Microsoft Certifications

I've come to the conclusion that my charm and good looks can only take me so far in IT, and that sometime soon I should knucke down and get some proper technical qualifications. I've started with an MCSE subject, Server 2003, so I can at least get an MCP. I'm then going to grow my qualifications into a full blown MCSA, followed by MCSE. I've got a book, and some video files that fell of the back of a digital truck, and I'm going to start studying now with a view to knocking over the first exam within two months.

Does anyone have any advice regarding things to watch out for? I've heard that the correct answers in the exam are often the answers that are "least wrong" and that you need to always consider the "microsoft answer" rather than the correct answer... thoughts?

Those certifications are almost worthless now.  Like they were were worth anything before, but whatever.  Oh, and unless you just want to be a help desk guy for the rest of your life, you need to look beyond mere Microsoft training.

>>1
Your lasp paragraph describes exactly why MCSE's aren't worth shit. What happens if you firms wants migrate it's servers to some sort of unix/linux/bsd ? What happens if microsoft decided... "It's time to be innovative again, we must now release new versions of our programming and server environments that are totally different and totally uncompatible with the previous ones", in both cases... you are screwed... the information you gained from microsoft... useless.

>>3
ah thats priceless
 

no company in my state has a windows server that isn't an old NT domain controller

sage for thinking anyone would use windows in a server environment

>>5
I do.
I am right now.

>>5

Got a Win2k3 domain controller. Though our website still runs NT4 Server.

>>6
fail hard

>>7
you're doing it wrong

>>8
"you're doing it wrong"
Need moar $$$

For all those *nix fanbois, read and weap:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1983364,00.asp

>>10
we didn't tune or optimize any of the systems but ran them as close to default as possible.
lol

>>3
How about more likely, you're so well trained with *NIX, your scripts are sysadmin enough, and you could just sit back and retire by keeping an eye on your server, EXCEPT...

...the company that hires you uses all Windows PCs, and you spent so much time hating Windows, you never learned to properly configure, use, and maintain it?

Anyway...
>>1
Things to watch out for? Certification courses that cost over $10,000 for less than a year of instruction would be a big one in my book! Otherwise I'd be an MCSE, MCSD, and the whole nine yards... Other than that, they might use a testing system like the A+ exams, where if it sees you're weak in one area, it will ask more related questions to trip you up... but if they do, someone probably warns about it.