Q: What is Mcpmag.com?
Michael Domingo: I'd love to say it's "the premiere site for information on achieving Microsoft certification status," but I must give kudos to the Microsoft Learning Group for making vast improvements with its Microsoft Learning site over the last five or so years.
Rather than compete, we've instead been able to supplement Microsoft's official MCP site with insights and opinions and resources for those who need an independent source to tell them how important and significant a Microsoft certification can be in the context of the overall IT job market. If I were to pin down the site's goals, that would be numero uno: independent resource for Microsoft certification and training information.
One of the other goals of the site over the years has been to provide IT admin information from peers and experts, often outside the context of certification. Our audience is made up of quite a number of people who achieved a level of certification that they've been happy with, but still strive for information to do their jobs better. We help with continuing education through lots of peer-driven content (technical pieces on Microsoft technology such as Exchange, SharePoint, SQL Server, network security issues, etc.). If site visitors are struggling with some issue, they let us know and we get our experts to chime in and help.
What does the website offer for certification-seekers, and those who
already have Microsoft certification?
Our most important asset, really, is the Salary Surveys. We've been tracking salaries with special regard for how MCP salaries have fared against the overall IT job market. The results each year provide MCPs with the ammunition to justify their value as employees. Hiring managers have used the numbers over the years to justify their hiring practices as well -- an MCP is often well paid, but is also valued for their skills and most hiring managers won't go wrong hiring someone who has put in the hard work to achieve a certification.
For those who have already achieved certification, we've got regular columns and blogs that either provide tips and tricks for making their Microsoft network run smoothly, or point to and single out the many, vast resources that will help them.
There's just so much information, and we condense that. We've also hosted some forums on our site, where lots of our readers provide expertly vetted, peer help to budding admins.