MCT for Not Yet Techies

"Computer Careers: Qualifies You for High Tech Jobs Teaching Microsoft Courses to Others"

by Richard Stooker, President Info Ring Press and author of Secrets of Changing to a Computer Career

MCT Background:

MCT stands for Microsoft Certified Trainer and validates the ability of techies to teach classes in the various particular tests they have passed. MCT means you know your stuff and how to teach it.

Type of Microsoft MCT Certifications for computer careers:

Vendor

MCT worth it?

Standard disclaimer:

Whether or not any certification is "worth it" is an individual decision. You alone must decide what your career goals and needs are.

Look at certifications from a cost/benefit or Return On Investment (ROI) basis. If they help you get a better paying job or make more money at your current job, they are obviously "worth it."

The problem is, there is no real way of measuring how much you can expect your income to go up as a result of any given certification. It also depends on non-related job search skills such as how well you network.

Bottom Line:

A lot of people take computer classes to learn everything from how to resize Windows to how to pass the most difficult MCSE exams. Somebody has to teach them those skills. Just as there is a tremendous market for computer training, there must be a corresponding huge market for qualified and competent teachers.

In such boom times there is also a huge opportunity for anyone who knows how to resize windows to pass themselves off as an expert in more technical subjects. Microsoft started the MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer) certification to make sure that only qualified and competent people would be allowed to teach classes on Microsoft related subjects.

Obtaining the Microsoft MCT certification qualifies you to teach Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) courses to computer professionals at Microsoft Certified Technical Education Centers (CTECs) and to academic students at Microsoft Authorized Academic Training Program Institutions (AATPs), which are high schools and colleges.

There are basically two requirements.

You must pass the particular technical exam which you plan to teach the course for. This used to mean that you could be an MCT for one particular MCP course. Since the MCP is effectively gone, to be an MCT as of 1/1/2001, you must have an MCSE, MCSD or MCDBA certification.

This change could be weeding out a lot of people. It means that passing one exam will not be enough to get you a teaching job at a Microsoft approved training school. You must have the entire certification of which that particular course is a part of. This will also weed out people who know only the book learning, because Microsoft no longer wants these certifications to go to people with no experience in the fields.

You must prove your ability to teach.

How do you prove that?

Attend and pass a Microsoft-approved training course.
Present proof of certification as a trainer with another info tech. Novell, Lotus, Santa Cruz Operation, Banyan Vines, Cisco and Sun also have trainer certifications. Microsoft will accept proof of your trainer certification from these companies as proof that you have the instructional ability.
Present proof of Certified Technical Trainer (CIT) certification from The Chauncey Group.

Next: Alcatel certifications

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