“I was into it back before it was cool.”

Seriously, if your goal in life is to become a Windows Administrator you probably want an MCSE. Otherwise there are, in my opinion, far better areas in IT to be in — such as programming and information security.

I think being a Windows admin is fine, but to me it’s a stepping stone rather than a final destination; I guess it just depends on how much ambition you have. I’d shoot for something more advanced and vendor neutral. If you’re heading down the infosec path, by the way, you should have a gander at this:

http://dmiessler.com/writing/infoseccerts

Anyway, if you’re going to go the vendor route, get into networking and go for the CCIE. There are a million people in the world who can run a Windows GUI; don’t spend a small fortune trying to add yourself to the list.

Consider the fact that everyone knows Unix admins can do Windows administration with minimal traning, but not the other way around. I’m not trying to troll here — it’s just reality. So for me, I say no to the MCSE. I have it but don’t even put it on my CV.

-Daniel Miessler, CISSP, CISA, GSEC