sherifffruitfly (5/9/2011)
Koen: Thanks for the pointers to relevant certs.I think one reason I haven't yet jumped into the cert game is that it appeared to me from the outside like they (MS) simply changed the cert tests and stuff waaaaay too often, so that the moment I ponied up my $1k (or however much it costs), they would have changed it, and I'd be left holding a big bag of nothing.
Is that perception on my part mistaken?
Thanks again!
Just so you know, I hold certs in multiple levels of SQL, Windows server and clients, infrastructure, AD and so on. I re-certify with every new version for the last 9 years and it only costs about $135, not $1000 per test ($67 if you are MCT as I am, except the MCT which is $400 per YEAR 🙂 ) and it only takes one or two tests to upgrade each cert once you have them. They even have 2-for-1 specials on the cert tests. The ROI from certification is huge. I make about 15% more than the IT pros I know with the same amount of experience and no certs. Plus, certs are important to the companies I want to work for.
Basically each certification on my transcript is worth about $900 a year EACH if you average it out compared to my peers, way more than I dared hope 9 years ago when I got my first certification. And the weekly offers are amazing. But that is my experience. Your mileage, as they say, may vary...
And for the record, MCITP DBA and/or Dev are probably where you want to start to progress as a DBA/Dev.
Peter Trast
Microsoft Certified ...(insert many literal strings here)
Microsoft Design Architect with Alexander Open Systems