Perfect for my career?

Question

Hi,

I am writing to you hoping for a good answer for my question.

I have been a .NET developer for last 5 years. I have used Cisual Studio since their product framework version 1.0 - 3.5. I am very much OK with development technically. But my only issue is that I don't have any paper qualification or certification yet.

Now, I am planning to change my place and I feel like I am not competitive with others.

Please be advise me on this and tell methe best choice to get my qualifications ASAP. I have choice MSTS and now 4.0 has been released, so tell me how can I manage these certifications with time manner and world demands. I like I don't need to go backward with doing 70-536 - 2.0 exams now, and should be updated latest.

So please provide me the guidelines. I would appreciate your comments.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

In my experience the only developer roles that mandate certification are with the sorts of companies that you don't want to be working for. In fact, I know some very good companies that will bin CVs listing a bunch of certification, as this can indicate that the candidate has the wrong emphasis.

If you have the right skills, and the experience that you claim, then you should be competitive already. If you need to hone your skills, then try contributing to an open source project, or attend some local technical meet-ups. If you become involved in the industry, and come across enthused and engaged during interviews then you should do very well. Furthermore, you might actually end up working for a company that holds the right values.

Answer 2

My advice would be to not accept job position that consider paper qualification.

Accept a job position that consider your experience instead.

If you really want a job that consider paper qualification, go for MCSD: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mcsd.aspx

Answer 3

If you have been developing .NET for 5 years I believe you should already have the necessary skills to pass most certification exams like MCSD or Brainbench.

Having said that don't look at certification exams as the sole entry point to an interesting job. The better companies usually judge you by your analytical skills and hands on experience, not your degree. Take the certification exam to self-analyze, not with the expectation that your potential employer will be super impressed.

Contributing in forums like stackoverflow greatly helps hone your skills, and it also creates a positive impression. Participating in open source development is also a great idea.