MCSD & MCSE certs

[devinemi83]

I am looking into getting those certifiacations. I wanted to ask any of you what you overall though tof them. I wanted to see if they are enough to get my foot in the door to and good career.

[AnnihilatorTokyo]

IMHO, NO! They don't mean s**t when it comes to real life, my co-worker was doing the MCP tests by just downloading some testsoftware of Internet and study for a day, then do the test. I, being an IT Manager, will never hire anybody except if they got hard experience, no test can match that.
But, there are countries that only look at tests, like Sweden. Guess why I'm in Japan instead! I have nothing to prove to anybody by doing MS tests, which contains lots of questions that aren't relevant to real life situations. At least for WinNT 4.0, haven't seen Win2k tests yet.

Good luck if you decide to take the tests.

[willem]

I've never done them and not planning on doing them. Several colleagues have done the series of tests and got their certs. I understood that the theory parts are very good, but the practical side is poor. If you're good at cramming facts in your head you will pass the test. There is no need to really understand what it's about or actually touch a computer.
Personally I did the Red Hat Linux certification. These are very practical oriented. Personally I missed the theoretical backgrounds during the courses and in the study material. You cannot pass the test without having any practical experience with (Red Hat) Linux. I find it very important that you know how to do it and above all why.
I'm afraid being MCSE doesn't give you a better chance to get your foot in the door since many more will have the same qualifications so you won't stand out. It's important though that you have cetifications to proof what knowledge and experience you've got. It avoids a discussion between a potential employer and you. The best thing for a good carreer is get an interesting resume. Try to find interesting jobs and projects. The more working experience you've got on interesting jobs the more valuable you are.