MS Training

[wilsonian]

I wasn't to sure where to put this so sorry in advance if it's in the wrong area.

I'm looking into doing some MCP's etc to booster my CV and overall knowleadge of software (as for many years i've played with the hardware side).

Can any one recommend a company that do such courses - there are so many out there...

[Moby-Dick]

www.qa.com
www.interquad.com

are the two places my work uses for courses , but they are not cheap.

[TiG]

Alternatively you can self learn and just do the exam ~£80.

TiG

[Moby-Dick]

If you do go for the self learning route , go for VUE exam centres as they dont chagre the VAT on the exam so its £80 rather than £100 ( remeber you need at least 7 of these to get an MSCE )

Certification isn't a cheap hobby

it depends on your learning style - for some people , instructor led works a lot better than self paced - I like a mixture of both. Some people work well with CBT's , some prefer books.

[Stringent]

VUE charged the £100 for my MS exams ... Unless they changed things recently. It IS nice to get instructor led then you can ask questions, clarification etc. But if you are a disciplined study guy, then go for the book approach.

[Dav0s]

depending on where you work atm you could ask your employer to fund you for the course (assuming you work in IT).

[Moby-Dick]

oops I mean prometric - its about £88 there ( althoguht VUE are offering a free retake at the moment , so that £20 extra coule be a £60 saving if you fluff the exam up )

[wilsonian]

I do work in IT but more as Customer Support (Windows, returns etc) so i never get to "Play" with windows 2000 etc.

I haven't tried self learning before and i'm unsure if it would work. if i was to do that which learning guide would i best of with?

[TiG]

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/default.asp

That link is a good start,

I personally prefer the official MS books as i've got enough knowledge on the subjects to pretty much just jump in and do learn.

But they do have a bit of a learning curve if you don't have the knowledge, and you may find yourself best with a Reilly or O'Neill equivilant book to start with.

TiG

[wilsonian]

well i made a few enquires today and if i wanted to get fully MCSE (8 MCP'S) it would cost in the region of £4.8k! however after thinking about it a uni course will cost you £3.3k a year - average life 3 years - total over £10k plus other student loans etc so i'm thinking bugger it - do that - i'm not too keen on the "teach ur self" and this is for a class room.

Oh the place i looked at was www.tech-connect.com

[5cupa]

i used http://www.nitlc.com/

nothings gonna come for cheap unless u can get your employer to cough up