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Newsletter #5 - Jul 21 1999
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WELCOME:
Welcome to our 5th edition. As always, welcome to our many new members! Is there something that you would like to see in our newsletters? Email us.

WHAT'S NEW:
I just posted a work-in-progress tutorial regarding the role that soft-skills plays in attaining your dream job that is now available in the "Careers" section. Here's an overview of some of our thoughts on the subject.

Too many people place too much emphasis on technical knowledge and certifications to be the deciding factor in attaining a job. It is true that in the high-tech industry you do need to have these skills, but they really are secondary to your soft-skills. I really hate the term soft-skills so I am going to refer to it as "people skills.

The point is that while lacking technical knowledge can certainly hurt you, lacking people skills will likely hurt you more. The sad reality of the IT industry is that it requires customer service just like every other industry. I hate customer service, but fortunately I am good at it from years of customer service oriented employment, and that is why I am able to acquire high-paying jobs. You have to consider that more often than not, the people interviewing you will be less technical than you. It is very easy to trick them into thinking that you know more than you do or making them see that you really do know a lot. However, they will see right through you when it comes to your attitudes toward taking care of customers if your goals are not aligned with theirs.

SURVEY RESULTS:
The most recent survey that we posted, asked the following question:
What is your educational background?

The results were interesting as 28% did not have a college degree. Granted, we don't know for sure that this 28% are acquiring work, but his suggests that certain disciplines in the IT industry have become a trade rather than a profession. If you want to be a doctor, architect, lawyer, etc you must have a degree. That is what is meant by the use of the word profession. It makes me wonder how long it will be before unions break into the IT industry.

The Bachelor of Science came in 2nd with 22%. This is the group that I fall into. The problem with the survey is that there are too many different possible subjects for BS degrees. I majored in sociology which has nothing to do with computers, whereas some of the respondents may have majored in electronics or other more useful field.

The next largest group(20%) had an IS/MIS degree. I have seen a million job descriptions that require a computer science degree. Those that are also picking up their MCSE should be unstoppable with their networking and programming backgrounds.

13% voted for "other". In retrospect, I would like to know what these "others" were. It may have something to do with the fact that in countries outside the U.S. degrees may have different names than BS, BA, etc...

10% have a Bachelor of Arts. It seems that these are people that have made drastic career decisions.

8% Had a masters degree or higher. Curious as to why anyone with a masters or doctorate degree would need an MCSE. I would guess that this group is also made up of a lot of people making drastic career changes.

Our current survey question is: What other Certifications do you possess? The results will be posted in the next newsletter.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT YOUR BENEFITS:
Make sure that when you achieve MCP status(pass one operating system test) that you take advantage of the benefits that come with that title. Go check out the Microsoft secure site for MCPs and sign up for your free subscription to MCP Magazine. The magazine contains interesting articles and valuable statistics that you won't get anywhere else. Oh yeah, you can also get your goofy lapel pin and wallet card from Microsoft.

LINKS OF NOTE:
You have probably already discovered that most MCSE sites(including ours) provide a "standard" set of links to the favorite MCSE sites out there. In this section we will attempt to dig up other resources that you may not have seen before. We do the searching for you!

GENERAL
In the center column at the bottom, there is a great list of links that go to papers that discuss the value of an MCSE certification. Definitely worth checking out.
http://www.infonetwork.com.au/microsof.htm

Agee Technology has study guides and practice tests for a few of the exams. However the site is a pain to navigate. When you click on one of their buttons, scroll down and you find what you are looking for.
http://www.ageetechnology.com/mcse

NT
Windows NT Links. A huge collection of NT links as well as message boards.
http://www.activexserver.com/bbs1/links.asp

SQL
The SQL Forum has a ton of articles.
http://www.sqlforum.com

EXCHANGE
Microsoft Exchange Forum
http://www.msexchange.org/exchlist/defaultframe.htm

Jason Sprague MC MCSE

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