Study time is usually recognised as approximately three hundred to three hundred and fifty hrs for the 'MCSA' and 500 to 550 hours for the MCSE, assuming quality multimedia training materials, round the clock access to student support, & some good exam prep software. When you've got some experience you could reasonably do your training part-time & get your certifications within a year. With no IT experience it would be imprudent to jump straight in. The CompTIA 'A+' & 'Network+' really should be regarded as the starting place. Specifics of these qualifications are available on their respective sections on this website, but this should add 200 hours or 6 months of part-time study onto the whole thing, perhaps a little longer.

One interesting way that course providers make extra profits is through up-front charges for exams and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams. This sounds impressive, until you think it through:

Everybody's aware that they're still paying for it - obviously it has been added into the gross price invoiced by the training company. It's certainly not free (although some people will believe anything the marketing companies think up these days!) Those who enter their exams one by one, paying for them just before taking them are in a much stronger position to qualify at the first attempt. They're mindful of the cost and take the necessary steps to be ready for the task.

Sit the exam somewhere close to home and go for the best offer you can find when you're ready. Including money in your training package for examinations (which also includes interest if you've taken out a loan) is bad financial management. Why fill a company's coffers with your hard-earned cash just to give them a good cash-flow! A lot bank on the fact that you won't get round to taking them - but they won't refund the cash. The majority of organisations will require you to do mock exams and hold you back from re-takes until you have proved to them you have a good chance of passing - making an 'exam guarantee' just about worthless.

Paying maybe a thousand pounds extra on an 'Exam Guarantee' is naive - when a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools is what will really see you through.

Be on the lookout that any qualifications you're working towards will be recognised by employers and are bang up to date. 'In-house' exams and the certificates they come with are not normally useful in gaining employment. You'll discover that only industry recognised examinations from the major players like Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe and CompTIA will open the doors to employers.

The area most overlooked by new students mulling over a new direction is the concept of 'training segmentation'. This is essentially how the program is broken down into parts to be delivered to you, which can make a dramatic difference to what you end up with. You may think it logical (with a typical time scale of 1-3 years for a full commercial certification,) for your typical trainer to courier the courseware in stages, until you've passed all the exams. Although: Often, the staged breakdown insisted on by the company won't suit you. What if you find it hard to complete all the sections within the time limits imposed?

For maximum flexibility and safety, most students now choose to make sure that every element of their training is delivered immediately, and not in stages. It's then your own choice how fast or slow and in what order you want to go.

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