Ask Slashdot: Getting Exchange and SQL Experience? 293
First time accepted submitter william.meaney1 writes "I'm the sole network admin at a 25 person company. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity less than a year after getting a technical degree in IT. I've had some huge opportunities here (for a first time network admin). After my schooling, I went ahead and I'm now CompTIA A+, Network+, and CCNA certified. Now, being hired out of school, I was grateful for the job, and the boss hired me for peanuts (Less than $30,000/year) I've been living at home, using that money for loan payments, car payments, and certification expenses. I've started looking for other work, and I feel more than qualified for most of the requirements I'm seeing. The big hurdle I'm coming across that EVERYONE seems to want is experience with SQL databases, and Microsoft Exchange. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for getting usable experience on a low budget. I have some SQL experience, I deployed a source control program here that uses a SQL express backend, but what else do you need to know for database maintenance?"
Join MSDN Technet (Score:5, Informative)
Nothing beats hands-on experience, so get some on the cheap. Get an MSDN Technet subscription; for $199 a year, you'll get free personal/learning licenses of SQL Server, Exchange, and just about every other big Microsoft program. Play with them. Set them up. Try to break them, then fix them.
Re:Join MSDN Technet (Score:4, Informative)
I'd also like to add that if your budget is zero, SQL server express editions exist for free, they have a few restrictions on things such as DB Size, but should suit you well enough.
[OT] A+ = F (Score:5, Informative)
Offtopic, but I'd drop the A+ certification from your resume. When we get applicants with A+ listed, then we assume that they don't know enough to know that it means nothing and we bin them.
Re:[OT] A+ = F (Score:5, Informative)
Not sure who's rating this down but I agree with it. A+ screams geeksquad. We look at A+ as people who have low expectations in life. It's a pretty poor way to look at it, but that's life.
Self teaching, followed by volunteer work (Score:5, Informative)
I see this as a three step process:
(1) Use the other resources mentioned above to teach yourself SQL server and Exchange.
(2) Find a nonprofit agency in your area who needs help with their computing environment. Offer to help them on a volunteer (ie, unpaid) basis. Be sure this help includes working with SQL Server and Exchange. Be picky about this. Do not get involved with an agency where the work will not help you build your practical skill set. Also be sure that there is someone at the nonprofit agency who is willing to act as a reference for you at some point in the future. You don't have to explicitly ask this upfront, just be sure that the senior most person you can find knows enough about who you are to say nice things about you.
(3) Use this real life experience to help you land the next job on your way up the ladder.
(4) Optional: Continue working with the nonprofit agency if it makes you happy.
BTW... you can do steps 1 & 2 in parallel, ie start looking for a nonprofit while you are learning SQL Server and Exchange. Both steps might take a little time.