September | 2014 | Kaplan IT Training Blog

Why IT Certifications Should be Important to IT Students

Some time ago, ITCC requested we write a white paper about why IT certifications should be important to IT students. Recently someone here at Kaplan reached into the file cabinet and pulled out an old, very dusty copy of this document. After some arm twisting (and chocolate – chocolate always works!), I was convinced to take a look at it once more and see if the topic was still relevant today. With just a tiny bit of editing, we thought this was a great topic to revisit. So here it is…

In this economy, every job candidate needs an edge over the competition. Sure, there’s no replacement for experience, but employers view certain certifications as an indicator of a job candidate’s ability to perform. Not all IT students, however, pursue industry certifications as part of the core curriculum.

Although a job may not require it, certifications can help recent grads by differentiating them as job candidates and validating their knowledge when they don’t have years of work history. They can also provide career advancement opportunities and personal growth if kept current.

Here are some key points about certifications:

1. Job Candidate Differentiation

If you’ve attended any job fairs, you’ve seen firsthand just how much competition is out there for every job. A single position or opening may draw hundreds of applicants. Meanwhile, the individual or committee responsible for combing through all these resumes can often find very little “on paper” to differentiate between the applicants.

Job candidates in the IT field can provide that differentiation by including any IT and professional certifications in their resume. It does not matter if you choose to pursue CompTIA vendor-neutral certifications or the technology-specific certifications offered by major players like Microsoft, Cisco, and Oracle. What matters is that obtaining these certifications can be the difference between standing out in the crowd of applicants or blending into the background.

2. Career Advancement

Once you’ve been hired, certifications can help you advance in your career. Employers may even have certification requirements as part of your professional development plan. You should always ensure that your certifications are kept up to date, either through recertification or by satisfying the continuing education (CE) requirements.

In addition, you may want to obtain new certifications to branch into a different IT career. For example, you may be hired as a help desk technician while having earned CompTIA’s A+ certification. After some time on the job, you may determine that you want to step into a network administration or server administration role, and decide to pursue a Cisco or Microsoft certification as the first step toward reaching that career goal.

Keep in mind that it’s often easier to maintain a certification than to re-certify. Make sure you understand the requirements for maintaining the credential because most requirements are time-sensitive. You don’t want to fulfill the CE requirements for a particular certification, only to find that you waited too long to submit your activities for acceptance as CE units. Also, ensure that you track CE-related activities as they occur rather than waiting until you have to renew, so that you don’t have to dig through files and old emails to find the right date or documentation.

3. Validation of Knowledge

Depending on the IT program, you may be exposed to a completely different set of classes and subjects than your peers enrolled in a different program. Because there are so many differences between the various college information systems programs, it’s often hard for an employer to determine exactly what knowledge the candidate possesses. This is where IT certifications can really help you.

All certification vendors publish a list of the skills that are measured by any certification exam they offer. If you pass the certification exam, employers can refer to these vendor lists and easily determine the skills that are validated by the certification. These skills lists will also be a good guide for you as you look to specialize your skills through certification.

For example, if you want to be considered a security specialist, you may want to obtain the Security+ certification from CompTIA, the CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) certification from CompTIA, and/or the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification from (ISC)2. Don’t know which one is right for you? Just refer to the skills lists for each of these certification exams as a guide.

Certain vendors, such as Microsoft, Cisco, and Oracle, also offer different tracks that allow professionals to specialize in other areas, such as network administration, database administration, and application development. These tracks
typically offer entry-level credentials and paths to continue building your skills with advanced level certifications.

4. Personal Growth

While certifications can help you achieve career advancement goals, they can also be used as personal milestones. As a technology professional, you already understand that your skillset must be constantly upgraded to include the latest tools and techniques. Setting personal goals that include new IT certifications ensures that you are constantly expanding your knowledge base. As IT professionals, we cannot afford to stop learning. Even if your job requirements do not dictate that you should obtain new certifications, personal growth and education should always be a goal. When in doubt, ask yourself, “If I lost my job tomorrow, would my certifications still be marketable? What would make my resume unique in today’s job market?”

Several years ago, Kaplan joined the IT Certification Council (ITCC). If you’ve never heard of this organization, here’s a brief description:

The ITCC is a council of IT industry leaders focused on promoting IT certifications and committed to growing professional certifications, while recognizing the need for a qualified workforce to support the world’s technology needs. The ITCC is a resource for employers, government officials, academia, and individuals seeking information about the many benefits of IT certification. The council establishes industry best practices, markets the value of certification, enhances exam security, and works on other certification issues the Council identifies.

Other members include leading certification vendors, including Microsoft, LPI, and CompTIA, and content or test providers, including Pearson VUE and Prometric. I encourage you to look into this group if your organization is involved in any way in the IT certification industry.

Feel free to share this blog post with others you think it might help. Remember, we’re always here to help you in your certification goals. Got a specific certification question? Feel free to reach out to us through this blog, and we’ll do our best to provide advice.

-Robin

Passing the Microsoft 70-410 exam: one trainer’s perspective (Part 2)

September 16, 2014 at 8:45 am | Posted in Microsoft, Study hints, study tips | 18 Comments
Tags: 70-410, scott winger, Study hints, study resources, vade mecum

Editor’s note: today’s guest post was written by IT instructor Scott Winger. Scott is a computing technologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and a technical editor for VMware Press. He also teaches continuing education classes in IT for Madison College.

In Part 1, I provided a timeline for gathering resources and working yourself up to exam day. In this post, I’m going to focus on the exam’s content and provide examples from each of the 70-410 Objective Areas. In Part 3 I’ll provide tips for developing the required knowledge.

