Certs. Not the ones you eat.

I've now added a few things to my list of certifications:
  • Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration
  • Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Configuration
  • Microsoft Certified Information Technology Professional: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator
Here's the reason why.. I forget how competitive I am. For those who know me, I think that may not come to a big shock to you. But for those of you who are me, you may tend to forget what triggers the competitiveness. My manager mentioned that he was thinking about getting some certifications, and for some reason this motivated me to do it. I really enjoy working with my manager. He's bright and an ex-systems engineer. But, the idea of him having a cert in Windows 2008 and me without, was enough to get me off my ass and complete them. Yesterday I became active directory certified, and today I took the other two tests to become a full MCITP. I thought it shouldn't be to hard.. that this is what I do for a living, so I should be able to slam out these tests. It's not like I'm getting them while being a professionally trained dancer (not that there is anything wrong with that). I've been involved in a few Windows 2008 Active Directory migrations professionally, why shouldn't I be able to take a test on it.


The funny thing is that I used to be the guy saying you don't need a degree and you don't need a certification. And honestly, do I know more now than I did a few days ago because I have a cert? Yes. I actually learned a few things while studying (did you know you could show the DNS resolver cache by typing in ipconfig /displaydns? I didn't.. N00b! and I also learned about IPv6 which I needed to do anyway). And my contributor credit to the Windows XP resource kit is only going to get me so far. Maybe I should write my own technical book. Called.. "Cloud Technology: Because we all like it when it's cloudy."

With the economy in its current state, I went back to complete my degree and I'm on the certification train. I still don't know if they help get you the job or justify promotions and/or raises, but I know it doesn't hurt.

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