If passing six exams isn't enough, Microsoft has just added another tittle: MCSE / Internet. To obtain this title, you have to pass nine (count them, nine! ) exams. This can take about an entire year to achieve! It seems that the Internet is adding a lot more demands to network admins and webmasters. For starters, a database is being used on every web page nowadays and a relational database is becoming more prevalent. Recently, I started studying MS SQL Server 6.5, which is a relational database for the Server side, to add to my skills. I know Access, but I'll have to brush up on it. BTW, if you're planning to do SQL Server, then you'll have to pass two exams.
I think two to three years down the road, the title of network administrator and webmaster will become one and the same. The line is beginning to blur between what a network admin does and what a webmaster does. The Internet, in my opinion, will combine the two titles into one — with most networks now slowly becoming intranets, or even extranets, where does the job of a network admin end and the work of a webmaster begin? With intranets and extranets, I think network admins, the title, will be due for a change. A company's network nowadays is no longer a local area network, but a wide area network connected to the Internet. There's just so much to learn, and the pace of software upgrades is just too fast, even for people who work within the industry.
So, does this mean that getting certified by Microsoft, or any other company for that matter, will guarantee that you'll always stay current with technology? No. I still feel hands-on experience is the best way to stay current. Getting certified, a very expensive and time-consuming process, just shows whoever's hiring you that you're a professional who's been through the process. In short, if you had a choice between getting certified and not getting certifed, you should get certified. Believe me, the job offers are just amazing after getting certified. Headhunters know that the certification process is HARD and they look for people who are certified.
