How long SHOULD an MCSE take?

For those of you in the know...

How long should it take someone who is not otherwise working, etc, to study for and earn an MCSE? Specifically:

1) How long from starting study to taking the first of 6 exams?
2) How long from there to finishing all 6?

 

It depends entirely upon what you know already! I never bothered getting one when I worked in IT, but I sat a couple CD based example module tests back when NT4 was the thing and passed them, i.e. what I needed to know to do my normal day job was sufficient. To be honest I'm not convinced the MCSE is that useful from a career point of view as everyone and his dog has one these days. It's also a never ending thing as you need to keep it updated whenever M$ release anything new - a stale MCSE is pretty useless. Back when I was doing it the qualifications where you could write your own pay check were the CISCO Certified Engineer and just about anything to do with SAP.

Tony.

 

Thanks Tony, but I'm trying to find out how long it should take rather than how useful it is... Someone I know is taking one and I have a suspicion that he's dragging his feet in a a big way.

 

As I say above it depends entirely on what he knows already. It is merely a qualification that proves an in depth understanding of the MS product in question – if he already has an in depth knowledge of that product it will not take long at all, if not it will. It is a ‘how long is a piece of string’ type question.

Tony.

 

Fair enough...

He's an experienced non-technophobe computer user - familiar with user aspects of windows, plus stuff like networking, user accounts, drivers, etc. Has a degree but not in computers or engineering.

So far it's been 6 months full-time studying and not taken even the first exam...

 

He’d pass the MCSE far, far quicker if he was working in an appropriate IT support role as much is day to day stuff, but these days he might need the MCSE to get the appropriate IT support role… it’s one of those chicken and egg things.

Tony.

 

Right... As far as getting such a position he's not got any qualifications to do so - no experience, no relevant degree, etc. Hence the full-time study on MCSE, but I'm sure it shouldn't be taking this long...

 

Hi Isaac - a few years ago (in NT4 times), I decided to expand my CV by getting an MCSE myself. After 6 months on a part time basis I was ready to sit the exams - didn't because circumstances changed quite drastically at that time, but nevertheless was ready to take it forward at that stage.

This was done through one if those computer colleges with twice-weekly lessons. So if doing full time would have thought 6 months comfortably sufficient?

Kevin