[dba-SQLServer]MCDBA

Steve,
 
Some bureaucracies look very favorably on degrees and certificates.
Some look very favorably on  your past performance.  Which type are you
now at and which type are you looking at for a better paying job?
 

Charles Wortz 
Software Development Division 
Texas Education Agency 
1701 N. Congress Ave 
Austin, TX 78701-1494 
512-463-9493 
CWortz at tea.state.tx.us 
(SELECT * FROM users WHERE clue > 0) 

-----Original Message-----
From: Steven W. Erbach [mailto:serbach at new.rr.com] 
Sent: Tuesday 2003 Feb 25 10:56
To: dba-sqlserver at databaseadvisors.com
Subject: Re: [dba-SQLServer]MCDBA


Allan,
 
I can appreciate the structured learning bit. I was wondering because I
had a conversation with a good friend who, in the past, always kept up
the certifications that he had. He seems to be despairing of the cost
and bother. Unless one is focused very clearly on one skill these days,
certification can become very expensive very quickly. Some--Cisco, for
example--require re-certification every two years. I just wonder what
that buys you once you get it. Continued advancement? Better-paying
jobs?
 
I looked up MCDBA certification classes in my area and found some being
offered by another old friend of mine in the Chicago area. The
certification tests apparently cannot be taken unless one also takes the
courses. I found that a bit of a put-off.
 
I was also curious that, on the Microsoft site, the MCDBA is geared for
those with big company experience and big servers and big databases.
Somehow I doubt that these required courses offer anything in the way of
simulation of huge databases or multiple platform connections...or do
they?
 
I've worked with PCs since 1982 and on mainframes for a bit before that,
back to 1975. It seems demeaning somehow that I cannot take a
certification test without going through an approved set of courses for
which I pay a large sum of money. I'm perfectly capable of learning SQL
Server--or anything else, for that matter--just fine on my own or in
connection with my client experiences. I guess I'm whining about having
to take those courses. If I do and if I get an MCDBA, what does it mean?
 
Regards,
 
Steve Erbach
Scientific Marketing
Neenah, WI
 
"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits." - Mark Twain

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