I spent the last 6 months travelling and seeing the world. Now that i am back in Ireland, I can properly focus my attention career wise and make it happen. I plan to become certified as a web developer and software developer in the .NET framework. I love programming and want to do it for a living. My degree in computer science reflects that passion. It however has not and does not guarantee me a job in this field. Nowadays there is a lot of people with degrees. Employers primarily need a way to distinguish one person from the other. Experience is one way in determining this. Another is becoming a Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD). A person with a MCPD will stand out more than someone who does not.
Today i got Visual Studio 2010 installed for the first time. I have been using Visual Studio 2008 previously, so it is good to finally get my hands on the 2010 edition. It has .NET framework 4.0 opposed to .NET 3.5 of Visual Studio 2008. This gives me an opportunity to get acquainted to the new features the update brings. I am looking forward to that.
I was taking a look on the Microsoft website here. I seen a few certifications for Visual Studio 2010 that eventually lead to credit towards a MCPD. There are four MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) I will have to do exam 70-516 and exam 70-513. Then depending on which MCPD certification (windows developer 4 or web developer 4) i will have to pick an additional MCTS and then i will be eligible for a MCPD exam. I will probably go for web developer 4 since going the web developer route makes more sense first anyway. I eventually plan to get both MCPD' s eventually.
Getting these exams will involve a lot of preparation and a lot of reading of books etc. I don' t mind though. This is the only way i am going to make my career path happen and i am prepared to put in the work necessary. These certifications will undoubtedly pave the way for me to land a job in this area.
