Hi all! Glad I stumbled across this forum!

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Just thought I'd say a quick 'Hello' to you all and introduce myself!

My name's Garry, and I'm 21 years old with just over 4 years experience in IT and am just about to start a self-study MCSE.

I started my career as a laptop hardware repair guy at the age of 17, with a few college courses under my belt and an AS level in Computing, having a keen interest in IT and technology. I then applied for a design job due to my personal web/graphic design projects/experience, and got an interview. At the interview, the first thing they said was they were interviewing me for a different position - IT Technician/Network Admin. Having little experience in Network Administration, I thought it'd be a good opportunity to broaden my base so to speak.

4 Years on, my boss has left, and I have been 'taking the reigns' for the last 8 months. I am currently looking after a small network of 50 workstations and a handful of servers. Since being here, I've been on a few evening classes on networking (I think they were N+ courses, but i never did take the exam...I wasn't aware there was one at the time!) And have since achieved a HNc in Computing (are they really worth the paper they are written on in the 'real' world?)

I have just purchased my first 4 MCSE Self Teaching books from Amazon 70-290/291/293/294 and am hoping to dedicate a few hours a day to working towards my full MCSE.

This is going to be my chosen path, and i was wondering if you guys/gals would a) Agree that I'm at the right stage, with experience and position, to be doing my MCSE and b) this is a good route to take in terms of courses/order.

70-290 Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment
70-291 Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure
70-620 TS: Windows Vista, Configuring
70-431 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 – Implementation and Maintenance

70-298 Designing Security for a Windows Server 2003 Network
70-293 Planning and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure
70-294 Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure

I've chosen this route because the first 4 will give me my MCSA, then the following 3 will boost it to an MCSE. Also, 620 & 431 are MCTS courses also.

I'm not too sure of the route after that, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it i think. As i say, I feel personally I've got the experience and confidence to tackle an MCSE. I will obviously learn things I never knew which will be good, and also I'll have qualifications to match my experience and to show what I can do. Luckily i have a company who actively support CPD and are behind me with whatever I need to complete an MCSE.

I suppose ultimately only I will know when I am ready to take on Microsoft Courses, and I feel that I am. So I suppose I've answered my own question :P

Thanks for reading! Advice welcome/wanted!

G

 

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Hi and welcome to CF!

I won't comment on the Microsoft certs, as there are others here more expert than I on that.

But I will suggest that you do the Network+ exam. By the sound of it you should breeze it, and will give you some general background on networking.

Harry.

 

Hi there and welcome

 

Welcome to the forum…
I agree with Harry regarding the N+ cert. Conquer it and add it to your accomplishments.

 

Yep, I'll also recommend the Network+ before proceeding to the Microsoft certifications.

If you've got 6-12 months of experience with server administration, then you're likely ready for the MCSA. Microsoft recommends 6-12 months administering a multi-server, multi-site, 250+ user environment... but if you've been doing this for a while in a smaller environment, you should be able to add the "difficult stuff" on without too much head scratching.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to CF

 

Hi & welcome to CF

NB

 

Many thanks for all the welcomes and advice! I think I'll look into taking the N+ exam as recommended by all.

Particular thanks to Michael for the advice on MS recommendations. I've been administering for 4 years now, and have been 'in charge' for 8 months, so given what you've mentioned, I think i'm ready "Starter Pack" should be deliverd today, so I can get cracking over the weekend!

Cheers again guys!