[AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?

Steve,
 
I'd concur with the advice you were given.  It definitely helps to get
the job.  Unfortunately most of the companies I've worked for did not
pay for keeping up your skillsets, the attitude being "I'm not going to
pay for your training so you can get a payraise by going to work for
someone else".  However, there seems to be a change in that attitude.
Most of the classes I've taken so far have had people that were there
via their company, because they had to learn new technology in their
job.  Especially in the ASP.Net and VS .Net classes.

Others have posted that most companies expect OJT to fill the bill.  I
don't mind that, that's how I learned VB and ASP.  But, when you are
supporting Access2.0, SQL 6.5, and ASP, it's kind of hard to learn .Net
when the company won't or can't afford to buy upgrades.

After going through most of the process of this certification, I am
going to make it a point to keep up with new tech via certs, or at the
least A+ certs, in order to avoid my present situation from happening
again.  I like being an Access developer, however, diversifying my
portfolio, so to speak, should increase my marketability and
portability.  

As for courses, yes I've attended 8 out of 9 courses setup to take the
exams for MCDBA.  The cost included books, training materials and exam
vouchers, and is about $1k per class.  I took a professional loan via a
financial institution specializing in student loans like this.  Compared
to the cost of an online/accelerated MBA at around $30K, or the more
prestigious executive MBAs offered around here (William & Mary, UVA) at
about $125K, I think it's a relative bargain.

A note of caution.  The information and materials presented in the
courses are very good, however, in order to pass M$ exams, I highly
recommend using third party study guides and brain dumps as study aids.

I hope this information helps you out.

Randy.


-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Steve Erbach
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 4:52 PM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?

Randy,

The impression I get from the few people I've been able to talk this
over with, having the certification helps you land a job; but once you
have the job the company doesn't help you keep it up to date or to get
new ones.

Did you take some formal courses -- those 3-5 day deals costing $1500
or more -- or is it primarily self-study?

Steve Erbach


On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 09:29:06 -0500, Randall Anthony
<randall.anthony at cox.net> wrote:
> Steve,
> I find myself in a position similar to yours, unfortunately I got laid
> off in the process (lack of contractual funding, natch).
> 
> 1.  I was very much immersed in developing and maintaining dbases and
> applications from Access2.0 through A2K, using SQL and ASP pages for
> some.
> 
> 2.  As the work slowed down, my access to developing new apps
> disappeared.  Consequently, when push came to shove, my skillsets
> deteriorated.
> 
> 3.  The company I worked for was a division of a defense contractor
with
> a small IT department.  Last I heard that division's IT department is
> getting smaller.
> 
> 4.  So, during this "sabbatical", I decided to bite the bullet.  I've
> got one class left, SQL Server 2K Implementation and Administration.
> I'm now an MCP in ASP.Net development, I'm studying to pass the SQL
> Programming exam next week, then I have two exams left to get my
MCDBA.
> If I had achieved this while working, that company would have given me
a
> bonus and a pay raise, however, even if I had accomplished this with
> them, I still would have gotten the axe.
> 
> I have spoken with a number of professionals in the field when I was
> contemplating getting my Masters degree.  Most concurred that a
Masters
> would be beneficial if you were aiming for management type positions
> within the IT world, but the return on investment would be negligible
if
> I wished to remain technical.  Ergo, the next best thing to separate
> oneself from the pack in IT is to get certified (in my humble
opinion).
> 
> I'm starting to get more positive replies from companies I have
> submitted a resume to, and I feel fairly confident that I will be
> affiliated with someone soon.  I think that could be attributed to my
> obtaining certification.
> 
> Randy.
>
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