Far too many companies only concern themselves with gaining a certificate, and forget what it's all actually about - getting yourself a new job or career. Always start with where you want to get to - don't make the journey more important than where you want to get to. It's possible, in some situations, to thoroughly enjoy one year of training only to end up putting 20 long years into a career that does nothing for you, as a consequence of not performing the correct research at the beginning.

Prioritise understanding the exact expectations industry will have. What exams they will want you to have and how to gain experience. It's also worth spending time setting guidelines as to how far you'd like to go as it will often force you to choose a particular set of certifications. Speak to an experienced professional that understands the work you're contemplating, and who'll explain to you an in-depth explanation of what you're going to be doing in that job. Contemplating this before commencement of any study program will save you both time and money.

Many trainers provide piles of reference manuals and workbooks. This isn't very interesting and isn't the best way to go about achieving retention. Years of research and study has consistently demonstrated that becoming involved with our studies, to utilise all our senses, is proven to produce longer-lasting and deeper memory retention.

Find a course where you're provided with an array of CD or DVD ROM's - you'll begin by watching videos of instructors demonstrating the skills, and be able to use virtual lab's to practice your new skills. Always insist on a study material demo' from the training company. You should ask for instructor videos, demonstrations, slide-shows and virtual practice lab's for your new skills.

Often, companies will only use training that is purely available online; and although this is okay the majority of the time, consider how you'll deal with it if you lose your internet access or you get intermittent problems and speed issues. It is usually safer to have DVD or CD discs which removes the issue entirely.

If you are keen on the development side of things, then Microsoft supply the 'MCITP' DB Developer certification. Without truly extending in to Database programming, this covers more to do with the original rationale & set up of Databases. If you are looking into Database programming then you should really take a look at the appropriate programming web-pages on this web-site. In all honesty, there is a greater involvement in the DBA aspect from both students and employers. If you're interested in the DB Developer path, then it makes far more sense to incorporate that qualification into a programming career track. During the next few years, you'll also find increased 'MCTS' certification in SQL Server '08 progressively more applicable.

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