MCDST How long

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Hi

Im considering changing career to IT cos im in retail and its in decline, i have seen a local college offering a tutor led MCDST course of 2 evenings a week plus they reccomend 15-20 hours self study for £400 all in thats both cert exams and study material.

The problem is ive spoken to a friend who thinks i should be able to do this course on my own and if i apply myself on say a fortnights holiday should be able to do it in this time, do you think this is realistic as he says it took him a week to do the whole course start to finish

 

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Hi Welcome

It depends on your experience, if you have no on the job IT experience 2 weeks is a bit unrealistic but you can do all certs by self study there is no need for a course.

If you are seriously considering a jump into IT then look at compTIA A+ and N+ before the MCDST they will both give you a good grounding for the MCDST.

 

I have some experience from previous jobs, i looked at comptia but it all seems very basic and not sure why i would need some of it,ie do companys still use legacy?? and how many people attach 127 devices to a USB port

 

If you know *all* the A+ material then you'll walk the exam easily.

And knowing the limits on stuff is important, as well as knowing legacy stuff - there is a lot of it out there!

I thought I knew most of the A+ material when I started on that - but the Mike Meyers A+ All-In-One soon proved me wrong!

Harry.

 

it's not the point that someone really won't [ut 127 devices in a USB port but the fact that knowing all the info is important.

Since I left uni in 99 I have worked at places which have used different operating systems ranging from Windows 95 - XP.

The dispatch department where I work now uses Windows 95.

Anyway like I said A+ and N+ will help towards the MCDST plus having both count towards an elective for the MCSA.

Do not underestimate the A+ and N+.

 

A+ is also a good introduction to the home study methodology. Yes some of it is oldhat and basic knowledge you may already have, but then its good practice at this study method that you can apply to later exams.

 

Also, going for the A+ might give you a boost since you may already be comfortable with the material. You'll hopefully have an easier pass, and you'll gain experience in the testing environment, which can be pretty high pressure.

 

If you believe CompTIA to be basic, then why not do the exams and get the certs by your name?

MCDST in 2 weeks is unrealistic if you ask me, unless you have a decent level of experience already. You say you have "some experience from previous jobs".. what did your previous jobs involve?

 

Do companies use legacy?

Thats a big YES!

Not every company goes cutting edge, indeed most will still be on xp for some years yet, some will even be on NT or 2000, as an IT technician you are there to save the company money, and at times run the network on a piece of string and sticky back plastic (reference for the brits there lol)

 

I'd also agree that to do the MCDST in 2 weeks would be unrealistic, I'd also suggest doing the N+ before the MCDST, some of it crosses over into the N+ and A+ but it is still probably the better way of doing it.

The A+ is worth having before anything else.

 

I have a pretty good understanding of XP and PC's. It took me just over six weeks to pass the MCDST, which I thought was pretty quick.

The thing it taught me, is that I thought I knew XP, but I did'nt really!

 

I agree with craigie, I'm not even halfway through the 271 book and I've already hit a couple of 'oh..really?' moments in there, even with a few years of actual desktop support under my belt

 

Somebody with too many toys

 

Honestly I would have to agree with the replies. Reason being is that I did the A+ and at the time I thought I knew quite a bit but in reality there was so much I didn't know and A+ helped me with that. For the MCDST I worked for about 1 year before I went ahead and got the certification and the experience helpled alot, to be honest I didn't even studied much for it, just a did a review for a few days and then sat the exams.

 

The course sounds like a good choice - including exam fee right?

However I also agree with others here that to do the MCDST in 2 weeks is unrealistic.

 

i have passed the mcdst in just over two weeks - 15 days in fact - start to finish

though i alread have been working as an IT administrator for 3 years, but up until just over 2 weeks ago the only IT qualification i had was a HNC in computing (which was / is worthless really), and it wasnt until the threat of redundancys was announced that i considered taking any exams. so with the use of sybex mcdst i have passed both exams the 271 last wednesday and the 270 today.

so yes it is possible to pass in two weeks

 

I agree the A+ cert is a very good base course to work from. That is where i started from and i found it to be very rewarding. As each course after that was just building on the knowledge from A+.

I would highly recommend starting with A+

 

the college course down here is 51 hours in total,which is 17 weeks,1 day a week.
You believe the A+ isn't very difficult,but at my college exactly double the amount of class time is needed to do the A+ as is required for mcdst,A+ is 100 hours tuition.

I'm still thinking over the mcdst,i'll need to book it soon ,i've checked all the funding options now and no cash support is available,the course starts soon ,seems very expensive for a short course,the price here is £535.