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.

If you are new to Microsoft SharePoint technologies you might want to check out these demos. They are also a good resource to show in your class if you are an MCT.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 demo

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 demo

Group nesting and membership can get confusing, especially when you are dealing with multiple domains and different types of groups in Windows Server 2000/2003/2008. I have created a table (color-coded to make it more readable) that you may find helpful whether you are designing or troubleshooting group membership, or preparing to take a Microsoft exam.

Here’s how you can read this table. Keep in mind that I have tried to cover both the bases by listing: “Can contain from” and “Can be a member of.” I will use Global Group as an example.

- A Global Group can contain User Accounts from the same domain.

- A Global Group can be a member of Local Groups in the same domain as well as Local Groups in the other domains.

- A Global Group can contain a Global Group from the same domain and a Global Group can be a member of a Global Group in the same domain.

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.

If you are a developer you might be interested in a free Visual Studio 2008 clinic from Microsoft. This clinic will provide a start point for Enterprise Developers and Software Architects that are looking to Windows Workflow Foundation as a solution for enabling business processes within their solutions. Within the clinic you will learn about the functionality provided by the workflow engine, the overall architecture, and how to build workflow enabled applications.

Clinic 6262: Introducing Windows Workflow Foundation using .Net Framework 3.5 & Visual Studio 2008