Professional Training Books

Sometimes you buy a study guide and while it seems worth the money while you're standing there reading it before you check out, you get it home and upon closer inspection you determine that the book is a dud. Not so with this title. It goes into great detail without bogging down the reader in useless minutiae.
There was very little that I did not like about the book but I especially enjoyed Chapters 2,4,6,7,8,9. BTW I bought it for my own amusement, not because I was studying for the 70-214 exam.

I am an MCSE (4 & 2000)and a practicing Sys Admin with several years of experience. I had just passed the Security + and decided to add the 70-214 exam so I can upgrade to an MCSE + Security. I bought this book because of the extra features such as web-based exams and the DVD. Using this book and building on the security + info (I am also a CCNP and CCNA), I thought I would be prepared. I read the chapters, did the exercises, did the tests, and failed the exam. Several test items were never mentioned in this book. The author went into great detail about many non-exam related items which is great for real-world just not good for your $125 test investment.

I picked up Roberta Bragg's ExamCram 2 after failing and learned more reading her cheat sheet (2 pages) than I did reading this book. The difference in level of details was striking! I highly recommend her book if you want the certification. After using her prep material, I kicked butt on the exam. Poorer but wiser.

In the past year of purchased and read 15 study guides. I rate this one the highest for organization, clarity, relevance, and usefulness as a reference. The practice questions in the book were ecelent and gave good explnations. It would have been nice if the additional practice questions were included in the CDROM instead of having to register online. The tutorial on line was very general and rather boring, but good for those times when you don't want to read.

This was the only 214 study guide available at the time I started my studies. Though I normally use Sybex/Exam Cram guides, I opted to give Syngress a try.

I found this book to be highly readable and that it provided excellent coverage of the exam objectives. Though I experimented with various security settings on a 2000 server and spent some hours reading related TechNet articles, this book served as the foundation of my 214 studies.

I agree with all of previous reviewers about the excellence of this book.

This book is one of the easiest reads for a security certification book on the market. First, I hate to read. Second, I hate to read security books because they are boring and poorly explain important concepts. This is not that book. This gets right to the core of what is necessary to pass the test the fist time! It gives you more than that though, because although the DVD skims over all of the areas of the exam, it works as a way to review the information that you need to know, lets say the night before the exam.

There are enough pictures so that you do not have to refer to the real thing, but at the same time, it is most helpful if you are already familiar with these interfaces because it will allow you to review some topics, while providing you with the needed configuration details on others. The chapter summaries are accurate, powerful and make concepts come together, as the author weaves detail after detail, so that you are confident in the subject matter.

Most of the time I will dabble in a practice exam or two, I didn't waste time on the practice test because I felt that after reviewing the book and reviewing the DVD the night before the exam I was well prepared for it. Bottom line is that if you are going to do the 70-214 Implementing & Administering Security in a Windows 2000 Network, you need this book (Period)!

Layout Summary:

Head of the class gives you the needed edge on concepts that everyone talks about.

Notes from the underground is the behind the scenes of what happening in the security world on topic.

Damage and Defense was a way for the author to convey the finer points of network access and how to mitigate vulnerabilities.

Note and Test Day Tips you should take as the advice from an elder because these are the golden eggs that will help you achieve your goal.

Awesome. I know several others who have also used this and passed. I ahve not heard of anyone using these materials and not passing! I first listened to all of the audio CD's w/the material on them - and typed up notes as i listened. Then studied my notes, then practiced the test questions in the book. Awesome. Well worth the $

This product is great, I haven't taken the NCE yet but I have gained a lot of confidence with this product.

The material was great, but it did not arrive by the day that it was expected.

I listened to these CDs to prepare for my comprehensive counseling examination (based on the NCE) and the NCE. I scored above the national average on both! My only other study guide was Dr. Howard Rosenthal's Encyclopedia of Counseling and I think both resources compliment each other well. If I had to pick one over the other I would pick the book, but both is what helped me. Good luck to all the future NCCs out there!

