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When Can The MCSE Certification Be Overkill?

Many new people are attracted to the MCSE certification - and not surprisingly.

It's a great certification to have - it's one of the pinnacle Microsoft certifications. And because we are a motivated lot, we aim high.

But we tend to forget, sometimes, that we need to start at the bottom.

I see much confusion amongst new people wanting to enter the I.T Industry asking whether, with no prior experience, they should start studying for this cert.

If this group of people represents you as well, I will advise you that this cert is not for you at the moment.

Be patient.

There are beginner certs, there are advanced and there are expert certs - An MCSE certification is an Expert cert.

There are certs that state you have knowledge in - and certs that state you can actually do something. - With a MCSE certification employers expect you to be able to do the work. After all, you are supposed to be an expert.

We don't start from the top and work our way down - it's the other way around. As a new person in IT you will most probably start off your career with a help desk type of job. Armed with a beginner cert you attend an interview for a help desk job. The employer knows that you have an understanding of the concepts but you will need to be given the time to gain that experience. That's fine by him/her.

Now say you were armed with your MCSE and you attended an interview for the same job. What would the employer think? Well, you are too advanced for this type of job (on paper) but in experience you are not. So it will work against you. The balance isn't there.

Going the correct route with certifications will avoid you appearing as a 'paper cert'. Start at the beginning and progress from there. We are the ones that have keep the balance. The responsibility is ours. After all, its our business, isn't it?

We are the ones that have to sort out the confusion of vendors offering these certifications. I mean with the CISSP it's straight forward. Before sitting the exam you have to supply them with evidence that you have a number of experience - or else you can't sit for the exam.

But the problem with most vendors is that they state "before sitting for this exam, we recommend you have this type of experience and have these prior certifications." Recommend. Meaning you don't really have to follow our advice. So if it's only recommended, you can sit for it. But what they don't tell us is, if that particular cert will work against us in real life. At what stage of your career are you?

If you are on level 0, just doing an Expert cert is overkill.

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