Does MCSD worth declining?

Not quite. The original MCSD is still highly regarded but
employers know that some people cram for the exam then
forget everything just as quickly. Thus if you can't
answer the questions in the interview then you are out.

The problem with the MCSD.NET is that most employers don't
know that it exists, that it is much harder to obtain and
that it covers a diverse knowledge set that is very hard
to pick up on the job unless you have done a big variety
of jobs in the last two years.

In fact there are a lot of employers out there hiring
for .NET who got their own jobs by pure chance and who
know didly squat about .NET. These people have a value
system that values the length of time someone has been
in .NET more than anything else, not because they think it
correlates with quality or productivity but because if
they can convince the people further up the line who sign
the cheques then it makes their own positions more secure.

I blame Microsoft for not marketing certification more
effectively. If they can loose billions of dollars on the
XBOX you would think that they could afford a few adverts
in business newspapers targeting the upper echelons on the
benefits of .NET and the benefits of the .NET certified
professional.

>-----Original Message-----
>I'd been a MCSD since late 1996, at that time the
>certification opens lots of doors and opportunities and
>was very highly regarded. I believe that that mystic
>among clients or employers is declining, even the
>MCSD.net that I obtain a couple of months ago. My point
>is, employers and/or clients now considers other factors
>more important and had relegated the certification to a
>nice-to-have footnote. Is this only my impression or
>other has seen this?
>.
>

biker

And I also firmly believe that they made a mistake by calling the .NET
version MCSD when the original is really a very different animal and has
little in common. Everywhere you see MCSD you now have to add .NET to make
it clear that you are up to date. Employers may even forget to ask.

Wray Smallwood

"biker" <> wrote in message
news:017501c35495$b25e9870$...
> Not quite. The original MCSD is still highly regarded but
> employers know that some people cram for the exam then
> forget everything just as quickly. Thus if you can't
> answer the questions in the interview then you are out.
>
> The problem with the MCSD.NET is that most employers don't
> know that it exists, that it is much harder to obtain and
> that it covers a diverse knowledge set that is very hard
> to pick up on the job unless you have done a big variety
> of jobs in the last two years.
>
> In fact there are a lot of employers out there hiring
> for .NET who got their own jobs by pure chance and who
> know didly squat about .NET. These people have a value
> system that values the length of time someone has been
> in .NET more than anything else, not because they think it
> correlates with quality or productivity but because if
> they can convince the people further up the line who sign
> the cheques then it makes their own positions more secure.
>
> I blame Microsoft for not marketing certification more
> effectively. If they can loose billions of dollars on the
> XBOX you would think that they could afford a few adverts
> in business newspapers targeting the upper echelons on the
> benefits of .NET and the benefits of the .NET certified
> professional.
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >I'd been a MCSD since late 1996, at that time the
> >certification opens lots of doors and opportunities and
> >was very highly regarded. I believe that that mystic
> >among clients or employers is declining, even the
> >MCSD.net that I obtain a couple of months ago. My point
> >is, employers and/or clients now considers other factors
> >more important and had relegated the certification to a
> >nice-to-have footnote. Is this only my impression or
> >other has seen this?
> >.
> >

Wray Smallwood

I know that MCSD.NET is not an "official" acronym from MS, but is this what
most folks are doing in order to differentiate from the old MCSD?

I also think MS should have come up with a different acronym...

--
Leigh Kendall, MCSD, MCDBA

"Wray Smallwood" <0m> wrote in message
news:...
> And I also firmly believe that they made a mistake by calling the .NET
> version MCSD when the original is really a very different animal and has
> little in common. Everywhere you see MCSD you now have to add .NET to make
> it clear that you are up to date. Employers may even forget to ask.
>
> Wray Smallwood
>
> "biker" <> wrote in message
> news:017501c35495$b25e9870$...
> > Not quite. The original MCSD is still highly regarded but
> > employers know that some people cram for the exam then
> > forget everything just as quickly. Thus if you can't
> > answer the questions in the interview then you are out.
> >
> > The problem with the MCSD.NET is that most employers don't
> > know that it exists, that it is much harder to obtain and
> > that it covers a diverse knowledge set that is very hard
> > to pick up on the job unless you have done a big variety
> > of jobs in the last two years.
> >
> > In fact there are a lot of employers out there hiring
> > for .NET who got their own jobs by pure chance and who
> > know didly squat about .NET. These people have a value
> > system that values the length of time someone has been
> > in .NET more than anything else, not because they think it
> > correlates with quality or productivity but because if
> > they can convince the people further up the line who sign
> > the cheques then it makes their own positions more secure.
> >
> > I blame Microsoft for not marketing certification more
> > effectively. If they can loose billions of dollars on the
> > XBOX you would think that they could afford a few adverts
> > in business newspapers targeting the upper echelons on the
> > benefits of .NET and the benefits of the .NET certified
> > professional.
> >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >I'd been a MCSD since late 1996, at that time the
> > >certification opens lots of doors and opportunities and
> > >was very highly regarded. I believe that that mystic
> > >among clients or employers is declining, even the
> > >MCSD.net that I obtain a couple of months ago. My point
> > >is, employers and/or clients now considers other factors
> > >more important and had relegated the certification to a
> > >nice-to-have footnote. Is this only my impression or
> > >other has seen this?
> > >.
> > >
>
>

Leigh Kendall