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

Steve,
"Brain Dumps" are usually sites where people submit questions and
answers from past exams they've taken.  Some are free, some are pay for.
I found some of them useful because they helped me study more in-depth.


For instance, in one course the materials and study guide seemed to
cover everything in a conceptual manner, but when it came time to take
the test, the test questions were framed in an operational manner.  M$
exams (in my limited experience, 2 down, 2 to go) are really set up to
make you fail.  The questions are long (2, 3 even 4 paragraphs to set up
the scenario), and multiple answers, ie., there are eight selections,
pick the right four.

As far as using my comments, feel free.  I'm looking forward to see what
you come up with.

Randy

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Steve Erbach
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 7:35 AM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?

Randy,

>> 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. <<

All right, I'll bite: what's a 'brain dump', eh, Precious?

Steve Erbach


On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 08:23:53 -0500, Randall Anthony
<randall.anthony at cox.net> wrote:
> 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.
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