.

Getting your first exam appointment

Go to this Prometric registration page, and choose “Microsoft” and your country from the drop down lists - Note that most modern browsers can do type ahead find in these drop down lists, that makes searching a bit easier. After that, you can already choose to “Schedule an Appointment” and select your exam and English as the language. If you don’t think you’re proficient enough for doing an IT exam in English, i’d suggest you to schedule an English course.

After clicking through some more disclaimers, you can select your test site. In Switzerland (Zurich), i can recommend only the Digicomp test site, as both the Comicro-Netsys and BCD Sintrag Testsites are in horrible shapes. Also, you get free drinks at the Digicomp testsites. Free parking is usually available a few metres from the testcenter, and paid parking for up to two hours is also available nearby.

After selecting your test site, you’ll be asked to create an account with Prometric. Do so. Then, choose a time for your exam. Please note that the given timeframe needed is usually not needed. You can do most exams in 60-90 Minutes.

After that, enter payment information and a valid email address. There’s also an MCP ID field which you should leave empty on your first exam.

Passing your first exam

After parking your car near the testing site, enter and figure out where you need to register yourself. You’ll usually need to leave your mobile phone and sign several ominous sheets. You’ll then be seated in front of a computer, where you can agree to some more disclaimers, NDAs and EULAs. After that, your exam starts. As said, there are mostly multiple choice questions, but also some drag & drop and even simulation questions (basically a flash version of a Windows machine, where only the stuff you need to do works).

After going through the questions, you can end the exam. You’ll then be on a screen where you can comment on most questions, i usually skip this part because i want to see whether i passed or not. Because right after the comment section, you’ll see your result and your score (The minimum score is 700 for a pass, the maximum score is not known).

After this, you can go back to pickup your mobile phone, get a detailed result sheet, and sign some more sheets.

Getting your MCP ID and access to the Microsoft MCP Site

Now you’ll need to wait for a mail from Microsoft, containing your new MCP ID and your access code. If your company is a member of the Microsoft Partner Program, ask the person in your company who deals with that to register you and your MCP ID in the partner program. This will provide your company with points and the ability to add new competencies.

You’ll then need your access code to register on the MCP member site. This will allow you to download logos, access and print your exam transcript.

If you do not receive your ID or access code within a two week period, you should contact your Microsoft Regional Service Center. Please keep your result sheet handy, it contains all the necessary information in order to create your MCP ID.

Moving on

Now that you have access to your transcript, your MCP ID you can move on, and complete the other exams necessary for your credential. There are many blogs with information about the exams you’re planning to take. If you think about upgrading to Windows Server 2008, ReSQueL has several posts about proper preparations. The German MCSEboard.de community also has many insightful posts. The Microsoft certification newsgroups are mostly useless, filled with trolls, and not recommended.

Have fun with your exams!