The World According to Mitch

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 mark… certifications, no matter which one, take...

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 a number of downsides.  To mention two severely...

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 down cheaters and especially the organizations...

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 mind: If we are getting a degree why are certifications...

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! -M At the heart of the Microsoft Certified Professional...

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 receive a free Second Shot exam if you don't...

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 a number of simple issues that he could not resolve...

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 was asked recently in a newsgroup: How do...

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, and most prominently certifications. I have...

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 the question. That being said, this is not a History...