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Microsoft Certifications?

mwin

mwin

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 24, 2004
Messages
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Are there any experts, here? I've been looking them over on Microsoft's website, but I'm still unsure of what path would be most beneficial. My primary goal would be learning and improving on my skill sets. Secondary goal is adding something beneficial to the resume. I'll give a little background:

I have a CS degree from a school that's at least locally respected. Graduated in '03. I co-opped for a few years in the industry before that. I've mostly done embedded C/C++ stuff. For a while I was working with MFC in VS2003 (previous job). Along side of the embedded stuff at the current job, I have done some smaller utilities and test-tools in C# (VS2005 and VS2010). A couple of months back I got moved to a new team. We're doing a pretty decent sized Windows application in WPF/C# (VS2010). It's a lot more involved than any of the Windows stuff that I've done before.

Anybody want to recommend a certification path that would be most beneficial?
 
You can look into the MCSD route, specifically the C#/XAML path (unless you are even more competent in WinRT/HTML5/JS stuff).

What's your motivation for getting a cert?
 
We're doing a pretty decent sized Windows application in WPF/C# (VS2010). It's a lot more involved than any of the Windows stuff that I've done before.
Click to expand...

If you're after certifications that will help you directly with this new project, then the only one really worth your time is 483. If you look at the overview for the course, does it seem like stuff you know? If so, you've pretty much exhausted the usefulness of the MCSDs for C#. There are two more (484, 485, but they're not worth the time due to the Windows 8 focus.

If your company is pushing for gold certification, or you just want to expand your knowledge, I would recommend the MCSD: Web Applications track. The majority of folks I know that work at C# companies are doing their applications in either WebForms (primarily, though that is changing...thank god) or MVC. Big market for web applications, and all three tests in this track will help you gain the experienced needed to build them.
 
It seems to me that certifications are the most expensive way to learn something. All you're doing is paying (a lot of!) money to take a test. If you want to buy the course ware and follow the structure it gives without taking the test, that seems sensible, but paying a few hundred bucks every few years to renew the certs doesn't seem very beneficial. And you can get the same education from other books and websites, anyway.

I'm curious to learn why you believe the certification process is your best path.
 
Certs are a good way to learn about technologies you wouldn't otherwise be aware of. As for proof that you can program, not so good. But having some certs on your CV can only be beneficial, even if it just shows that you are motivated to learn something and better yourself.
 
Having certificates on your resume might be beneficial, or it might be inconsequential. Studying for certificates is a good way to learn about a technology; actually obtaining the certificate has nothing to do with learning anything -- it's just about paying the test center.
 
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