Microsoft Office Specialist Certification for Microsoft Project questions

I am planning to start training for MOS - MS Project. I see that only
Project 2000 & 2002 are currently available. Should I start with
Project 2003 training in anticipation that the 2003 MS Project exam(s)
will be out soon, or prep for 2002 versions? I will be reviewing
"Step-by-Step" and "Inside Out" (I own 2002 and 2003 books). Are
there any other prep materials recommended? I am transitioning to the
PM arena as a career (from airline mgt). I anticipate taking the CAPM
this summer (no BS degree till '06). Any other thoughts are
cheerefully accepted.

Happy New Year.

Regards,
SAB

"Excellence is the result of caring more than others think
is wise; risking more than others think is safe. Dreaming
more than others think is practical and expecting more than
others think is possible."

remove 'nospam' to contact me. Please reply to newsgroup. Thanx

MS has dropped the MOS certification program for Project 2003 altogether and
AFAIK there won't be an exam offered by them at any time. You might want to
double check on the 2000 and 2002 exams because I was under the impression
they were discontinued as well. One of Microsoft's recommendations as an
alternative to MOUS is the certification program from the International
Institute of Learning, www.iil.com. You should also look into the Project
Management Institute, www.pmi.org, and the PMP certification. Another entry
level certification program (which PMP is not) is the Comptia IT Project+
exam although that has limited acceptance at present.

Note that Project Management competancy is far far more than merely learning
one of the software tools. MS Project is an excellent tool IMHO but it is
only an aid, a very small piece of the overall PM puzzle, and it's not for
nothing that the theory and discipline of PM is a specialty at the MBA level
of a university education. Project will not supply any project management
skills that you might otherwise lack. IMO, getting a good foundtation on the
practices of professional project management is far more important than
using a piece of software. Understand the foundations and using MSP becomes
quite a simple exercise. Ignore the foundations and MSP is bewildering or
worse.

HTH
--
Steve House [MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs




"Scott Brooks" <pocketpc@nospam.ceruelanservices.com> wrote in message
news:rofdt0pm36m4qae3n0su2tkfhnsg54kdn1@4ax.com...
>I am planning to start training for MOS - MS Project. I see that only
> Project 2000 & 2002 are currently available. Should I start with
> Project 2003 training in anticipation that the 2003 MS Project exam(s)
> will be out soon, or prep for 2002 versions? I will be reviewing
> "Step-by-Step" and "Inside Out" (I own 2002 and 2003 books). Are
> there any other prep materials recommended? I am transitioning to the
> PM arena as a career (from airline mgt). I anticipate taking the CAPM
> this summer (no BS degree till '06). Any other thoughts are
> cheerefully accepted.
>
> Happy New Year.
>
> Regards,
> SAB
>
> "Excellence is the result of caring more than others think
> is wise; risking more than others think is safe. Dreaming
> more than others think is practical and expecting more than
> others think is possible."
>
> remove 'nospam' to contact me. Please reply to newsgroup. Thanx