“CERT Boot Camp”

"CERT Boot Camp"

http://www.ExamsAreEasy.com

Issue 7 -- Saturday, January 19th, 2002

CERT Boot Camp is published monthly. And I know, it’s late again

this month … sorry!!

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IN THIS ISSUE:

1. A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

2. A NEAT WAY TO MULTIPLY YOUR STUDY TIME WITHOUT NOTICING ...

3. PITFALLS OF A CAREER IN I.T. AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM (PT 2)

4. MORE PITFALLS OF A CAREER IN I.T. – Advice from a Subscriber

5. JOKE

6. CONTACT CERT BOOT CAMP

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1. A WORD FROM THE EDITOR:

«FirstName», Happy New Year and welcome to your CERT Boot Camp

Ezine.

I love this time of year! It’s admittedly very cold here in the

UK, but I feel energized and excited about making a fresh start

and all my plans and goals for 2002.

I hope you feel the same; why not drop me a line to share your

aims and aspirations for your career and certs this year with

fellow subscribers? It is always great to hear from you!

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2. A NEAT WAY TO MULTIPLY YOUR STUDY TIME WITHOUT NOTICING ...

If you feel frustrated because you only get to study for a

couple of hours in the evening and it's difficult to cram in

what you need to in the time, try using flash cards to steal

more study time without losing out on yet more social activities

- after all, even CERT students (or nerds, as my hubbie

sometimes calls me!) need a life...

Here are my favorite tips for making and using flash cards for

maximum benefit:

1. How to Make Flash Cards.

Rather than buying flashcards, I suggest that you make your own

as this is a very important part of the learning process. Plus

by using your own words you will remember and understand the

points better. When making my flashcards, I use small cards,

about 2 x 3 inches, of different colors. I make them as I am

studying or, especially, using practise questions. They should

be as short and concise as possible while having enough words to

contain a complete concept or fact. I aim to make flash cards

for "question-critical" facts. I especially make one if I

couldn't answer a question correctly, by asking myself, "What 1

(or 2, or 3) facts would have enabled me to know the answer?"

A great way to get a few ideas for good flash cards each day is

to subscribe to a "Question of the Day" for the exam you are

preparing for. Try http://www.examcram.com/studyresource/qod or

http://www.cramsession.com.

2. When to Use Your Flash Cards

Why not carry your flashcards and use them in spare pockets of

time throughout the day?

For instance:

When you're waiting for a meeting to start (why are the meeting

organisers hardly ever on time?!)

When you're waiting in a queue or at a bus stop

While eating your lunch (but REMEMBER to chew properly...it's

important...)

Just before going to sleep - I especially like getting my hubbie

to ask me the questions on the flash cards for 5 minutes or so

when we go to bed at night. Apart from anything else, it gives

us a good laugh as he struggles with the words (and my hand

writing doesn't help!) - what better way to end the day than

with a giggle together and some positive re-enforcement using

your flash cards?!

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3. PITFALLS OF A CAREER IN I.T. AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM (PT 2)

Part 2: How You Can Save Yourself Time and Money and Boost Your

Career by Self-Studying for Certifications.

First of all, let me say that I have much respect for "MOC"

(Microsoft Official Curriculum) courses. I was lucky enough to

have my employer send me on several and it was good experience,

mainly for the hands-on exercises and access to a tutor to

answer questions and cover difficult topics.

However, I’m very aware that these courses are expensive if you

are funding them yourself, so I would like to assure you that

they are by no means essential in your quest for certification.

In fact the material that you learn does not map terribly

closely to the exam requirements, in many cases.

Pretty much anything you need to learn, you can learn for

yourself by using the software, books, Microsoft documentation

and various on-line resources. If you do get stuck on something,

there are some excellent forums, for instance www.tek-tips.com

and www.examnotes.net, where you can post questions and get

advice and feedback from helpful peers.

So what are the key things to bear in mind if you decide to take

the self-study route to your CERT?

Firstly, believe it or not, Microsoft DO tell you what topics

you need to know for the exam. If you visit the Training and

Certification part of their web site, you will find a skills

list for each exam. My golden rule is to use this as the basis

of your study. It’s amazing how many people miss out on this

simple step.

