The World According to Mitch

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Certification Exams: Is there a value to failing?
Although it is not something I am proud of, I have failed a number (the exact number is quite secret!) of certification exams.  I am not proud of this fact, but the reality is I have taken a number of exams that I have been unprepared for, and that...
The Vasa - learn from History!
In 1625 King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden ordered his shipyards to build (among others) a mighty fighting ship called the Vasa. He gave very specific instructions for what he wanted in this ship, how he wanted it outfitted, and made it clear that it should...
Certification Path: Why you need your map and compass
An acquaintance sent me an e-mail yesterday in which he essentially asked: 'I am interested in becoming an IT Professional.  What certifications should I get and where should I start?'  Here is my answer to him: You are right on the...
Certification Exam Security... what can be done?
The following is a comment I made to a blog article on Network World on the topic of certification exam security.  The actual post can be found here:  http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/26502 Using the MCP ID card as your security poses...
CertGuard on Network World!
I suppose I don't do a very good job of advertising the fact that I am the Chief Training Officer for Certguard.com, an organization dedicated to helping IT Pros get certified, and to boosting the credibility of those certifications by actively hunting...
Certifications versus Degrees
Last week I was invited to speak at the Microsoft across America event held at Miami Dade College for their CIS Faculty on the subject of Microsoft Certifications. The Q&A Session was quite lively, and I was asked one question that stuck out in my...
How Microsoft Certification Exams are Developed
Because of my involvement I am often asked how certification exams are created. For the most part I have not answered the questions because of the secrecy behind it, but recently I came across this great outline on the Microsoft MCP site. I hope it helps...
Second Chance Free!
Get a free retake on your next Microsoft IT Professional, Developer, or Microsoft Dynamics certification exam. This is a limited offer so plan now! If you register for the Second Shot offer starting September 15, 2007, prior to taking any exam, you will...
Certifications Alone Do Not Make the Pro
An interesting post appeared in a newsgroup that I monitor today. A desktop support technician in the United Kingdom lamented a colleague who had attended a two week MCSE boot camp and indeed earned that certification. Unfortunately he later encountered...
The Road Warrior
I get a lot of questions about my lifestyle. I spend most of my time traveling, and people seem to think that it is glamourous. I suppose I did too, at the beginning. That wears off after a while, and doubly so when you have a comfortable home. So a question...
Can you really come home again?
Who says you can't come home again? Over the past six months I have addressed more than a dozen user groups and ten classes across Canada and the United States. I have spoken on Windows Vista, Office 2007, Small Business Server, Forefront Client Security...
Time Tips for Certification Exams
It is a common misconception that information such as the number of questions on a given cert exam is protected by the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), and it has been repeated so many times by so many people that some people are surprised when I answer...
An Update on Exam JuJu
I have posted previously about the juju of certification exams. Because the results of one of the exams I wrote in April were announced today I was looking at my transcripts, and I noticed one other interesting commonality that I had never noticed before...
Retiring? Say it ain't so!
I have spent quite a bit of time in the past two years writing and speaking about IT certifications. It is hard to believe that my path to certifications started about six years ago, and that I passed my first certification exam just over four years ago...
A Clarification on Certifications
I wrote this as a reply to a reply in the CanITPro blog, and thought it would be good to repost it here. -M I have said time and again that certifications are a path to follow, not a destination to arrive at. I remember when I passed my first exam how...
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