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Training Resources |
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Upcoming Conferences |  |
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| Jan 14 Toronto Code
Camp |
| Jan 29-Feb 2 VSLive
in San Francisco |
| Jan 30-Feb 1 Web
Design World in San Francisco |
| May 8-12 Dev Teach
in Montreal |
| May 14-18 VSLive in
Orlando |
| May 15-17 Enterprise
Architect Summit in Key Biscayne |
| Jun 11-16 Tech Ed in
Boston |
More Events... |
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Home >
Careers >
The Leading Edge
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Books
Hardly a day goes by without a new technical book on the
market. The resources in this area are certainly abundant, but there are always a
few classics that you can rely on. Check out our
book recommendations
section for suggested readings that will provide great value and not waste your
time.
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Local Events & On-Line Training
Some of the best training is actually free.
One of the great ways to keep up to date is to attend local user group
events and free Microsoft events in your area. You can get a list of
user groups in your area from
INETA web site. In addition to local events, Microsoft's MSDN site
provides an abundance of materials that will keep you up to date
including educational webcasts and TV shows. If you would prefer a hands-on classroom
training, the local CTECs are generally not the best choice for experienced
developers as they will focus mostly on basics.
Developmentor is one of very few
companies that provides several advanced courses for seasoned developers
and also has great instructors.
If you are looking just to sharpen your object-oriented skills, then
Valtech in Dallas, Texas is highly
recommended. This knowledge does not come cheap and will require you to travel.
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Conferences
VSLive!
is
one of the best known conferences for Visual Basic developers. The biggest
conferences are in San Francisco and Orlando, followed by the conferences in New York and
Toronto. With so many sessions and speakers going at the same time, sometimes it is
hard to tell which ones to attend in order to get the most value out of the conference.
There a several speakers that never disappoint in this area, so their
sessions are highly recommended: Dan Appleman, Deborah Kurata, Francesco Balena, Billy Hollis, Rockford Lhotka
and Keith Pleas.
TechEd and PDC are Microsoft conferences that are also worth attending. In
addition to many sessions that provide the latest and greatest information, the
conferences are also a great place to network with other developers.
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Certification
There are many opinions whether it is a good idea to get
Microsoft certification. Some companies will not even look at you if you
do not have one and some simply don't care.
You will just have to decide what makes most sense for yourself. According to
some annual salary surveys, earning an MCSE adds an average of $11,000 US to a
non-certified individual's salary. With appealing numbers like these, it's no
wonder that certification is gaining the attention of IT professionals. There are
many ways to get ready for a certification exam - instructor-led training, on-line
training or self-paced training.
Microsoft
Learning site offers many resources in this area. |
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