Ideal Path for MCSA/MCSE

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UKSpeedster,

the most important thing when choosing certs is having real-life hands-on experience in the relevant systems, and having access to play with them as you learn. You don't want to end up with certs on your CV but not the job experience to match.

I did 70-270 first while working in a desktop support role, then when I moved to server support I waited 12 months before doing 70-290 and 70-291. I've recently been involved with Exchange so I've taken the opportunity do 70-284 at the same time.

My strategy is to take certs as the opportunity to work on the relevant system arises, and not worry about following a particular certification 'track'. I feel that IT certification is more valuable as a skills refinement exercise rather than for learning new skills. In most cases the systems are so complicated that you won't understand the full significance of what the certs teach you unless you already have some experience of using them.

If you've just started out in IT, then you probably want to get 6-12 months hands-on experience before considering any MS exams. Then, choose an exam that you can put in practice straight away.

If you already have good experience in both servers and clients, then I would be tempted to do the server exams before the client exam as there's lots of advanced stuff in XP where it pays to understand it from the server-side first (like GPOs).

Z.