EPTBackground info on me that you may or may not care about.
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So, I'm a Computer Science Master's Degree (grad '08) holding aspiring software developer. My Bachelor's (grad '04) was a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science in case you are wondering. Suffice it to say though, my education was shit. The two schools I got the respective degrees at are not known for being Computer Science schools, and given the chance to start all of this over from my Jr/Sr year in high school I'd be picking a much different education choice (be it the school itself or the program).
In any case, from 2005 - 2007, I was doing Technical Training for a software company, teaching folks how to use the company's proprietary software (read: not programming).
From 2008 - mid 2012, I did software development... however it was 80% COBOL & JCL, with very minimal Java/VB .NET.
Mid 2012 - March 2013, Back into technical training and no programming.
Currently sitting unemployed and looking for jobs in anything. Also, I may be moving to Phoenix next year around May, as my wife's job is offering transfers there and Phoenix is a much bigger tech/job hub than the area I am in now, which would be helpful.
In any case, from 2005 - 2007, I was doing Technical Training for a software company, teaching folks how to use the company's proprietary software (read: not programming).
From 2008 - mid 2012, I did software development... however it was 80% COBOL & JCL, with very minimal Java/VB .NET.
Mid 2012 - March 2013, Back into technical training and no programming.
Currently sitting unemployed and looking for jobs in anything. Also, I may be moving to Phoenix next year around May, as my wife's job is offering transfers there and Phoenix is a much bigger tech/job hub than the area I am in now, which would be helpful.
The Question:
All of my professional experience is in COBOL/JCL, and my schooling sucked. I'm trying to find a job in software development now that uses a more modern day programming language. C#/.NET/Web Dev/etc... however my skills and knowledge are less than I feel a recent CS grad this year would have. I'm looking for only Entry Level/Jr. level jobs as I know that's where my skill set falls at the current time. So I need to beef up my resume and knowledge for when I go into those tech savvy interviews.
What professional certificates would you suggest looking into studying for and taking?
Do you have any suggestions on study materials, websites, etc... that would be good for studying?
I was looking at possibly studying for the MCSD, but don't know if the C# or HTML5/JavaScript/CSS3 track would be better. Also, I don't know if it would be better to just get the MCSD in one, and go for the Microsoft Specialist 'certificate' in the other.
Just looking to get more thoughts and opinions on the matter.
