William Myers MCSD, MCPS, CSP, CTM

Professional Certifications

MCSD, MCPS

My original Solution Developer certification required four exams indicated by the *. The requirements have been radically changed to actually reflect the interviewing, analysis and project management skills needed to develop an end-user solution for client server and web solutions instead of just testing knowledge of the technology. MS Access for Windows'95 is the only exam that carries over for recertification and it is about to expire.

Select for the number of exams required for Other Microsoft Certifications.

Analyzing Requirements & Defining Solution Architectures *
Designing and Distributing Databases with MS SQL Server 7.0 *
MS Access (2.0, then Windows'95) *
Visual Basic for Applications *
Excel 5.0
Windows 3.1
Windows Operating Systems and Services Architecture I *
Windows Operating Systems and Services Architecture II *

For more detailed information: Microsoft Certification page

CSP

ICCP administers experience and non-vendor based certifications. It is sponsored by numerous data processing professional organizations. The Certified Ststems Professional, CSP, was originally sponsored by the Association for Systems Management. At least 120 contact hours of education are required every three years to maintain the certification. Mine was obtained in 1984 and has been renewed every three years since then. It is an excellect central depository of your training history.

CTM

Communication is the basis for our profession. The WEB is one form of communications tool. However, you must be able to sell your wonderful ideas to your managements and peers. This usually involves presentations and discussions. Toastmasters can help. You become certified by giving a series of 10 speeches to your local toastmaster group. These are of varing lengths, topics and format. The group is very supportive. For more information: Toastmasters

Preparing for and obtaining certifications has both tangible and intangible paypacks, such as:

Customers: Certifications allow both you and your company to present a more professional image to the customer.
Knowledge: Preparing for a certification exam forces you to review ALL of the features and techniques of the product.
Personal: Some vendors grant discounts, free products, special invitations, etc to their certified professionals.

For more information: Certification Overview

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