START YOUR CAREER OFF RIGHT WITH THE NEW
MICROSOFT CERTIFIED DESKTOP SUPPORT TECHNICIAN (MCDST) CERTIFICATION
The Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST) credential proves that you have the skills to successfully support end users and to successfully troubleshoot desktop environments running on the Microsoft Windows operating system.
The MCDST credential is for professionals who use excellent customer service skills to educate users, as well as solve hardware or software operation and application problems on the end-user's computers.
The MCDST certification covers the skills of help desk technician, customer support representative, PC support specialist, technical support representative, and technical support specialists as defined by the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies Skill Standards for Information Technology and other research worldwide.
You might want to consider pursuing the MCDST certification if the credential represents your current responsibilities in technical support. If part of your current job is to perform troubleshooting, provide facilitation and customer service, perform hardware and software installation, perform configuration and upgrades for Windows XP desktop operating system and the Microsoft office system to support end users on the desktop, you will find value in this credential.
MCDST, MCSA, and MCSE job roles are distinct. These certifications—for desktop support technicians, systems administrators, and systems engineers, respectively—provide hiring managers with an accurate means to identify qualified individuals for specific job roles within an organization’s IT structure.
Unlike MCSAs, MCDSTs are not expected to have network administration skills. An MCDST candidate should have 6–12 months of experience supporting end users of a desktop operating system.
The A+ Core Hardware and the A+ Operating Systems Technologies exams measure essential competencies for a desktop computer hardware service technician. These exams provide excellent hardware and foundational knowledge of a PC. The MCDST credential is focused specifically on the desktop support technician working in a service desk environment. The MCDST exams go beyond the basics and focus on diagnosis and assessment of end-user incident requests on the Microsoft Windows operating system and the applications that run on it. The MCDST exams include troubleshooting procedures consistent with the Microsoft Operations Framework. While they provide a solid base of skills and knowledge, the CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+ certifications do not count towards the MCDST credential. We would recommend you look at these credentials as part of the overall skills path for the role of desktop support technician.
Earning a Microsoft certification acknowledges your expertise in working with Microsoft products and technologies.
MCDST candidates are required to pass two core exams. While the core exams for the MCDST do not count as core exams for the MCSA or MCSE, the MCDST credential does count as the elective for the MCSA certification.