I don't normally talk about me on this site much beyond what I think about <insert jackass quote here>. Today, we change that…for this post.
I took and failed the 70-536 Microsoft test a couple of weeks ago. A wee bit depressing and awful embarrassing since I work as a .net programmer. But I didn't realize how damn annoying and hard the tests were at the time. It was the very first Microsoft test I had tried to take. I definitely didn't realize what was entailed and I was ill prepared. What is entailed, you ask? Retardation. A lot of it. What does it take to pass the 70-536 test? Lots of memorization. You need to memorize object/property/method/argument names, order they are used (i.e. – does the CrytoStream take the MemoryStream instance first or second), and the Microsoft Way™ of doing things.
So I did that. I worked my ass off, stressed over it a lot and today, passed the 70-536. And am I a better programmer because of it? Absolutely not. What would the first question I would ask a potential hire if I was interviewing someone that had MS Certification?
"Yeah, that's nice, but can you code?"
That's how stupid these tests are. They aren't making people better coders, they are teaching people to memorize MSDN entries. Oh, and learn a specific way to do things, even though they aren't necessarily the best way in all cases. It's not helpful and it's not a useful gauge of a programmer. That being said, it does look good on your resume, will get you past HR managers (the bane of all good programmers) and probably get you paid more. Damn Microsoft.
What Would Matt Do: Wonder what Microsoft is accomplish with these tests. I don't get it. But damn if I'm not happy to have the passing of it behind me.
Gratz on passing, MS exams aren’t easy. :)
Their exams, like all the other exams from Novell, Citrix, Cisco, Oracle, etc etc etc, don’t prove that you are a better (programmer/sysadmin/engineer). What they prove is that you are serious enough about your craft to buckle down, spend some personal time and committment, and pass it.
Thanks Rick.
As for buckling down… Eh… What good does that do for me on a job? How will that improve me as a programmer? And if it doesn’t improve me as a programmer or prove I’m a programmer, what’s the point of the test?
If I couldn’t buckle down and get things done, I’d not have a job. At least I’d hope not.
*shrugs*