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MCPD - Enterprise applications developer: Is it a good direction? Whats the best way to go?

Question
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Dear all,
I am new to the certification thingy and am thinking of obtaining the MCPD enterprise applications developer. Currently I work as a computer programmer, having worked as a software engineer for the past year. I work basically on the .net platform, vb.net and sometimes vb6. I develop mostly industrial applications: automation and robotic control, though am looking to go into business/enterprise/web developing in the near future.
I am wondering if this is the right certication for me to start with. Please I will appreciate all inputs.
Now assuming this is the right one, any advise on how to go about it? I registered interest with Reeds learning center and their price for the self paced training(no exams) is in the excess of £1500. Is there a better/cheaper way to prepare for this exams without having to go through the training center, as I will be studying on my own and no physical contact with the tutor (except online ofcourse). Am just thinking the money is a lot to pay as it doesnt include the exams.
Please advice.
Thanks in advance.
Stephcyl
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 12:55 PM
Answers
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Hi,
if you have to look at the cost:
- The exam price is lowest if you directly order at prometric with a credit card. (In germany it is 140 EUR but prices are different between countries).
- You can teach yourself and do not need a tutor. There are self paced training kits (except the MCPD exam) and whenever you have questions, you can ask in the MSDN forums. And of course: There are tons of books available covering the topics required (not really exam based, but the exams are about a technology and the technology is covered by a lot of books).
- Even if you do not want to spend money on books: The MSDN library together with a description of the topics of the exams can be enough. But it is much easier to be guided through a bool (my experiene)
- A last resource that I liked to use are practice tests from MeasureUp and SelfTestSoftware.
- One resource that I checked out and didn't like is learndevnow.com - the site offers a lot of videos around different topics. I foudn out, that I didn't like it after getting a subscription and checking it a little. But that is a personal preference and has nothing to do with the offer they have! (Which I found ok - 99 $ for a year)
With kind regards,
Konrad
- Marked as answer by STaut Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:16 PM
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 1:44 PMAnswerer
All replies
-
Hi,
if you have to look at the cost:
- The exam price is lowest if you directly order at prometric with a credit card. (In germany it is 140 EUR but prices are different between countries).
- You can teach yourself and do not need a tutor. There are self paced training kits (except the MCPD exam) and whenever you have questions, you can ask in the MSDN forums. And of course: There are tons of books available covering the topics required (not really exam based, but the exams are about a technology and the technology is covered by a lot of books).
- Even if you do not want to spend money on books: The MSDN library together with a description of the topics of the exams can be enough. But it is much easier to be guided through a bool (my experiene)
- A last resource that I liked to use are practice tests from MeasureUp and SelfTestSoftware.
- One resource that I checked out and didn't like is learndevnow.com - the site offers a lot of videos around different topics. I foudn out, that I didn't like it after getting a subscription and checking it a little. But that is a personal preference and has nothing to do with the offer they have! (Which I found ok - 99 $ for a year)
With kind regards,
Konrad
- Marked as answer by STaut Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:16 PM
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 1:44 PMAnswerer -
Thanks a lot Konrad. I appreciateTuesday, March 22, 2011 6:15 PM