Hey guys. So I'm pretty fed up with the way my life's going (partly my fault, I won't try and deny that!) so I'm getting close to packing in my mediocre job going after a couple of IT qualifications: mainly the MCDBA and MCSA. This training provider called connectivity (http://www.urconnected.co.uk) are providing packages which include the above-mentioned and I wondered whether such qualifications carry a lot of weight.

It's really important that I find out about this as I need to start getting my life together.

thanks.

Hi Untitled, I feel your situation,

Ok I did some searching around the net for youto get some general feedback, and most people who have taken the course are not fulfilled nor satisfied with the strength of MCDBA or other IT certificates, below are a couple of comments picked out whilst searching for ya

Comments:

'The quality of Microsoft certifications is questionable. I chose to let my MCSD certification expire because I realized that all the effort didn't earn me any industry recognition'

'I loved your article and agree 100 percent! I have been saying this for 2 years on our forums. MCDBA certification (or any other certification, for that matter) doesn't mean a thing if all you did was memorize material for the test. It isn't going to get you out of a tight jam when it's 2AM, you're alone in the server room, and all your databases are having major problems!'

'I wholly agree with you that the Microsoft certifications don't get the same respect in the marketplace as others. They are far too easy to achieve. I hold an MCDBA, MCSE, and an MCP+I. I also hold several certifications from IBM.
I'm an independent consultant who has been working with database technologies for nearly 9 years now. The difference between the IBM certification exams and the Microsoft exams is night and day. Obviously, the term "Paper MCSE/MCDBA" comes directly from the fact that far too many under-skilled persons are achieving, and cheapening, the Microsoft certifications.'


There was more but thats along ting, (sorry)

Anyway, when it comes to IT most bad boys learn hands on and only take the test for the papers, even though the papers probably wont even raise an eyebrow, you may get called for an interview, but when crunch comes to it, experience plays a big role.

Only do the MCDBA if you enjoy that area of IT or else you will probably end up working for PC world.

Never do a certification if you believe that at the end of it, it will change you life.

In IT it is good to have many skills under your belt and spend all your spare time learning and experimenting in those fields.

Make sure you enjoy Problem solving and willing to do long hours trust me.

What experience do you have already in IT and what is your current job?

Your fed up with your Job, but the best thing to do is look to go into a field that you will definately enjoy

I will say though that it is always better to have some form of paper behind you to bolsteryou at interviews, but an MCDBA on its own I feel may not cut it for you.

Thanks menzer. Essentially, I'm in a retail management position, but it's something I took when I graduated last year with my degree(in Business IT) just to help pay the billsand increasingly I feel like I'm getting more and more stuck ina rut. Retail is NOT what I thought I'd be doing a day out of uni, let alone a year, but getting into a job is pretty much impossible without experience. And experience is pretty much impossible to get without a job. Andthus the cycle continues. What caught my attention about this training was that they place you in companies and subsequently will help you find a job upon completion, but it was really the course and qualification I wanted to find outa little bit more about.

And as a final thought, though I spent shitloads of time and money chasing this increasingly insignificant qualification in IT (and enjoyed it whilst at uni) I'm not sure where it is I want to go. I know that I can't actually move on with my life until I know what I want to do, but...

untitled wrote: First off... You are not always guaranteed a job upon completion of a certification course. (They will only help you with your job search.) They say that to get you in (and you may actually luck out), however don't expect it to be an absolute truth. I know that in the US we have tons of people with various certifications and experience, and they still can't find a decent job. I don't see myself going after a certification (unless it is something high-end such as Sun/Solaris) unless a job paid for it.

I also noticed on that site that they train you only in the latest software (Win2k3 and XP, SQL server 2000). They completely leave out the consumer base that hasn't migrated from Win2k, and even the few companies still use Windows NT. One of the things that you would learn as soon as you find a job is that most existing networks don't use the absolute latest and greatest hardware and software. You have to learn how to adapt an older (often slower) system to support the latest requirements.

As it was said before, the best way to learn something in computers is to just do it.