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Exams - how long will it take, home study , full time RRS feed

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    I previously held the old NT3.51 server and TCP/IP MCPs.
    I have since worked in many industries in varied roles from testing, to automation, to server config to management / monitoring tools.  I have currently been crunched by the credit crisis and so I am not in work.  I am an Action Pack subscriber so spend my days going through various scenarios using  VM's etc.
    My questions are :-

    1. How long do you think it would take to study for and have a reasonable chance of passing an MCP exam? 
        I am at my home desk from 9-5 most days (3 hours looking for jobs - the rest of the time 'playing' with the latest software)

    2. What areas of exams should I go for,  server config, networking, security, or something else. I am happy doing any of these - I just want to do one, so it looks good on my CV.

    ps - are there any online labs for the exams?
    regards
    Peter
    UK
    • Edited by cellweb1967 Thursday, February 19, 2009 1:17 PM spelling
    Thursday, February 19, 2009 1:15 PM

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    Peter, you pose some tough questions! How long a person needs to learn and comprehend a specific subject is hard to determine by anyone other than yourself. If you would like to see where you stand in regards to how much you know concerning a specific technology (say, Windows Server 2008), I would recommend you sit a practice exam. MeasureUP, Self Test Software and Trancender lead the way in this area. As far as what exams you should go for, again that is all dependent on what YOU want to do.
    Michael D. Alligood,
    MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician, Consumer Support Technician
    MCTS: Windows Vista - Configuration,
    MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+, Network+

    The I.T. Classroom Blog
    Start. Research. Plan. Perform. Finish. Test. Evaluate.
    Friday, February 20, 2009 2:37 AM

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    If you're looking at something like the MCITP:  Server 2008 Network Administrator (4 exams) or Server 2008 Enterprise Administrator (5 exams) (which is what I'm currently working on), you might want to start with 70-642 Server 2008 Network Infrastructure.  I have both books for this and Server 2008 Active Directory (70-640), and the AD exam relies upon a number of things learned in the 70-642 exam.

    If you're vigerously studying 5-7 hours a day and you have good study habits (sounds like you do), you could be ready within a month or less.

    I have a laptop running Vista, and I'm using Virtual PC 2007 with three VM's of Server 2008 running on it.  Makes a great lab setup.  Microsoft has several virtual labs set up on TechNet for Server 2008 that might help.  I'm currently using the MS Press Book and Trainsignal videos for my studying.
    Thursday, February 19, 2009 3:28 PM
    Answerer
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    Peter, you pose some tough questions! How long a person needs to learn and comprehend a specific subject is hard to determine by anyone other than yourself. If you would like to see where you stand in regards to how much you know concerning a specific technology (say, Windows Server 2008), I would recommend you sit a practice exam. MeasureUP, Self Test Software and Trancender lead the way in this area. As far as what exams you should go for, again that is all dependent on what YOU want to do.
    Michael D. Alligood,
    MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician, Consumer Support Technician
    MCTS: Windows Vista - Configuration,
    MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+, Network+

    The I.T. Classroom Blog
    Start. Research. Plan. Perform. Finish. Test. Evaluate.
    Friday, February 20, 2009 2:37 AM
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    I'm in the same boat as you. I was laid off 3 weeks ago. I have a subscription to online books through O'Reily and have been going through the MCITP Self Paced study kit. Since I feel as though I have a very solid foundation and was an MCSE on NT 4, I decided to skip certifying on 2k or 2k3 and shoot for the next gen of certs, the MCITP: SA and Enterprise Admin. I read the exam objectives and decide where my weaknesses are. Then I take the Measure Up exam for a wake up call on where my weaknesses REALLY are, and then I go through the book and do all of the labs using VM's. In this 3 weeks I have managed to study and pass: 70-236 70-640 70-642 70-646 I get up in the morning at 7 am and hit the regular job boards and search and apply for new jobs posted in the last day, then I get my daughter up and ready for school, and then I literally study as hard as I possibly can until I fall asleep at my desk around 10pm. I'm really hoping an MCITP is going to help distinguish my resume in this tough market.
    Monday, March 2, 2009 1:49 PM