What is the quickest / easiest way to become MCP?

Discussion in 'Training & Development' started by Safe, Feb 8, 2011.

  1. Safe

    Safe Bit Poster

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    Hi all,
    What is the quickest / easiest way to become MCP?
    How many exams? Which exams? Cost of each exam?
    Any providers do a crash course which guarantee to pass but not at stupid rates?
    I have a BSc in Computing, along with A+, currently self studying ITIL so once I’ve finished that I want to start the MCP.
    Thanks for any help.
     
    Certifications: BSc, A+, ECDL, PRINCE2, ITIL
    WIP: MTA
  2. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    The quickest way, as with many things, is probably the most pointless. :(
    There are companies that will teach you to drive a car over the weekend which will enable you to pass the driving test, but it won't make you as good a driver than somebody who has been practicing for several months.

    That being said, you can become an MCP after taking a single exam (although newer exams will make you an MCTS as MCP is getting a bit outdated).

    You can do a crash course, sure, or you can self study. MS recommends that you have some real world experience in the subject before you try to certify.

    As to which is the easiest, that will depend on which technologies you have most experience with.
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD
  3. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Forgot to mention - everything you need is here - www.microsoft.com/learning

    Exams costs can vary depending on VAT etc and how you pay, but will usually end up in the region of £80-£120 loosely speaking. There are places that sell discounted vouchers and there are offers from time to time. Some courses may include the cost of the exam in with the training, but it's important to check it out first.


    Oh, and be careful about places that 'guarantee' anything - that either means they will have some clause to protect themselves (such as you can only take the exam when they say so) or they will help you to cheat by providing you with braindumps. Just something to be aware of...
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2011
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD
  4. j1mgg

    j1mgg Kilobyte Poster

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    Why are you wanting to rush into getting this qualification?

    You could be looking at £30 for thr book, £80 for the exam doing self study but that might not be the quickest.

    You could also pay £800 for a 2 day course.
     
    Certifications: Comptia A+, ITIL V3 Foundation, MCDST, 70-270, 70-290
    WIP: 70-291, security+ and SSCP
  5. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    To become an MCP you need to pass one Microsoft exam. There is only one quick way which I am not going to mention because its illegal basically to be a trusted IT technician or whatever you need to study and practice and understand the concepts of whatever MCP exam you study and then take the exam its as simple as that.

    The MCDST for example is two exams 70-271 and 70-272 the first one is about supporting a windows xp desktop environment from a localized setup to a domain infrastructure whilst 70-272 is about supporting applications which run on XP in a localized setupp or domain environment.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  6. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    This is misleading. Not all single MS exams grant MCP status.

    For instance, none of the MCTS exams make you an MCP, regardless of how many you take. Depending on the MCTS certification, you may need one or two exams to grant the MCTS status (for that topic).
     
    Certifications: ITIL Foundation; MCTS: Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010, Administration
    WIP: None at present
  7. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    yep sorry there is now MCTS aswell.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  8. Safe

    Safe Bit Poster

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    The reason for this is I have real world experience. I worked in a Secondary School in the IT dept for 2 years and I now work for a large organisation in the IT dept for coming up to 2 years in May. I would like to try add ITIL & for example MCP to my certifications before my annual review.

    So MCTS will be replacing MCP basically? How long will I be able to take the MCP exam for? Is MCTS one exam or two? I will check out the link Jonny posted after this message.

    If the book is £30 and exam £80 I will self study for sure. I should in theory know it all already! Or at least the majority.

    Thanks.
     
    Certifications: BSc, A+, ECDL, PRINCE2, ITIL
    WIP: MTA
  9. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    it depends which exams you do. If you do the MCDST it is two MCPs but it is retiring in June however there other MCP exams like 70-270 and the MCSE and MCSA exams and there are no plans yet to retire these. If you do 70-680 this windows 7 based that gets you an MCTS. You need to figure out what you want to do, generally you certify in what you work with as certs are meant to show your experience level.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  10. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Should tell you everything you need to know.
    MS shook up their certs a while back to make them more 'role specific'.

