is MCSE worth it?

If pay scale is one of the factors whether to take the cert,then I would say look into other options.
Yes certification is still valued in certain areas.
No in other areas,make your decision doing some research with companies or agencies.

If pay scale is one of the factors whether to take the cert,then I would say look into other options.
Yes certification is still valued in certain areas.
No in other areas,make your decision doing some research with companies or agencies.

get cert'ed in winxp pro to start with...then you can see the power of certifications for yourself. they will get you immediately into interviews. ANY cert is worth it, imho. a huge bang for buck with the A+ cert. why not start with A+ and Network+ and then make up your own mind? btw, i used to say 'ptewy' to certs until 1) i got my A+ and saw its power and 2) times changed and plenty of IT out there now. many w/o certs so you will give yourself an edge getting some...

Enrique ... you are right the pay scale is low depending on your location. I have taken and passed my MCSE cert. sometime back and upgraded on a regular basis until recently. It helps you get a foot in the door but many people who interview don't know what the certification consist of so your knowledge really is not known. To give you an idea when I did my MCSE the first thing my instructor said to the class is if you are here because you saw the ads make $60k a year you should probably leave. This was at the beginning of the win2k phase. Being associated with some IT headhunters a lot of companies are not paying what we are worth but there are a few out there. If you don't have it and you are looking to hit the corporate world ... do it just to get your foot in because we all know that what you learn in MCSE courses will never match real world experience. Nothing against the MCSE but "real" world experience is the key. Many people can take and learn the information to pass the MCSE but not many can stay calm and get a server back up quickly when you have 400 people sitting around thumb wrestling while your server is down. That is what makes us worth the higher salaries. If your skills (talents if you will) are well charted within the area you are working in then don't waste your time unless you seek to find those few things you might not know. Because so many kids are coming out of college today with MCSEs I also chose to specialize so I did security so if you are confortable enough with what MCSE teaches you do the basics of that and specialize with a CISSP, Cisco, etc. Whatever will set you apart from the larger group as a whole. I know it is a little long winded but I hope it helps. I battled with that question for quite sometime myself.

Enrique ... you are right the pay scale is low depending on your location. I have taken and passed my MCSE cert. sometime back and upgraded on a regular basis until recently. It helps you get a foot in the door but many people who interview don't know what the certification consist of so your knowledge really is not known. To give you an idea when I did my MCSE the first thing my instructor said to the class is if you are here because you saw the ads make $60k a year you should probably leave. This was at the beginning of the win2k phase. Being associated with some IT headhunters a lot of companies are not paying what we are worth but there are a few out there. If you don't have it and you are looking to hit the corporate world ... do it just to get your foot in because we all know that what you learn in MCSE courses will never match real world experience. Nothing against the MCSE but "real" world experience is the key. Many people can take and learn the information to pass the MCSE but not many can stay calm and get a server back up quickly when you have 400 people sitting around thumb wrestling while your server is down. That is what makes us worth the higher salaries. If your skills (talents if you will) are well charted within the area you are working in then don't waste your time unless you seek to find those few things you might not know. Because so many kids are coming out of college today with MCSEs I also chose to specialize so I did security so if you are confortable enough with what MCSE teaches you do the basics of that and specialize with a CISSP, Cisco, etc. Whatever will set you apart from the larger group as a whole. I know it is a little long winded but I hope it helps. I battled with that question for quite sometime myself.

Enrique ... you are right the pay scale is low depending on your location. I have taken and passed my MCSE cert. sometime back and upgraded on a regular basis until recently. It helps you get a foot in the door but many people who interview don't know what the certification consist of so your knowledge really is not known. To give you an idea when I did my MCSE the first thing my instructor said to the class is if you are here because you saw the ads make $60k a year you should probably leave. This was at the beginning of the win2k phase. Being associated with some IT headhunters a lot of companies are not paying what we are worth but there are a few out there. If you don't have it and you are looking to hit the corporate world ... do it just to get your foot in because we all know that what you learn in MCSE courses will never match real world experience. Nothing against the MCSE but "real" world experience is the key. Many people can take and learn the information to pass the MCSE but not many can stay calm and get a server back up quickly when you have 400 people sitting around thumb wrestling while your server is down. That is what makes us worth the higher salaries. If your skills (talents if you will) are well charted within the area you are working in then don't waste your time unless you seek to find those few things you might not know. Because so many kids are coming out of college today with MCSEs I also chose to specialize so I did security so if you are confortable enough with what MCSE teaches you do the basics of that and specialize with a CISSP, Cisco, etc. Whatever will set you apart from the larger group as a whole. I know it is a little long winded but I hope it helps. I battled with that question for quite sometime myself.

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