Alexander’s Blog

I teach at various training centers. Several of them offer mentored-learning solutions and special courses for students who are changing their careers from other professions to Information Technology (IT). Even in today’s economy, IT is considered to be a lucrative field. According to IDC research, the number of IT jobs between the end of 2009 and 2013 worldwide will rise by 5.8 million.

Microsoft has a special portal for students called Microsoft Student Career Portal. For students, Microsoft provides training, certifications, IT career guidance, learning paths, and lots of special offers associated with the most commonly recognized IT job roles in the industry. And on of the many benefits is that students can get up to 55% off for certification exams. Click here for more details.

While you are at it, you might want to check out Certification Magazine’s 2009 Salary Survey.

Certification Magazine published it’s 2009 salary survey this month and the results are very encouraging for the IT professionals. Here are some of the highlights.

- This year’s Certification Magazine’s Salary Survey received more than 40,000 responses from IT professionals in over 150 countries around the world.

- In 2009, the average U.S. total salary, including benefits and incentives, was a generous $96,677. That is a 9 percent gain over last year’s average of $88,640.

- 30% respondents said they they got a raise between 10 and 20 percent.

- Most respondents (52%) said the raise was 5% or less this year, compared to last year when the raise was 5%-10%.

- The total number of people who earned at least one certification this year was more than 67%.

- A full 96 percent of respondents from the top five countries with the highest salaries said they were certified.

- The cert that commanded the highest salary this year was the Brocade Certified Network Engineer (BCNE, formerly FNCNE) with a whopping average total salary of $146,250.

- The cert that connoted the lowest salary was the CIW (Certified Internet Web Professional), with an average salary of $59,290. This was followed by the Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST) with $62,030.

- 90 percent of respondents were men.

- The largest number of responses (27 percent) came from the 25 to 29 age group, followed by the 30 to 34 demographic (roughly 21 percent).

- Approximately 42 percent of respondents have a bachelor’s degree, and 22 percent have a master’s degree. Nearly 12 percent have received technical training but no degree, and nearly 10 percent have just a high school diploma.

These are only the highlights. If you are in the IT industry, you definitely want to read the rest of the survey here.

For those of you who are interested in Microsoft exams, here’s Microsoft’s official exam retake policy as of October 13, 2009. You might want to check out this link for the current retake policy.

Exam Retake Policy
1. General Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) Exam Retake Policy
a) If a candidate does not pass an exam the first time, he/she may retake it after at least 24 hours have passed.
b) If a candidate does not achieve a passing score the second time, the candidate must wait at least 14 days to retake the exam a third time.
c) A 14-day waiting period will be imposed for all subsequent exam retakes.
d) A candidate may not take a given exam any more than five times per calendar year. In order to take a given exam more than five times per year, a candidate must obtain prior permission from Microsoft.
e) If a candidate has passed an exam, he/she cannot take it again.

2. MCP Beta Exam Retake Policy
a) Beta exams may be taken only once.
b) This policy supersedes the general retake policy.

3. Exam-specific Retake Policy exceptions
a) In some cases, Microsoft may have special policies for specific exams.

Here’s a nice PDF brochure from Microsoft that summarizes the Windows Server 2008 pathways to MCITP and MCTS, as well as the upgrade paths from Windows Server 2003 MCSA and Windows Server 2003 MCSE.

You can download the brochure here.

Microsoft Students to Business (S2B) connects Microsoft-skilled students with partners and customers for entry-level and internship positions. Developing the right skills will help you get a head start on your career. Microsoft Students to Business, offers you a set of trainings and free software that will boost your potential in the eyes of employers. Find out how to Access Free Software, Begin training on Microsoft products and Experience IT Careers by going to Microsoft Students to Business Web site.

The objective of the S2B program is to inspire local businesses to communicate the competency requirements for new talent, to evaluate the skills of students ready for an entry-level job or internship and collaborate with Microsoft and local education institutions to provide the curriculum and training needed to ensure students are prepared to meet the innovation needs of company’s around the globe.

Students engaged in S2B benefit from unique mentoring, training and certification opportunities. Various offerings are available to students at each stage of S2B – when profiling, in application and after their job connection.

The S2B program was first piloted in Italy in 2006 and has since been rolled out in more than 65 countries, connecting more than 300,000 students with new career skills, leading to 15,000 students with jobs and internships as part of the Microsoft community.

Students engaged in Microsoft S2B benefit from unique training and certification opportunities, as well as free career resources including development and design tools. You can also search for jobs, internships and other opportunities by clicking here.

These resources are FREE for students. Check out this FAQ for more information.