Since being certified by Microsoft in 2002, there were a lot of opportunities and challenges that met with me. Today, I ask myself and those who holds at least an IT certification: what is the value of your certification today?

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This coming Tuesday, as my company celebrates its 10th year anniversary, I will be on leave to take a FREE Microsoft Certification exam: 71-654 TS: Windows Essential Business Server 2008, Configuring. The examination fee has been waived, since it is a “beta exam” and I had used a promotional code, saving me some US$80. If ever I passed the exam, it will be added to my Microsoft transcript.

Now, in preparation, I am reading a 72-page manuscript entitled “Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Release Candidate Reviewers Guide” over the weekend. Wish me luck.

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Did you know that Cisco do have certification programs? If you haven’t heard of it yet, you simply visit their website by clicking here.

There are a lot of career opportunities within the IT field: read the paper today, and you will see. But the high paying ones require that you are certified in your field of expertise. They say, those who hold certification earns more than the “ordinary” IT personnel.

I remember one time during a Cisco training, I asked my seatmate on how much his salary is, and he said something like a 5-digit income, monthly. Imagine if you become certified, another digit can be added to it. Consider the value of being trained by highly adept professionals and engineers with right in their own fields.

But I am NOT a hardware guy, you may say to yourself. No problem! Did you know that a piece of hardware will be nothing if there are no people who will write codes for them to operate properly? Now, what if the codes had already been written, the hardwares are working properly, but there are not administrators to oversee the day to day operations? You see, this is our life in IT.

Ask anyone who is certified, and they will tell you how good it is to become one. I urged all IT practioners to go, get your skills assessed. Be certified. It is like making yourself a favor.

For a complete list of Cisco training programs available at your location, click here.

Cisco certification

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