Back in 2011 I was pushed into redundancy and this question came out whilst I temped looking for a new job, and I fully planned to go through the 2008 course structure etc etc.<\/p>\n
Admittedly I didn’t get head down as well as I might of and only got as far as the first exam which I think I took too early as I rushed it. I was then fortunate enough to get a new job in London, and it got pushed to the back burner for a short while. A combination of a busy life moving to london, and ill health, and I’m back where I was in 2011 - only still in work fortunately. <\/p>\n
Health improving. I am now looking at what I should really be thinking in terms of training. I’m not wealthy so still will probably have to go down the self tuition route unless the courses aren’t too expensive and useful qualifications will come from them - but I can’t afford to be too risky at this time - as I don’t know what my longer term health issues may lead to.<\/p>\n
Would i be wasting time restarting the 2008 courses? The books I have are not for R2 so would have to rebuy books or find all the updates from R1 to R2 which is a pain in itself. Or perhaps should i be looking at other alternative courses and training in other areas?<\/p>\n
My current role is 2nd line support but it wasn’t my plan to be in 2nd line for so long - thats partly due to health and partly due to motivation I guess. But its hard to consider training for things like Exchange and such like without the corresponding AD certs.<\/p>\n
I realise people have a lot of these questions - and I’ve tried to look through others questions but they’re very individual to circumstances.<\/p>\n
In the past I had a few MCP’s from windows 2000, but I haven’t completed any in between so though I work on 2008/2003/ limited exchange use(We have a seperate infrastructure team) and our networking is managed seperately, I haven’t needed them to work. I’m not planning on seeking a new job anytime soon, so its more about updating skills to be more relevant and say in a couple years I need progression then I would have something to show for it.<\/p>\n
Just looking for advice really. I have never worked with Linux or that side of things - and not been in an environment that uses it, and web development isn’t my thing really.<\/p>\n
Thanks.<\/p>\n
@VMware<\/a><\/p>","upvoteCount":11,"answerCount":14,"datePublished":"2013-07-14T14:16:06.000Z","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"DanielB1978","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/DanielB1978"},"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":" If you are going to go down the Microsoft path, do it with the current ones or you take on lots of risks both vis a vis the certifications themselves but also for your career. Don’t update to 2008 R2, that’s already old. Stick to 2012 only. That’s going to be replaced in a few months. Don’t invest in generations old skills and certs. You don’t use them immediately so you need them to be as relevant and useful tomorrow and into the future as possible.<\/p>","upvoteCount":7,"datePublished":"2013-07-14T14:40:25.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/training-what-next/225507/2","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"scottalanmiller","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/scottalanmiller"}},"suggestedAnswer":[{"@type":"Answer","text":" Back in 2011 I was pushed into redundancy and this question came out whilst I temped looking for a new job, and I fully planned to go through the 2008 course structure etc etc.<\/p>\n Admittedly I didn’t get head down as well as I might of and only got as far as the first exam which I think I took too early as I rushed it. I was then fortunate enough to get a new job in London, and it got pushed to the back burner for a short while. A combination of a busy life moving to london, and ill health, and I’m back where I was in 2011 - only still in work fortunately. Health improving. I am now looking at what I should really be thinking in terms of training. I’m not wealthy so still will probably have to go down the self tuition route unless the courses aren’t too expensive and useful qualifications will come from them - but I can’t afford to be too risky at this time - as I don’t know what my longer term health issues may lead to.<\/p>\n Would i be wasting time restarting the 2008 courses? The books I have are not for R2 so would have to rebuy books or find all the updates from R1 to R2 which is a pain in itself. Or perhaps should i be looking at other alternative courses and training in other areas?<\/p>\n My current role is 2nd line support but it wasn’t my plan to be in 2nd line for so long - thats partly due to health and partly due to motivation I guess. But its hard to consider training for things like Exchange and such like without the corresponding AD certs.<\/p>\n I realise people have a lot of these questions - and I’ve tried to look through others questions but they’re very individual to circumstances.<\/p>\n In the past I had a few MCP’s from windows 2000, but I haven’t completed any in between so though I work on 2008/2003/ limited exchange use(We have a seperate infrastructure team) and our networking is managed seperately, I haven’t needed them to work. I’m not planning on seeking a new job anytime soon, so its more about updating skills to be more relevant and say in a couple years I need progression then I would have something to show for it.<\/p>\n Just looking for advice really. I have never worked with Linux or that side of things - and not been in an environment that uses it, and web development isn’t my thing really.<\/p>\n Thanks.<\/p>\n @VMware<\/a><\/p>","upvoteCount":11,"datePublished":"2013-07-14T14:16:08.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/training-what-next/225507/1","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"DanielB1978","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/DanielB1978"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":" This is kind of what I wanted to check, I would whilst I have Technet still use the 2012 and restart just as 2012 - though its not used where I work, but its hard to work out where the next 2-3 years is going other than “cloud” but thats just a buzzword for something thats existed longer anyway, the only reason to stay with MS atm is its what we use and will be for a few years though unsure if 2012 is something they will go to or not???<\/p>\n Likewise by definition Exchange - we’re moving to 2010 finally (likewise doing a Win 7/2010 Office upgrade atm across the company). So will be locked in those for the next 2-3 years. Virtualization is something to consider I guess -but not sure how much that will cost to invest in or whether I should have a background in MS first. Its been what I have supported since 2000 anyway. You’ve answered my qyestion on the 2008 bit - which is roughly where I was heading anyway(away from) simply as its more books and old.<\/p>\n I guess I’m trying as I say to plan for the next 2-3 years and where things are heading - rather than simply skilling in something I simply use but will be out of date by then.<\/p>","upvoteCount":0,"datePublished":"2013-07-14T15:04:43.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/training-what-next/225507/3","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"DanielB1978","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/DanielB1978"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":" +1 stick with the current MS certs. If going the MS way, develop strong Powershell skills. Microsoft has lots<\/em> of free resources online. Can dig up a list, if interested.<\/p>\n If seeking VM knowledge make a decision to go Hyper-V or ESXi.<\/p>\n See also—<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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