    In the old days, whenever you passed an MS exam, you became an MCP. It just meant that you were certified by them as having a certain level of ability in a subject.

    MCTS now certifies you as a specialist in a certain technology.
    In many cases this can be achieved by passing one exam, but in some cases it may be more.

    So any MCPs you see floating around will normally be associated with exams you can take in the 'older' technologies such as XP or Server 2003.

    MS used to quote about 100 hrs study for an MCP, but they also specify pre-requirements such as x number of years experience in a certain environment or with a certain technology before attemting the exam. This doesn't revent you from taking the exam, and possibly even passing it, but there you go.
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD
  11. Safe

    Safe Bit Poster

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    I work with Win2003 / XP domain.

    But I would be interested in doing 70-680 to get MCTS, if it's just 1 exam. We are planning to migrate to Win7 in the next few years, to would be really useful skills.

    What exam would I have to do for the XP exam to get MCP before june?

    Also any recommendations on books for the 70-680 and the XP exam?

    Thanks for all your replies.
     
    Certifications: BSc, A+, ECDL, PRINCE2, ITIL
    WIP: MTA
  12. BC

    BC Bit Poster

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    To add to all of the advice given above, I wouldn't say there's any "easy" way of becoming an MCP quickly.

    I've taken 9 MS exams over the past couple of years and none were what I would class as easy - and that's a good thing.

    These certs are reassuringly difficult and that is what we want because if they are difficult they remain valuable.

    However, most people would take a client exam first when starting to study to become an MCSE such as 70-270 (XP). Depending on your level of experience this could take a few weeks to study and pass or it could take months.

    Taking and passing the 70-270 is likely to be a more attractive proposition that jumping right in and tackling 70-291 but both will give you the same thing - the right to call yourself an MCP.

    If you've supported users in a business environment who were using XP then it may well be worth taking the 70-270. If you've supported Vista instead, look at the 70-620 exam, if Windows 7 - 70-680.

    These last two won't give you the MCP status but the MCTS status as mentioned several times above.

    Whatever cert you decide to do first, get ready to do some serious studying!
     
    Certifications: MCP, MCSA:M, MCSE, MCTS
  13. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    The MCTS exams depend on the technology examined. Some of the older .Net development MCTS exams were two exams, whereas the newer versions are a single exam. If you look on the MS Learning site, you can see the certification tracks, and from there you can see what exam(s) are required for that certificate.
     
    Certifications: ITIL Foundation; MCTS: Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010, Administration
    WIP: None at present
  14. Safe

    Safe Bit Poster

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    Ok so if I take and pass 70-270 next month I will get MCP status? Seems reasonable.
     
    Certifications: BSc, A+, ECDL, PRINCE2, ITIL
    WIP: MTA
  15. Safe

    Safe Bit Poster

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    Because I don't have 5 posts (yet) my replies are going in a weird order! Sorry about that! :)
     
    Certifications: BSc, A+, ECDL, PRINCE2, ITIL
    WIP: MTA
  16. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    the 70-270 is a bit more advanced than the 70-271 and 70-272 (MCDST) generally your suppossed to certify in what you work with. If I were you I would take the MCDST exams first then do the 70-270 then the 70-680.

    Not sure on books for the 70-680 as I am not doing that yet.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  17. Safe

    Safe Bit Poster

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    Ok so if I take and pass 70-270 next month I will get MCP status?
     
    Certifications: BSc, A+, ECDL, PRINCE2, ITIL
    WIP: MTA
  18. Apexes

    Apexes Gigabyte Poster

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    Indeed - http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?id=70-270#tab1

     
    Certifications: 70-243 MCTS: ConfigMgr 2012 | MCSE: Private Cloud
  19. Safe

    Safe Bit Poster

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    thank you apexes
     
    Certifications: BSc, A+, ECDL, PRINCE2, ITIL
    WIP: MTA

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