going for MCP

richsue · **Post subject:** going for MCP **Posted:** Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:47 am

Hi,

I have passed my A+ exam and will
soon pass network +. I understand
that I can have the MCP certification
if I take one Microsoft exam either
pass or fail it. Which exam do I take?

Do I take any exam from the MCSA
category ? or MCSE category? I really
do not understand, if I do find the
category, which exam do most people
take in getting their MCP ?

thankyou, Ric
_________________
Richard Krenzel

Cormac Doyle · **Post subject:** Re: going for MCP **Posted:** Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:16 am

MCSE_Newbie · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:15 pm

I thought I had answered this question twice over the weekend Surprised

richsue · **Post subject:** thankyou **Posted:** Tue Jan 09, 2007 2:05 pm

thankyou all for your help, I wasn't clear on what exam to
take there are so many. With the 70-270 exam
are there any specific books that target a specific exam like
the 270 ? Do they actually make study books that cover each
specific exam, where would I begin my study for the 270 exam?

thanks so much all,

rich
_________________
Richard Krenzel

kujayhawk93 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:49 pm

If only this site had a cool link at the top of the page, like BOOKS & TRAINING, that would be really cool...
_________________
A+, Network+, MCP (70-270, 70-290), working on 70-291

coolshock1 · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Tue Jan 09, 2007 5:22 pm

It's really hard not to be sarcastic here. What line of work are you in or looking to get into? That will help determine which test you should take. Another thing that will help is what certification in the end do you want to obtain? If you only want the MCP title then your decision will only be based on what type of job you want.

That being said.....any career in the IT field requires that you be able to research and trouble shoot. The answer you are looking for is quite easy to find with a little bit of searching. if you are looking to get a Microsoft certification did you try looking on their site? http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcpexams/default.mspx

I just did a simple search on www.dogpile.com for "Getting an MCP Certification" and the above link was like the 3rd or 4th result. On that page alone are link that will give you answer to many of your questions. Sorry if I seem a little sarcastic but if you already have A+ and are about to get Net+ then you should be able to figure out if there are specific books to study for the Microsoft Tests.

richsue · **Post subject:** mcp **Posted:** Tue Jan 09, 2007 6:49 pm

thanks,

I will do more research as you suggest, I am a beginner at
the microsoft track so I was ovewhelmed by all of the exams they
have, and which way to travel. People have told me that the MCP
can be achieved by taking one exam, but as you mention, the
MCP exam I take should depend on what type of job I want.
People have recommended the 70-270 as the place to begin,
if I stopped at this exam and didn't go any further for awhile, could I still
get a reasonable career going with this alone. Thankyou, Ric
_________________
Richard Krenzel

kidvelvet · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Tue Jan 09, 2007 8:19 pm

Rich,

I would look at it from a career standpoint. If you want to get into IT as a career, then you will need to work your way up from the bottom to the top, as with any other career (unless you know people or have old money...but very few of us do.) This means that you most likely will be doing call center/help desk/PC tech support work when you first start out. Because of this, you are going to be working with desktops primarily, not servers. The 70-270 test (Windows XP) would test your knowledge of desktops, so that may be your best bet for starters. I would do that after getting your A+ and Net+ under your belt.

You can build your career with no or many certs. Having the two CompTIA certs and possibly the MCP from doing 70-270 should be enough, and I would even hold off on the 70-270 until you get some additional experience. You need to focus your attention at getting experience, and getting additional certs takes away from that focus.

Other things to consider are family, hobbies, outside influences, etc. If you are married with kids, then you are going to have even fewer time resources than someone who is single.

Whichever way you decide to go with your career, make sure that you get the experience, whether through a call center, volunteer work, etc. That is going to be more important than spending your time collecting paper. The paper will come in time.
_________________
kidvelvet
www.kidvelvet.net

Yes, your problem is the most important. Just like everybody else's.

AdamV · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:21 pm

if you are just starting on the Microsoft track then you have a better chance of passing 270 first time out than most of the others.

However, in my experience if you can pass one of the server ones such as 70-290 and tell people you are an MCP in Windows server 2003, they tend to assume that if you know 'hard' stuff like servers then desktop stuff must be really easy for you!

They all count towards the MCSA and MCSE, so the order you take them in won't affect that.
_________________
MCT, MCSA:Messaging (270,284,290,291,294,298), CWNA, MBMSS (CRM 4), MOS + MCAS:Master Instructor.
Next MCSE:Security
Meteor IT - Consulting and Training services, Leeds, UK

freetech · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Mon Jan 15, 2007 1:16 am

Congrats on your acheivements so far.
You've already done more than many other people. I understand how you might feel overwhelmed by all the possibilities and info that you need to know about certifications. I started my IT career while in my 40's and it was all so confusing. Stick with it and ask a dumb question if you're not sure about something. The old saying goes that "dumb questions are easier to deal with than dumb mistakes". Also, if you're not sure about something, sometimes a better question might be: "where do I find info about...?"
kidvelvet gave some good advice for further consideration.
Good luck on your future endeavors.
_________________
Experience is a harsh teacher. She gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.
A+,Net+,MCSA2000,CCNA

nzchris · **Post subject:** **Posted:** Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:03 am

I have done 70-270, which is a windows XP exam. I agree this is a good place to start.
After that I did 70-290 which is a windows 2003 server OS exam. I found that although it did have new material, there was also a lot of ground re-covered from the XP exam. I think that doing 70270 first made 70290 easier!
Have a look at the objectives on the microsoft site to see what interests you http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcsa/windows2003/default.mspx

Also if you haven't figured it out yet. MCSA and MCSE are kind of the same thing, except MCSE has 3 more exams than MCSA. Think of MCSA as a "pit stop" on your way to becoming an MCSE.

Cheers

nzchris[/url]