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    Microsoft MTA Certification Question

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    by sou1rebel ·

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    Hello,

    I am transitioning from a career in Education to the field of IT and I had a few quick questions about certifications. First, let me introduce my situation. I have spent the last 6 years as a teacher and decided very recently (~1 month ago) to begin a career transition to IT. I have a B.S. in Secondary Ed and an MBA in Project Management. I am in my late 20s. I just took and passed my CompTIA IT Fundamentals certification test and am looking to get my Microsoft MTA in IT Infrastructure as my next objective. I am enrolling in an eight-quarter IT program (which will be reduced to 5 quarters due to previous credits), which will give me an Associate’s degree in Networking Infrastructure Technology and several university-issued certificates (Desktop Support, Network Engineer, etc.). The quarter does not start until late September, so I was hoping to get a few certificates (or at least do some IT training) before school begins.

    My specific question mostly revolves around the Microsoft MTA tests. For ‘IT Infrastructure’, you only have to pass one out of five available tests (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/mta-it-infrastructure-certification.aspx).

    1) Is there a scenario in which you would want to take and pass more than just one out of the five IT Infrastructure tests? Or would it be best to just take and pass one, get your MTA certification, and then move on to MCSA certifications in the field you desire?

    2) If you take and pass multiple exams that qualify you for the MTA in IT Infrastructure, do you get multiple MTA certifications?

    3) If I were to take and pass, for example, the ‘Networking Fundamentals’ exam, would my MTA Certificate reflect this choice (e.g. would my MTA certification say “MTA in Networking Fundamentals”)? Being so new to the industry, I do not know exactly what career path in IT I want to follow, and I wouldn’t want an exam that I choose today to come back and haunt me, so to say. If I went into Server Administration, I wouldn’t want a potential employer to see the ‘MTA in IT Infrastructure – Networking Fundamentals’ and discount it because I chose to take the Networking Fundamentals test instead of the Server Administration test.

    I really know very little about the IT job market/etc., and I welcome any and all advice from those that could help me at the start of this new career.

    Thank you

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