One perk of your Microsoft certification is that it can open new doors along your career path. With so many options, you can choose to reinvent yourself—as Harry is doing.
Reinvent Yourself
One perk of your Microsoft certification is that it can open new doors along your career path. With so many options, you can choose to reinvent yourself—as Harry is doing.
- By Harry Brelsford
- December 01, 1999
Maybe it’s that Y2K thing, but it seems like a lot of
people in the Microsoft certification community, including
yours truly, are making major changes right now. I’m not
talking about MCSEs selling everything and buying small
farms outside Bozeman, Montana to escape impending doom.
Rather, it seems to be about Microsoft Certified Professionals
choosing to play other cards in order to take advantage
of new opportunities.
One of the great things about holding a Microsoft certification
title such as the MCSE is that it opens many doors—whether
to becoming a network administrator, consulting engineer,
Webmaster, technology manager, or trainer. Taking a fresh
look at your personal gifts, your experience in the field,
and your certifications might get you thinking about some
opportunities you haven’t imagined.
In reality, your greatest limitations are probably imposed
by yourself. Perhaps, à la Wayne and Garth on “Saturday
Night Live,” you don’t feel worthy of bigger and better
opportunities. That’s a confidence issue that may be preventing
you from achieving greatness. Or perhaps you think you’re
too far away from great opportunities. I’ll show you how
neither of these issues need stop you.
The Time is Right
In the technology field, it’s essential to reinvent yourself
every so often. Judging from reader feedback, many of
you have done exactly that. For example, I’ve received
lots of mail from NetWare CNEs who’ve crossed over to
the MCSE community. Likewise, I’ve observed first-hand
MCSEs who proceed to get their MCSD and join the developer
community, most often with SQL Server. Finally, I’ve had
wonderful chats with attendees at MCP Magazine’s TechMentor
conferences who’ve used the Microsoft certification vehicle
to change careers from drywallers, loggers, and salespeople
to credible technical professionals. Perhaps you’ve got
a similar story to spin.
The point is this: The MCSE and other Microsoft certifications
are incredibly enabling. And in many cases, the only limitations
are self-inflicted.
Getting Where You Want
In today’s world of DSL and cable modem, the geography
issue needn’t limit you. In that respect, I’ve seen how
people are using the Microsoft certification community
to reinvent themselves. On the staff of writers and editors
for MCP Magazine alone, I know individuals who’ve
elected to practice their technology-related craft as
part-time llama farmers in Eastern Washington, as gold
diggers in Northern California, and even as a work-at-home
cabin dweller in Southern California.
As an enabling vehicle, the Microsoft certification community
offers you a wide array of career options. Perhaps you’re
content to live in the big city and move up the IT corporate
ladder, such as a colleague of mine in Chicago who works
with 140,000 users(!). Perhaps you’ve got a bad case of
wanderlust and want to live as a traveling technology
contractor. Or maybe you’re yearning to have your own
farm in the country. Don’t overlook the fact that, as
a Microsoft Certified Professional, the world is literally
your oyster. That thought has always helped me sleep well
at night—knowing I could probably carve out a living in
many a new location should that become necessary.
What About Me?
Part of what got me thinking about this topic is that
change is in the air for me as well. I’m heading my career
into cyberspace! First, starting with the January issue,
my three-year tenure as your “Professionally Speaking”
columnist comes to an end. In that time, I’ve heard from
hundreds of readers offering feedback and insights on
professional issues impacting MCSEs all over. I’ve watched
the magazine grow to over 100,000 readers—and become a
magnet for world-class technical professionals, both readers
and writers—with new insights to share with you.
Instead, I’ll be writing a new monthly online column
for the magazine, for those of you who want some basic
and intermediate hands-on insights into Windows 2000 Server
deployment. [Beginning in January, Harry’s Windows
2000 column will appear in the public area of www.mcpmag.com
each month when the current issue becomes available online.—Ed.]
And I’m also changing jobs. I’ve made the decision to
leave a wonderful employer, Clark Nuber (a regional accounting
firm in the Seattle area). I’m now serving networking
clients online using an array of management tools that
allow me to practice my craft from anywhere at anytime.
I’m also writing technology books nearly full-time for
IDG Books Worldwide. And I’ve left the classroom at Seattle
Pacific University to teach in its online AATP MCSE program.
What’s the point in sharing this? Circling back to the
underlying reinvention theme of the column, I’m taking
advantage of the doors that my Microsoft certifications
have opened for me to live life on my terms, not my boss’.
In doing so, I hope I’m opening up unimagined opportunities.
I can now purchase that house on Bainbridge Island (just
across from Seattle) without having to make the daily,
arduous commute into the city each day. And I can now
pursue a better lifestyle balance. That doesn’t involve
llamas for me, but rather joining the Masters cross-country
ski racing circuit this winter. I can cast my spells just
as easily from Crested Butte, Colorado, as from the big
city any day of the week.
May the value of your Microsoft certifications afford
you the same opportunities. See you online!
About the Author
Bainbridge Island, Washington author Harry Brelsford is the CEO of NetHealthMon.com, a Small Business Server consulting and networking monitoring firm. He publishes the "Small Business Best Practices" newsletter ([email protected]), and is the author of several IT books, including MCSE Consulting Bible (Hungry Minds) and Small Business Server 2000 Best Practices (Hara Publishing).