I purchased Dr. Rosenthal's Encyclopedia of Counseling to study for the National Counselor Examnination, and I decided to buy this CD set as a supplement. The CD study set has ended up being even more helpful than the encyclopedia, and it has been a lifesaver in preparing me for the NCE! Not only does it go over practice questions like the encyclopedia, but it has vital information CD's which gives a lecture (not a boring one :), over the main information in each area.
It's very helpful and I definitely suggest buying it - you won't regret it!

Amazing little book, short and to the point. Lots of great advice about how to generally prepare and some good tidbits about some very specific things. It got me in. Highly recommended.

I like the way in which this book approaches the medical school interview. It groups all the possible questions you might be asked into just a few groups that allow you to attack each question in a way that allows both you and the interviewer to stay relevant and on track. The book is relatively small - I think the author did his best to keep redundant, extraneous information out. I'm a fan of the "Big 3" concept in this book.

This is a nice book to have, but in the end it will all depend on whether or not all your faculties are in check on interview day.

This seems like a great little book. It explain very strategic and practical ways to prepare (and practice) four your medical school interview. It also goes into the motivations of what the interviewers are really trying to find our throught the interview process.

I gave it a 4 because I think it would have been nice to have something on the MMI (Multiple Mini-Interview) format. Perhaps it's too new a format and isn't used enough (yet) to justify giving it time. But since there is a fair amount of research showing it to provide a better indicator than the traditional format, I would hope that someone would include it at some point.

This book is a quick read and does an excellent job at explaining the basics of what medical schools are looking for, how to realistically present yourself at the interview, and provide strategies for formulating your answers. Great advice on verbalizing your professional and personal portfolio in a way that helps you stand out as a candidate. This book is definitely worth your time and money.

I was surprised by the small amount of information in this publication for its price. Prospective applicants will get as much information by going to student doctor dot com and reading the interview reports of their peers.

What a great book! Simple, straight-forward, and relevant to sales managers today. Follow This Path was recommended to me by a friend and fellow manager. Like most managers, I've read dozens of books on management and leadership so I didn't expect any new revelations. However, this one surprised me. It gets right to the heart of what makes a great organization and why its people are key to any competitive advantage. Much of this book has been described as plain common sense, but the authors incorporate extensive research from the Gallup Organization to support their conclusions. If an organization isn't as productive as it should be - according to Gallup approximately 75% of employees in most companies are not engaged - then the number one goal is to get people engaged. The challenge is to figure out what people are good at, align those skill sets with company objectives, and focus more on outcomes instead of the process. That's where Follow This Path can help. The book offers a practical, sensible guide to maximizing individual strengths and talents in order to gain a competitive advantage - focusing more on heads and hearts and less on hands and feet! When you're working with people who are engaged and truly enjoy their work, managing them can be very rewarding. I highly recommend this book to managers who need a simple, yet proven approach to motivating employees and helping them reach their potential.

Like most management theory books this theory will probably be replaced by yet another but it does provide an interesting thought for human resources and management alike. The idea that you can unlock human potential by helping your employees maximize their work experience should be common sense. This book gives some great suggestions on how to start out along that path but like most business you will have to find your own. If you are interested in academic management this is probably a book that you will enjoy otherwise I would not waste your time.

Review of "Follow This Path"

The central thesis of this valuable and highly readable work can be summed up in three words: Feelings drive actions.

This book from The Gallup Organization focuses on applying that briefest but most fundamental truth to business success. The authors' conclusion can be simply stated: The feelings of your employees influence the feelings of your customers, and that drives their buying behavior and your profits.

It works like this: Understand your employees so that they are assigned to do work for which they're really best suited at the deepest personal level ('cuz they'll do that work better than any other). And treat your employees in ways that encourage them to be fully engaged in their work ('cuz that gets you more loyalty and productivity at no extra cost). And then, in turn, your employees will treat your customers in a way that makes your customers feel good about your company ('cuz that leads them to spend more with your firm for a longer time). And, voila!, your company makes more money with less effort.

