August 21, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Hello everyone. I hope I posted this in the correct section. I'm fairly new to SQL and I’m excited to be here. I recently entered into the field and found it a bit tough to get into SQL. I was thinking of maybe taking some certifications that would increase my chances of getting hired. I wanted to certify myself in Excel 2010, Outlook 2010, and top it off with windows vista for business workers. Since I have relatively little work experience in general I thought these would distinguish my resume in an HR interviewing list. I did a little research and was upset to discover that I couldn't take these exams with Prometric. Does anyone know where I could take these exams (77-600, 77-882, and 77-883)? I figured these certifications weren't hard and would help me get an easy start towards my path in becoming a DBA. I would love to work for a non-forprofit organization. If people could fill me in on the general process I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
John
August 21, 2011 at 2:15 pm
sqlheadquarters (8/21/2011)
Hello everyone. I hope I posted this in the correct section. I'm fairly new to SQL and I’m excited to be here. I recently entered into the field and found it a bit tough to get into SQL. I was thinking of maybe taking some certifications that would increase my chances of getting hired. I wanted to certify myself in Excel 2010, Outlook 2010, and top it off with windows vista for business workers. Since I have relatively little work experience in general I thought these would distinguish my resume in an HR interviewing list. I did a little research and was upset to discover that I couldn't take these exams with Prometric. Does anyone know where I could take these exams (77-600, 77-882, and 77-883)? I figured these certifications weren't hard and would help me get an easy start towards my path in becoming a DBA. I would love to work for a non-forprofit organization. If people could fill me in on the general process I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.John
Certifications are nice to have but IMHO experience is most important.
When I was in college I got a Job at the Data Center. I worked there and in the Computer Labs.
Another avenue is to get an internship and try to rollover perm or at least get good references.
You can take the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Exam and I believe the others at a Certiport Test Center.
http://www.certiport.com/Portal/Pages/LocatorView.aspx
I just looked it up and the place where I took Promectric Exams is the same as where you take the Certiport Exams.
I would not bother with the Vista Exam it is old and it was never accepted in the Business Sector.
They would buy a Vista/XP Pro license and install XP Pro.
You indicated that you were going to take the PowerPoint exam. PowerPint is easy and you can learn what you need without taking an Exam.
You may want to initially narrow your focus on SQL Server as opposed to trying to get certified with Office, etc.
BI has become a hot skill set.
If you want to see what skill set employers are looking for go to the following URL:
Best of luck.
For better, quicker answers on T-SQL questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/
For better answers on performance questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/
August 21, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Welsh Corgi (8/21/2011)
sqlheadquarters (8/21/2011)
Hello everyone. I hope I posted this in the correct section. I'm fairly new to SQL and I’m excited to be here. I recently entered into the field and found it a bit tough to get into SQL. I was thinking of maybe taking some certifications that would increase my chances of getting hired. I wanted to certify myself in Excel 2010, Outlook 2010, and top it off with windows vista for business workers. Since I have relatively little work experience in general I thought these would distinguish my resume in an HR interviewing list. I did a little research and was upset to discover that I couldn't take these exams with Prometric. Does anyone know where I could take these exams (77-600, 77-882, and 77-883)? I figured these certifications weren't hard and would help me get an easy start towards my path in becoming a DBA. I would love to work for a non-forprofit organization. If people could fill me in on the general process I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.John
Certifications are nice to have but IMHO experience is most important.
When I was in college I got a Job at the Data Center. I worked there and in the Computer Labs.
Another avenue is to get an internship and try to rollover perm or at least get good references.
You can take the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Exam and I believe the others at a Certiport Test Center.
http://www.certiport.com/Portal/Pages/LocatorView.aspx
I just looked it up and the place where I took Promectric Exams is the same as where you take the Certiport Exams.
I would not bother with the Vista Exam it is old and it was never accepted in the Business Sector.
They would buy a Vista/XP Pro license and install XP Pro.
You indicated that you were going to take the PowerPoint exam. PowerPint is easy and you can learn what you need without taking an Exam.
You may want to initially narrow your focus on SQL Server as opposed to trying to get certified with Office, etc.
BI has become a hot skill set.
If you want to see what skill set employers are looking for go to the following URL:
Best of luck.
Thank you for the great advice. I did however say I was taking the excel certification, not the PowerPoint. Excel is a very good skill to know if I'm not mistaken. I've taken a SQL exam and well... my performance said a lot. I'm more of looking to get my hands dirty in a non-forprofit organization. I would love to know if you know anything about that. I would like to thank you for the business advice. Again, thanks in advance.
John
August 21, 2011 at 2:46 pm
sqlheadquarters (8/21/2011)
[Thank you for the great advice. I did however say I was taking the excel certification, not the PowerPoint. Excel is a very good skill to know if I'm not mistaken. I've taken the exam and well... my performance said a lot. I'm more of looking to get my hands dirty in a non-forprofit organization. I would love to know if you know anything about that. I would like to thank you for the business advice. Again, thanks in advance.
