After about two years, I have finally found enough time to attempt to study for one of the MCP courses I am interested in.
I have to say I’m starting to wonder if it’s worth it or not. Professional Certifications seem to be favoured by HR personnel and managers, but by IT people? Not so much. The argument is that spending a significant amount of time on a training course (2 months is the average study time I believe) takes away from time working on your real projects, which is where your true skill is required and demonstrated.
That’s the spiel from some of the Microsoft Architects of course. Personally I feel it’s a little unfair as frankly, they don’t have much to prove to their peers. If you’re a graduate student, or perhaps someone who started out in a different career, it can be difficult to prove your skills.
Ultimately I don’t think it hurts to have it on your resume, though I would suggest it’s perhaps worth limiting yourself to completing only a few. There are dozens of MCP courses available – you don’t need to do all of them.