At this point you might feel compelled to release a loud exclamation of, "Well, duh!"

But hold on.

The premise of "Follow This Path" seems deceptively simple for two reasons:
1) It contrasts markedly with the "rational" model that still shapes most interactions with both employees and customers in most organizations; and
2) It stands in direct opposition to the assumptions underlying most business initiatives that are supposed to improve quality, productivity, or even customer satisfaction. Most, if not all, of those projects are aimed at mechanistically tweaking operational processes. And they don't positively affect the people on either side of the transaction: employees or customers. And so they have little to no effect on fundamentally improving the business. (But they sure do suck up a lot of time, create many distractions, and generate healthy fees for consultants.)

MORE THAN A REHASH
While tempting, it is misguided to characterize this book as a mere rehash of its predecessors from the Gallup Organization, "First, Break All the Rules" and "Now, Discover Your Strengths." Candidly, when first flipping through the book, "rehash" was my impression, too.

However, "Follow This Path" is a significant contribution in its own right. It integrates and extends Gallup's two previous works. This book's insights derive from an expanded data set supplied by Gallup's massive survey-based research, and the book also (as is all the rage in business tomes these days) draws on much of the historical and current research into the origins of behavior from both psychological and biological underpinnings. A smattering of readable anecdotes from real people help to bring the principles to life. (The end notes also are worth reading as the text there is written as a narrative and adds worthwhile insights. In addition, this work contains an appendix of what likely will strike most readers as mind-numbing statistical mumbo-jumbo, aimed, no doubt, at quieting critics who question the validity of the data underpinning Gallup's claims and conclusions.)

The effect is to validate sound, albeit somewhat non-traditional, perspectives on what really lies behind the elusive, mercantile holy grail of successfully competing in today's crazy, cut-throat marketplace.

THE UPSHOT
The good news is that these principles are easy to grasp and make intuitive sense (after reconsidering traditional biases).

The bad news is that for organizations to take advantage of these simple truths, they must unlearn much of what their managers "know" about how business works. The challenge is to move managers from the realm of the rational, definable, and controllable --- the hallmark characteristic of virtually every manager in virtually every corporation (perhaps with the exception of those strange and intrepid folks populating the marketing communications department).

The new reality: To compete effectively, managers must migrate to the still largely uncharted domain of the emotional, psychological, and personal in order to affect both employees and customers. In a gross understatement, this imperative represents a frighteningly major shift and no easy undertaking.

Making such a dramatic and fundamental change in both mindset and behaviors implies considerable adaptations at two levels: In the minds and hearts of individual managers, and in the policies and systems of their employing organizations.

All exaggeration aside, we're talking social revolution here. Undoubtedly, it will keep Gallup's consulting organization, and firms such as my own, very busy for many years to come.

But what if your boss or CEO is a Neanderthal and "doesn't get it"? Press on. Start with yourself and your very own work group. As the research from Gallup and many others makes clear, that's the only level at which real change actually occurs anyway.

Get the book and read it with a scientific mind, skeptical but open. Then get busy charting your own course through the new frontier of what Gallup aptly terms The Emotional Economy.

Chances are, you'll feel better...with rising productivity and profits...because customers feel better...because your employees feel better.

We use Gallup at my workplace. Gallup is an excellent organization and we're better for working with them. However, this was too much. It's not a book. It's a brochure. Their Engagement Index is brilliant, but you can skim the other 260 pages without missing anything important.

I really didn't want to like this book. It just sounded too much like some new age, pop psychology dribble on how to feel good. I couldn't have been further from the truth. Although this isn't a great book, it is a very valuable book, not only for the businessman, but for leaders of nonprofits as well.

The premise of the book is simple. In an age where prices have been cut to razor thin margins, and businesses have become commodities, the only way to profitably survive is to unleash the human potential among your employees and customers. The authors ask this simple, but profound question: Why would a customer drive past your competition and pay a higher price to purchase your product? The answer: You have an emotionally engaged customer.