John
oh, perhaps I misunderstood but I noticed that you mentioned you wanted to take Exam 77-883 which is the Excel 2010 Exam.
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=77-883&locale=en-us
I know that the salaries are low but I have not worked for a nonprofit entity.
I really can't give you any advise on the nonprofit.
For better, quicker answers on T-SQL questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/
For better answers on performance questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/
August 21, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Welsh Corgi (8/21/2011)
sqlheadquarters (8/21/2011)
oh, perhaps I misunderstood but I noticed that you mentioned you wanted to take Exam 77-883 which is the Excel 2010 Exam.
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=77-883&locale=en-us
I know that the salaries are low but I have not worked for a nonprofit entity.
I really can't give you any advise on the nonprofit.
That's no problem sir. I simply appreciate the fact you spent your time and gave me advice. I will have to do some extensive research myself. Right now I am not very concerned with salary, but I am concerned with experience. I would love to get six to twelve months experience working for some place in SQL. I know after that term is finished I will be eligible to go and find a job with reasonable pay. Until then I am fine with working outside of the IT industry to make my money while working at the nonprofit organization. Hard work has never killed anyone :).
I did heed your previous advice on BI. Are you speaking of the 70-448 exam? Again, thank you for your time sir.
John
August 21, 2011 at 3:23 pm
I probably should have not mentioned salary because it is not relevant to the situation. I meant in the context that I do not know much other than the pay issue.
You have the right idea; salary is not important at this point. If you can get a job making a very low wage and are motivated that may be an option.
I would go for 70-488 as a start. The following is a link to one of the books that will help you with the exam.
Taking courses at Universities and Community Colleges may be an option. Believe it or not the Community Colleges usually offer Courses that teach you skills that you need to know in the job market as opposed to a lot of older programming languages.
For better, quicker answers on T-SQL questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/
For better answers on performance questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/
August 22, 2011 at 4:46 am
A friend of mine has been IT for non-profits for a while. I'll see if I can't get him to swing by & comment.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
August 22, 2011 at 6:44 am
Grant Fritchey (8/22/2011)
A friend of mine has been IT for non-profits for a while. I'll see if I can't get him to swing by & comment.
I'm the friend Grant mentioned. I just spent 4 years with a faith-based non-profit, New Tribes Mission, so that's really where my experience lies and faith-based organizations typically have some different standards for employees and, many times, volunteers. The problem with working or volunteering for a non-profit is that, if they are larger, they are looking for people with experience because they don't have enough people to help you if there is a problem and they are usually running systems that have to be up. Smaller, local organizations are the best places to get started because they can usually run the office on paper or with Excel and you can write something from the ground up that won't stop the organization from functioning if it doesn't work. Places like your local chamber of commerce, soup kitchen, etc... They can't typically afford or even really need a retail SQL Server license, but are using Access and could potentially use SQL Server Express, and always need someone to help things work better.
The other thing I always recommend to newbies is to find your local PASS Chapter and start attending. Usually the people who are attending the meetings are the ones that are most interested in helping others in the field or get into the field so you'll make good contacts, and show initiative by attending, especially if you attend regularly. A friend of mine attended the Orlando PASS Chapter with me and got the card of Brian Knight, Founder of PragmaticWorks, a very successful BI company. He didn't get a job with PragmaticWorks, but where else would he have had the opportunity to meet and get the card of someone like that. A lot of getting job is who you know, it isn't all of it, but it is a big piece of it.
Good luck!
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
Check out these links on how to get faster and more accurate answers:
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
Need an Answer? Actually, No ... You Need a Question
August 22, 2011 at 3:16 pm
I have a bachelor degree in computer science (some 20 years back) and various courses since then. What I have discovered is that most of my learning I have done through books and hands-on.
If you are serious about learning Excel (I agree 100% that this is incredibly handy) and SQL beyond just getting some pretty words on a resumé, I would recommend you find a good book on Excel and similarly SQL and work through them. Sit down at the keyboard and actually go through the examples and so forth.
I believe that most employees are more interested in experience that qualifications, so getting just the qualifications isn't enough.
The other advantage of books is that you can far more quickly (and cheaply) deside on which areas do actually interest you. Having gone through the book, you can still spend the time and money getting the qualification if you wish. There was a recommendation for the Microsoft certifications, and they are what I would suggest as well.
Finally, one last recommendation: learn a programming language (beyond more than SQL), even if it's just Visual Basic! The concepts in programming will help a great deal with Excel and SQL, and there are many times when those two tools are not enough.
August 25, 2011 at 6:44 pm
Hey thanks a lot guys! It was really helpful.
Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply