I have had a goal over the last two years to become a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). I was already half way there by holding an MCITP certificate in Windows 7 and Server 2008; however I still had to finalize the last requirement of either obtaining my CompTIA CTT+ or attending a Train The Trainer course. Earlier this summer I had started the path to obtain my CTT+ by purchasing and began reading the book to prep me for the exam. About a month later the details for the MCT Summit along with the Train The Trainer course was posted. I spoke with my manager about the positives and negatives of the Train the Trainer path and we decided that was best.
Last month the on September 16th and 17th I spent my entire day in a room with 25 other people wanting to become MCT’s. A few weeks prior to this I had received a few emails with pre-course work that needed to be completed. Nothing too major just an evaluation asking what I was hoping to learn, a assessment quiz to gauge where I was with the CTT+, and a document I had to fill out, outlining what my presentation would be on.
The presentation was pretty easy, it only had to be 10-15 minutes long. My problem was finding a topic I could talk about that only took 10-15 minutes. I have presented quite a bit about PowerShell recently so I wanted to use that. I selected an introduction to PowerShell, a presentation that just barely skimmed the surface of PowerShell basics. I spent probably a total of 4-6 hours putting it together, another 2-3 hours tweaking and practicing it. If you are interested in looking over the PowerPoint you can find it at Train The Trainer Presentation – Introduction to Basic Administration with PowerShell v3.
It was an exhausting two days; but well worth it. I got to meet a ton of new people and catch up with some old friends in #TheKrewe while out in Bellevue. Once I completed the Train the Trainer I was also able to attend the MCT Summit; during this summit I learned tons of useful things ranging from technical skills, soft skills and things I now have access to as an MCT.
If you are interested in becoming an MCT I would recommend you do it by attending the MCT Summit (Assuming the Train the Trainer is offered next year) because not only do you obtain that title, you dive directly into the community and gain many useful connections.