Seeking Advice on My Best Certificate Path
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2008. június 3. 8:32I’m hoping I can get some advice on which certificate learning path I should take. Here is my background; I am an unemployed application developer, I’ve been a applications developer for 20 years, starting with Cobol and then in the last seven years I’ve been working with some proprietary language that was similar to Delphi, all that work went away with the sub-prime mortgage industry so unfortunately the time I've spent working with this proprietary language has resulted in me falling behind with my job skills. I have had some light Visual Basic and medium MS Access experience which rounds out most of my PC development experience. I would like to become .Net Certified, probably in C# since that seems to be where the majority of the jobs are now days. Any suggestions on which Microsoft Certificate Learning Path I should take would be greatly appreciated, (MCAD, MCSE, MCSD, MCPD) I'm hoping to get back to work as quickly as possible.
Thanks!
Az összes válasz
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2008. június 30. 21:38 Well, because you have indicated that C# is you preferred language, that helps to narrow things down a bit. Here are my suggestions.
1) MCAD and MCSD are going away. The certifications and associated exams will retire in March of 2009.
2) Our new generation of certification covers the same topics but allows for more specialization, that is what I recommend you concentrate on.
3) Based on your listed background, I would recommend that you start with Windows Forms development, ie writing applications for the desktop. You can move to Web apps using ASP.NET later.
4) Because you are not new to programming, there is no need to start from scratch however, because you have limited C# experience and programming for the Windows world is likely different than what you are used to, I would recommend you start with one MS Press' Step-by-Step guides or select on of their Training Kits. I assume you do not want to consider classroom training.
5) To move into the .NET world of programming with C#, you will need to follow this path'
a. For .NET 3.5, the latest version, download the free express edition of C# from MSDN, http://www.microsoft.com/express/download/#webInstall
b. Get the MS Press 70-536 Training Kit to learn some of the .NET foundations. This exam is your first step in certification on .NET.
c. Once you pass exam 70-536, you will be ready to look at exam 70-505. It isn't currently released but will be early next year and covers the Windows Forms development using Visual Studio 2008.
These two exams will get you an MCTS Windows Forms developer for .NET 3.5. You can then move on to the MCPD for Windows developers once these are complete.
All of the preparation guides for these exams can be found by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-xxx.msxp. Simply replace the xxx with the exam number, such as 536 or 505.
Best of luck in your certification. I am sure you will do well.
Gerry- Válasznak javasolta: Dave LawlorEditor 2008. július 1. 12:51
- Megjelölte válaszként: .revEditor 2008. július 1. 16:47
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2008. szeptember 18. 1:54Thanks Gerry,
Unfortuately I did not see your post before I made the decision to go with some AppDev CBT training which is geared more toward 70-548 exam MCPD than the exam you suggested. So hopefully it won't be a waste of time or money and I will be able to transition over to the MCTS and the 70-536 exam.
Thank you again,
Gary -
2008. szeptember 22. 21:48Hmmm,
I have a similiar situation to Gary - 21.5 yrs same company then laid off. I have light to med vb6 skills and 1 year of light to medium vb.net skills with no OOP. i got laid off 6 months ago after working on many proprietary products. So i have been reading and reading and took 1 classroom Microsoft class 4995A for .net and i am studing that book every day for 3 weeks now. I first was looking at AppDev but they did not have a MCTS VB.net path.
I plan on using Ucertify prep engine as my next step in studing because the demo for 70-536 looks really good. I decided to go to web dev rather than windows dev because i can't see any jobs in windows dev around Tampa.
Best wishes Gary - thanks for the information Gerry. -
2008. szeptember 24. 21:35Hey Gerry,
I have a few more questions, if you don't mind, as I'm looking at these training kits both the 70-536 and the 70-548 they both suggest that I have two to three years experience working in the .Net world, obviously I don't have that kind of experience, should that be a concern in my case?
Also, as I mentioned in my other reply to your post, I am presently going through some CBT training from AppDev directed at getting a MCPD (70-548) certification, it's going to take me four to six months to complete this training. The whole reason I decided on pursuing this training was because, 90% of the available jobs currently are for either .Net or Java and no one seems willing to consider hiring me without experience in one of these two camps. When I started this training, I felt getting the .Net training and combining it with my 20 years of other developer experience would be enough to get me a job. Now I have some concerns that this will be the case, as most of the training I've finished so far is not really teaching me application, just the theory and I am still going to come up short in a job interview without some actual experiece.
My other questions are, first do you agree with this assessment? And if so, then what would be your recommendation for me getting some experience, especially if I can't seem to get a job until I have some experience?
BTW I have been unemployed for 18 months as of this post and I won't be finished with my CBT training for at least another four or five months, so as you can imagine I am extremely anxious about getting back to work.
Thanks,
DeveloperSmith