The authors demonstrate the world's greatest organizations connect with their customers on an emotional level. When this happens customers return because of the way they feel- they become emotional engaged. The businesses manta for the last century has been based on reason- if you build a better mousetrap, offer it at the lowest price, people will buy. Studies have shown that people are more driven by their emotions when it comes to purchase and repurchase than they are by reason. The same holds true for employees. The Gallop organization also has shown that emotionally engaged employees produce more, stay longer, have less accidents, etc.

Any problems? Maybe one. When hiring, the authors tell us again and again to commit to talent above education, experience, willingness to work hard, and the usual resume items. Inborn talent produces engaged employees; but what they did not address was the integrity issue. Jack Welch points out that the most dangerous employee is not the rude, insensitive, actively disengaged employee; but the one with the talent who does not hold to the values of the corporation. The actively disengaged employee will hurt the company, and yes, if you have enough of them they will destroy the company, but the real danger lies with talented, engaged employees who love their work but who do not hold to the company's values. These are the ones Welch would immediately get rid of.

All in all, it's a valuable book. For a pastor of a small church, or a midlevel manager, the Q-12 (Questions developed by the Gallop organization which identify the conditions of a great work space) are invaluable. By unleashing the human potential in staff, volunteers and members the leader of a nonprofit can build a great organization.

I was very disappointed with this book after reading the online reviews. Right from the introduction, the book refers to "Chapters" that are not in the book or are un-referenced, making,in my opinion, most of the book unusable. "For a preview of a case history/constructed response question, turn to Chapter 5. For a preview of the multiple choice questions, turn to Chapter 6." Chapter 5 and 6 of what? There ARE no chapters in this book! What is she talking about here??? Seems like a PhD author would know at least the basics of how to treat chapter references.

This is the only book I used while studying for the Praxis II: PLT, and I won the ETS Recognition of Excellence Award. It is very thorough and has good review of the materials and numerous practice tests. I highly recommend it.

Having now taken my Praxis II exam, I have to say that this book prepared me for the multiple choice mostly. The practice case studies in the book are too easy. The scenarios they give are farily basic and the questions are straight forward. On the actual test, things were a little more in depth. I liked the book, but I just fet like it had me a little over confident. Use this book, but check out some other materials too.

This study guide was an excellent way to prepare for both the content and format of the Praxis PLT. I used it for Grades 7-12 and had no trouble passing it. I have not taken any college level education courses in over 20 years, so the information in this guide was crucial for me in reviewing current issues and "buzz" words in education today. I highly recommend this book for anyone trying to prepare for the Praxis PLT.

Easy to read and VERY INFORMATIVE. I wish I would have know about this book earlier.

This is a small book that is a great asset to anyone taking the MCAT. I took Kaplan and the strategies in this book is better than any Kaplan verbal strategy.

This is a very good book when you want to start working on the MCAT's verbal section. However, it does not have enough passages to practice.

I bought this book because I had heard such good reviews about it from practically everyone that's used it, and I am now the first person I know to discourage the use of this book. The techniques that they offer are really basic reading techniques that anyone can pick up from a typical college English course (although EK writers claim otherwise). While they assert that their methods are different from other prep-course books intended solely to market rather than to raise your scores (which may be true), they are not all that different from another prep-course book that I'm using. I actually found that the techniques from prep-course book were more helpful. In fact, using only EK techniques and nothing else gave me a score lower than the one I got when I first started prepping for MCATs.
The book should at most be worth $5- the content is so sparse and basic that i can probably list the techniques offered by this company in a paragraph or so. If you can borrow this book from a friend or buy it for $5 or less, by all means do so and use it as a supplement- that is, if you are already scoring fairly well on the verbal section. For others like me, it may be detrimental to use this book even if you can get it for free, because your score will actually go down.

Don't waste your time reading other people's review. Just get this book and work with it.

I tried using the strategies of another large test prep company (the one I work for now, actually) and the best I could do after 3 months was a 9. After 2 weeks with this book, I was regularly getting an 11, and that's what I got on the MCAT. If I had just picked up this book earlier, I probably would've gotten 12+.