Once you have familiarised yourself with the needed skillset,

ensure that you have or can get some resources. You will need

access to the software that you will be studying, Microsoft

documentation such as MSDN (whether via CD or on the internet),

and ideally a good book or study guide.

It’s also highly advisable to get hold of some practise tests.

You can find some free on the internet, for instance free

samples of tests which you normally buy. However, it is usually

worth purchasing a good test simulator for each exam, for

instance Transcender. It may seem expensive, but if you prepare

thoroughly and use Transcender as recommended, you are unlikely

to fail the exam so saving you the cost of any retakes – not too

mention the stress!

Once you’ve got hold of all the resources you need, you will

want to put a plan together and schedule your study time. One

thing which is very helpful to do is to book the exam well in

advance, and to mark off the days as the date gets closer. This

really helps to focus the mind on your studies!

Your first task should be to get a good overview and feel for

the areas on the test without going into too much detail

initially. The skills list from Microsoft is a good starting

point for this, and you could either read up on each topic on

MSDN, or else work through a book, for instance the Coriolis

"Exam Cram" or "Exam Prep" book for the exam you’re preparing

for.

A good approach is to copy and paste the skills list into a Word

document and use this for the basis of your study notes – that

way you will be bound to notice if you miss an topic. Use any of

your resources to research each topic, and try out all the

relevant tasks, hands-on, until you feel you have a good

understanding of every skill required.

Next, use the questions you bought or found to test your

knowledge. In this way, you can find out what are your weak

areas and do more research on them. Once you can pass the

majority of the test questions you have, you should be ready to

take the real test!

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4. MORE PITFALLS OF A CAREER IN I.T. – Advice from a Subscriber

I have spoken with people all over the world who wish to start a

career in IT. These people have asked me much the same

questions, e.g., "how do I get a starting position if all of

them want experience?".

I was a witness to something rather remarkable, and it all had

to do with networking. Many eons ago, I worked as a programmer

in the Louisville, Kentucky area, and belonged to the DPMA (Data

Processing Management Association). We had a monthly lunch

meeting, and some of the members were students. One of the

students was a female, and had volunteered for many activities

within the DPMA when she joined as a freshman in college. There

was a bit of socializing at every meeting, and in one little

discussion group, one of the managers turned to this woman and

asked when she was graduating from college. This was sometime

around January, and she replied "this June". He then asked her

if she had a job yet, and she said "No". He then said "You can

work for me anytime!!!".

When I tell people about this, I suggest that they try to find a

users group in their area for the product they are interested in

(such as Visual Basic, C++, etc.) by contacting the vendor. If

there is none, I suggest that they start one!!! One can almost

always get support from the vendor involved. For instance,

Microsoft loves to send their evangelists out to speak about

upcoming products and opportunities. To add legitimacy to it,

the vendor will often lend conference room space to the

organization. How do you find potential members to this new

users group?

First, check all the newspaper ads where they are looking for

the language involved. Sometimes these companies will attend

the users group meeting because they see an opportunity to meet

the local developers.

Second, do an internet search for the community and language

(e.g., +"Burlingame" +"Visual Basic" <<<<-- this search on

Google returned 407 matches). This kind of search will reveal

contract programmers, instructors, corporations who have

indicated that they use VB, etc.

Another way is to make a whole bunch of cold calls to the

largest organizations (a person can use the local chamber of

commerce directory). Simply ask for the IT department, and tell

them you are starting a VB users group, and would like to know

if anyone in their IT department is interested. Sometimes you

will actually get to speak with a manager who is contemplating a

move to VB, but they are not sure of the local talent.

*** Many thanks to subscriber Randy S. for this contribution ***

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5. JOKE

Three women were sitting around talking about their husbands'

performance as lovers. The first woman says 'My husband works as

a marriage counsellor. He always buys me flowers and candy

before we make love. I like that.'

The second woman says, 'My husband is a motorcycle mechanic. He

likes to play rough and slaps me around sometimes. I kinda like

that.'

The third woman just shakes her head and says, 'My husband works

for Microsoft. He just sits on the edge of the bed and tells me

how great it's going to be when I get it.'

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6. CONTACT CERT BOOT CAMP

Do you have any CERT, techie or career questions? Do you want to

share your thoughts? Would you like to share a top tip with

other subscribers? If so, please send Cassie an email to:

cassiesimons@nospamExamsAreEasy.com (removing the "nospam").

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