MCSD or MCSE?

I have some experience in networking and in some going visual basic
programming and am wondering which route may be a good way to go as far as
certifications. I am get mixed reports here about no future for IT jobs and
the like. Maybe programming is the answer?

thanks

Joseph Paquette

don't worry about reports of job availability. rather
ask yourself: what do you enjoy more? If you enjoy your
work, you will be successful in it and will be more
likely to find decent jobs.

being a network guy or a programmer totally different
things. why become a programmer if you'll hate every day
of fighting with gumby users and trying to find an
obscure little logic error in 10 000 lines of code?

market trends come and go. ignore them.

>-----Original Message-----
>I have some experience in networking and in some going
visual basic
>programming and am wondering which route may be a good
way to go as far as
>certifications. I am get mixed reports here about no
future for IT jobs and
>the like. Maybe programming is the answer?
>
>thanks
>
>
>.
>

Grant

Grant wrote:

> don't worry about reports of job availability. rather
> ask yourself: what do you enjoy more? If you enjoy your
> work, you will be successful in it and will be more
> likely to find decent jobs.
>
> being a network guy or a programmer totally different
> things. why become a programmer if you'll hate every day
> of fighting with gumby users and trying to find an
> obscure little logic error in 10 000 lines of code?
>
> market trends come and go. ignore them.

That's some great advice, Grant! This is especially true for younger
folks just starting out. If you do something you enjoy, it'll be easier
and you'll have a better life!

If you try to force yourself to do something you don't like, you might
get more money in the short term, but you're doomed to fail in the long
term.

Eric

You might have some problems finding an entry-level job without a lot of
experience and without a degree. If you can move up at your current company,
you might be ok.

You might want to skip the cert and go to college, get a degree in CIS or
CSE. It'll take more time, but you'll be more likely to find a job if you
have a degree rather than a cert.

You can do this without a degree. I don't have a degree, although I have
taken a lot of CSE classes, but I've also got started in development in '98
and started taking classes in CSE in '96, so I have several years of
experience and a couple years of school. I think I just got lucky and got
into it at a time at the height of the dot-com boom and worked my way up
from application support to development to get experience.

It's a complicated time to get into programming. Many companies are now
outsourcing offshore, many dotcoms when out of business, so there's not as
many jobs as there used to be. One of the things I've noticed in my area is
a lot of companies asking for a degree (and sometimes even a master's
degree) to be a developer.

So, if you are serious about being a programmer, it's pretty unlikely that
you'll be able to find a job by just getting your MCSD. I'm not saying it's
impossible- I've seen it happen, but it will likely take a higher commitment
from you than just passing a few tests to get a job.

If you are looking for something short-term, you should probably do MCSE
since a degree isn't required as much in that area and since you seem to
have more experience in that area.


"Joseph Paquette" <all-> wrote in message
news:09FOb.2489$...
> I have some experience in networking and in some going visual basic
> programming and am wondering which route may be a good way to go as far as
> certifications. I am get mixed reports here about no future for IT jobs
and
> the like. Maybe programming is the answer?
>
> thanks
>
>

Crystal