Vade Mecum (rhymes with shoddy kaboom): a handbook or guide that is kept constantly at hand for consultation. It’s the term elite computer scientists use when referring to a technical manual or field guide. But different types of manuals have different purposes:

“Run Books” tell you every keystroke for building a particular server, but are, by intent, skimpy on concepts.
The “Mastering,” “Unleashed,” and “Inside Out” tomes give an overview of every existing role and feature.
White papers tend to be a vendor’s promotion of their product or a think tank’s comparisons and recommendations.

For passing the 70-410, a simple, custom-made field guide is a surprisingly effective learning tool.

I emphasize custom-made because building it also builds the neuronal pathways you’re going to need. And, for passing the 70-410, it’s the pathways, i.e., the learning, we’re after, though, as you’ll see in the next post, rote memorization will play a key role too.

After taking the exam you’ll have the beginnings of a custom-made Server 2012 reference; but that’s just a bonus. As for format, .html .docx, .pdf, .txt, pen and paper, take your pick. Just make sure you can have a copy in your hands in the waiting room at the exam center for last-minute review – before you check in.

So, right out of my personal Server 2012 reference, here are some samples of questions you must be able to answer quickly and confidently when you take your 70-410 exam, broken down by exam objective.

Install and configure servers (15–20%)

What are the important differences between Windows Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012, and Server 2012 R2?

What are the Server 2012 license types? How are they different?

What can you do when you run Server 2012’s setup.exe that you can’t do when you boot from the install DVD? And the reverse?

What is PowerShell Desired State Configuration? What are its requirements?

Configure server roles and features (15–20%)

Can you use RSAT on a Server 2008 or Windows 7 machine to remotely manage Server 2012 or Server 2012 R2 servers?

What is a “server pool” in the context of Server Manager 2012?

What are the limitations of Server Manager 2012 when managing Windows Server 2003 and 2008 servers?

What software must you install on Server 2003 servers in order to include them in Server Manager 2012 Pools? And on Server 2008?

What are “Work Folders” and what are the major steps for setting up the “simple” Work Folder configuration?

What are the architectural differences between the 6to4 and Teredo IPv6-over-IPv4 Tunneling Protocols? What has to be unblocked if you’re going to implement 6to4 and why? What are the optimal use cases for each?

What are the TCP and UDP ports that must be allowed in to a VPN server using PPTP? SSL? IPSec?

What are the tasks that can be done with Administrative Center that can’t be done with Active Directory Users and Computers?

What is iSNS and what is it used for?

What are the DHCP Code Numbers for the following DHCP Options:
• NetBIOS Name Server
• DHCP Relay Agent Information
• DNS server
• Router
• Domain Name
• NetBIOS Node Type

What are the IPv6 address prefix bit patterns? What are they each called? How are they used?

What is the maximum number of subnets you could create given this address space: 2001:5860:b002:3000::/53? And why? What is this address’ IPv6 prefix bit pattern? What is the type of this IPv6 address?

What is an ISATAP DNS host record, and how is it used? What, exactly, does an ISATAP device do?

What is an IPv6 port proxy, and when would you use it?

How do you configure a DNS server to always request name resolution services from the Source of Authority (SoA) DNS server for a particular name space?

What is the purpose of the built-in DNSUpdateProxy Security Group?

What is the purpose of the InetOrgPerson object?

What are the types of AppLocker rules, and how do they differ from each other?

What was the predecessor to AppLocker called? How does AppLocker differ from its predecessor?

If you anticipate migrating to AppLocker from its predecessor, what preparatory decision will make this migration easier?

What are the TCP and UDP ports that are required for PPTP-based VPNs? SSTP? L2TP? What do these acronyms stand for? How are these protocols different? Which, if any, of these protocols are usually preferred? Why?

What must be configured to allow a Windows Deployment Server to be on a separate subnet from the clients to which it deploys operating systems?

What are the mechanics of DNS conditional forwarding?

Configure Hyper-V (15–20%)

What, exactly, does paravirtualized mean? What are the Microsoft terms for paravirtualized and non-paravirtualized components?

What are the most important new features and roles in Hyper-V 2012? What are they for?

What can and, as importantly, can’t, members of the Hyper-V Administrators group do?

What are the differences between .vhd and .vhdx files? What version of Windows Server introduced each?

In Hyper-V, what is “Dynamic Memory”? What is “Startup Memory”?

Why are five disks required to protect against the failure of two disks in a mirrored set?

What is Virtual Machine Chimney? What does it mean when we say that this feature has been deprecated?

Why is the Allow management operating system to share this network adapter setting required if I want one VM’s NIC to have more bandwidth than another VMs’ NICs?

Deploy and configure core network services (15–20%)

What are the command line switches for diskpart, and what does the “clean” switch do?

What features are added to a Core Installation of Server 2012 when you enable “Desktop Experience?”

What does the Configure-SMRemoting.exe command do?

What does cmdkey do?

What does the wmic qfe list command do? What do “wmic” and “qfe” stand for?

Install and administer Active Directory (15–20%)

How do you use Active Directory Users and Computers to set a default tray selection on a printer?

Why does inter-site replication for Global Security Groups require more [or less] network bandwidth than inter-site replication for Universal Security groups?

What are the various types of Domain Security Groups to which the various types of Domain Security Groups can be converted? And for each pair of conversions, describe why it is or is not allowed and list the memberships that must be eliminated before conversion will be possible.

Do domain controllers have local Security Groups? Why or why not?

What, exactly, is a Security Principal?