MCSA in two months?

pclancy

I've got the 70-210 exam done....need to get some better certs for move to NZ so I want to give this a shot, am I mad to think I could get the MCSA done in two months?

Im gunna do the 70-290 and 70-291 core exams and then 70-236 as I think good knowledge of Exchange 2007 will be handy. I know the MCSA isnt fantastic but its better then nothing and I can continue to work towards MCSE later on.

Im working with this stuff every day, mostly small businesses in my job and am off the booze for the next while so I could get this done if I pushed myself couldn't I?

Any suggestions as to the best study packs or online resources? Its ages since Ive done any MS exams

feylya

2 months to get 4 exams done? Hard but not impossible. I'm doing the 70-291 in 2 weeks and I've only started studying for it.

As for online resources, I find www.techexams.net and www.mcmcse.com to be fantastic.

pclancy

Those sites look great, thanks!

Im gunna book the 70-290 exam and just get stuck into it, I have the MS self pace book for that so feck it i'll give it a shot.

feylya

The 290 is fairly interesting. I studied for that in about 2 weeks also. If you can study during work, all the better

pclancy

Jesus just did a practice exam and got put rightly in my place....got 2 right out of 20 :O

The problem is im working daily with networks only on a scale of up to maybe 30 users max, Windows SBS 2003 mostly. Checking backups, adding users/email accounts, performing updates, I dont need to do half of the stuff the exam covers such as group policies, AD trees/forests etc.

Just gunna have to get stuck into the books I guess!

feylya

When I did the 70-290, I had just worked with AD in a very limited capacity but I had access to a forest of 250,000+ users and similar number of workstations. These exams aren't the hardest, just get the head stuck in!

Cryos

feylya wrote: »

When I did the 70-290, I had just worked with AD in a very limited capacity but I had access to a forest of 250,000+ users and similar number of workstations. These exams aren't the hardest, just get the head stuck in!

Personally i liked the 290, found the 291 was only a small extension of it. I work day in day out with both Domain types (AD and NT) so the 290 was a walk in the park and the 291 even more so.

feylya

290 was definately interesting and had some interesting stuff in it. 291 is a bit boring I'm finding. Still, I'm only starting in the sys admin world so this is all helping me on my way.

cance

theres a huge diference between an mcsa/mcse and somebody proficient in AD/Nt server architecture. the nature of the microsoft exams let themselves down somewhat in my opinion.

getting your mcsa in 2 months is very possible but actually understanding the content and being able to use it should take longer IMO.

best of luck whatever you choose to do

Col_Loki

MCSA/MCSE shows your are willing to learn, and should understand the theory behind the different subjects.

It doesnt substitute for actual experience but i think its a much better option than going in raw. Ive just done my first MCP (XP) and studying for 70-290 (Server2003) + 70-431 (SQL2005) , been working deskside support for just over 2 years, mainly XP....learned a good bit extra about XP and different ways of rolling it out etc. Definitely worth my while doing.

I know some people go and memorize exam answers and get their certs, personally i think this is pointless you will get caught out. Ive met some MCSE's who were totally clueless, others who really were excellent.

At the end of the day having it on your CV is much better than not having it.

PS I intend on getting my MCSA in the next two months aswell....will see how that works out