I'm just not up to this!

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hi folks

4 months after buying my MS Press book I have come to the conclusion that I'm just not up to the 70-271. I have done a fair bit of study but can barely remember the basics. I think the main problem is that I'm just not interested in it. I can't visualise a situation where I would be - I dunno - installing WinXP on a company's salesforce's computers or sorting out an IP address problem. I don't think it's because I'm stupid, it's just that I can't convince my brain to concentrate for long enough.

I am doing an Open University course in Visual Basic which I love because I get to build stuff as a result of my efforts. I don't get the same instant results with 70-271.

The annoying thing is that I have been unemployed all that time and I have been counting on the 70-271 qualification to get into IT. I've invested in the book, in the exam and in some questions.

Ironically, I had a similar sort of problem when I was learning Polish before I went to Poland for a year. I could barely remember the word for Yes. When I got to Poland, I realised the value of learning Polish (in those days in 1992 hardly anyone in the provincial town where I lived spoke English) and I learnt it so well that I am now fluent.

Has anyone else had my current problem where their brain refused to co-operate? Did they find a way out of the problem?

Regards
Rick

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

I think the problem is that as you say you dont (or cant even envisage) using these skills in work, then having the certification becomes pretty meaningless, certification is ideally meant to be additional to job skills.

Best to concentrate on what you need for your role and career progression, if thats the OU course then get as stuck in as possible to that.

 

If 271 doesnt interest you why you pursuing it mate? You say Visual Basic interests you but that has nothing to do with 271 - so im guessing you mixing hardware and software and you seem to be interesting in software programming more - so how about stopping the MCDST and maybe concentrating on a programming job?

 

what he said ^

Also don't count on any cert or qualification to get you a job.

 

sounds like you want a career as a developer, you should go with what interests you most and not where you think all the pennies lie because over the course of a career it all balances out in the end. As long as you can grow a nice long bushy beard you'll fit in quite nicely.

Good luck!

 

Hi, It could be your learning stlye, I have the same problem and find it really hard as I do not take things in one distinct method ie reading, verbal or visual etc.

Try learning a process as a story, "a man walks into a pub and wants to connect to...... but is blocked by the firey ginger barmaid (Firewall) but a local walks in a gets a pint straight away" or draw a "Map" of system with shapes which shows their relationship to each other, I use the same method to learn an area of ground from a map that I'm going to cover on a route etc, worked well operations etc while in the Army.

I practiced installing xp over the phone on my mother, who was having problems with her laptop, dont ask about the phone bill.

stick with it

tom

 

Alot of studying is how you approach the subject.

You are able to convince your mind that the 70-271 Book is the most fascinating you have EVER read!

Totally engross your self in it for 5 minutes, without hesitation, doubt or your mind wandering and I guarantee you will be amazed at the results.

For my next Jedi mind trick...

 

Yep i know what it feels like.

Ive got the experience but not the certs, and its totally mind numbing reading through all the gumph (yes it may be important) (and yes i am learning a little) but when i see 20 different acronyms on one page my brain just says feck offf MS, shuts down and thinks about jumping into the blender.
i guess starting off with Vista 70-620 was not the best start lol. (im back on XP after using vista for a year)
But i will do it, i will push on untill it all goes in there and no doubt ill get a pretty good result at the end of it.

interestingly, when i used to program i found that i could program best (fastest and concentrate more) in the early hours of the morning (ie -1-3pm) because my brain was to tired to try and distract me... (AKA Multithreding switched off)

Denver

Oh (can you spell dyslecsic or dislecsic or dysleicsk oh bugger it blender here it comes)

 

It comes down to the 2 sides of the brain. Creative and logical. It seems that you're more in the creative side.

If you enjoy programming I'd start looking at some certs in that direction and forget about the mcdst.

 

I would say programming is largely logical too. Some of the MS Press stuff is very good, some is quite dull, its only the practicals and envisioning the scenarios that bring it home. Thats why people reccomend experience, the MS certs particulary seem designed to test for product experience above general understanding of the concepts. In fact they often petty much skip over the theory and start explaining checkboxes and forms...

 

I know they can be a bit expensive but have you thought of using video and audio study materials, sometimes it helps to split up the book based study.

Andi

 

That's a good idea Although it could also be your study skills need brushing up!

doesn't matter what you study Rick if your not focused and haven't got good study skills you will find it hard and lose sight of your goals!

get yourself a book in study skills

The other thing to do is and I know this hard when your unemployed and that is to do some soul searching!

You might find programming is the way to go or you may find customer support using MCDST! It's upto you Rick it's your life. Once you figured out what you really want to do and would be fun doing it, then write it down, stick on the wall somewhere you either sleep or study. So when you lose sight of your goals or loose motivation you can look at it to remind yourself of why your studying!


Good Luck

 

Just because you are not enjoying the MCDST and like doing a bit of VB doesn't actually mean that you like programming. Programming isn't just about doing something and seeing immediate results, it's also about the continuous cycle of learning and applying what you have learned in approaching a wide range of problems.

Your problem could just as well be that you simply don't like learning from books and prefer more practical learning, so as suggested above apply what you have learned from your MCDST so far and mess around with a PC. Alternatively, if you are convinced that you will like programming, then study the many tutorials out there until they get challenging to see if you stick with it in addition to your OU course - if you don't then you are not a programmer either.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for some really considered replies.

Since I wrote that "heat of the moment" reply, I have thought again.
My purchase of some MeasureUp trial questions has greatly helped. I have used my first attempts as a really good reason to search the different nooks and crannies of my PC that made my brain go foggy in the book. The more I look into the different and interesting bits of XP, the more I am getting into it.

Funnily enough I have already tried to enlist my mother (as somebody else mentioned) as part of my revision drive. I wanted to give her Remote Assistance but it Norton's firewall wouldn't let me get through. Another unusual thing that I have tried has been to record each MS Press chapter summary using the Audacity voice recording freeware program. I have then listened to the recordings through my mp3 player.

I have also managed to get hold of CBT Nuggets videos. I managed to concentrate through most of those videos, making a lot of notes in Excel.

I think the real problem for me here is arrogance. There is a part of me which subconsciously is convinced that I will wing it through every problem that I meet in life. Experience has shown that this isn't the case; I do keep getting into difficult situations due to my lack of planning.

The events of this year are making me rediscovering the importance of being humble, which will not only help me succeed rather more often but also make me a rather better person.

Playing around with XP, getting used to the terms while listening to my mp3 player and my keenness to ensure that my exam fees weren't wasted, have ensured that I am now very keen to succeed at this exam.

A couple of responses pointed out that programming is not necessarily the lost vocation that I have come to see it as. On reflection, you're probably right. I am loving the VB course but it would be silly to pin all my hopes on it at this early stage.

Besides, I am a bit of a gadget freak frankly. I would love to get a wifi internet radio, one of the ever-cheaper TFT monitors and a cold cathode lamp. I think hardware may well be my thing after all.

Regards
Rick

 

I'm struggling with the whole beard thing which is annoying because I'm starting a ZZ Top tribute act and I need it. Anyone got any tips?

Also it's so itchy....

(cheap sunglasses)

 

You could always start with the A+... and get an IT job where you ARE doing more of the 70-271-type stuff and THEN it'll all make more sense to you.