Bottom line: If you're taking a TPR/Kaplan course right now, forget what your verbal teacher says and just go by this book.

(About me: Current MCAT Instructor, 3 Med school acceptances, 35 MCAT

This book is easy to read and full of important ideas for learning in a classroom setting. Great activities - easy to prepare and complete. The neat thing here is that the book is interactive and graphic, helping the reader to orient him/herself.

Templates for lecture segments help organize the material you are presenting. The training map is also very useful because it dissects training functions into steps. Good Buy!

If you are a trainer, you got to have this book. I have used many of the strategies from the book already with high success rate. Get it. You won't rtegret it.

The first time I used the ideas presented in Sharon's book in a training, I received fantastic feedback!

The active learning strategies are quick, fun, and surprisingly effective.

As both a trainer and a high school teacher, I particularly appreciate the holistic "Learning Compass" idea which ensures the audience will connect to, remember, and use the new material.

The Ten-Minute Trainer is a complete, consistent, and clear handbook that will guide a presenter or teacher into providing rich, effective, and meaningful trainings.

Bowman's book is a good resource for teachers and presenters alike. Some of the material is highly usable for teachers but some is less so. I did like the fact that the book explains that it was meant to be used as each person needs it. If you are a developed and experienced presenter/ teacher, it encourages you to skip the introductory stuff and move on to the more advanced material. For that alone, the author gained a great deal of credibility from me from the first time I opened the book.

I looked forward with anticipation to gathering some great tips to add to my training repetoire. Unfortunately, I found the book to be incredibly repetitious and elementary. How many different ways can one put ideas on a sticky note and share with the person beside them? A disappointment.

Not a bad read at all- I thought there would be more about the actual Raiders antics, but there was a lot of insightful information around the struggle between the Doctors and internal politics of an Al Davis team
Overall had some good parts and some funny parts as well. Very good inside information from the authors perspective around the use of Steroids and the ulimate death of Lyle Alzado....

If half of what the Doctor says in this book are true, then maybe we as fans should stop and think about who we revel as heroes and for what. Dr. Robs book is a great read, I finished it in two days, It should be said that this could apply to any team in the NFL. Al Davis loves to win and will go to any length to get there but that applys to every owner and head coach (With the exception of the Bidwill's (Arizona) of course) I find it fascinating that players go to such extremes but that is all part of the glory, The deaths of Mike Wise and Lyle Alzado remind us that the game is everything to these men and some cannot handle being without it or are a casulty of what happens when the cheering stops.

This book takes on more meaning in light of recent injuries and player's petitions for more health care after retirement. I bought it because it deals with the Raiders mostly, but the same medical issues could be from any team in the league.

Doctor Rob Huizenga (MD) puts us on the sidelines as recounts his job as team internist for the L.A. Raiders from 1983-1990. Huizenga describes what he saw, including acohol abuse, steroid use, plus how some NFL players need pain killers to get through the season. The doctor describes treating players on the sidelines, injecting them with pain killers during breaks in the actions, and arguing with the team orthopedist about the extent of player injuries. Readers may smile at the author's description of colorful defensive lineman Lyle Alzado, but not at receiver Bob Chandler's hospitalization for an injured spleen. Chandler (46) and Alzado (43) both died young, the latter attributing his cancer to steroid usage and warning others to beware. We don't know if football caused their demise, but Dr. Huizenga quit his job due to conflicts between medical ethics and the needs of his team.

This eye opening book makes us fans face the darker side of football. I liked that the author had suggestions for making the game safer, and one suspects that weight limits, better padding, and banning steroids might help.

For anyone interested in pro football and medicine this is the book for you. Not only is this book chocked full of behind the scene stories but there are enough humorous stories about some of the outrageous things that go on to fill a second book. The author also describes the problems with starting a medical practice, the lenghts teams will go to be sure their players are on the field, steroid abuse, his disgust at some of the things he witnessed. Over all the book has the propensity to change the way an individual watches pro ball. This was an informative, sometimes shocking, sometimes funny, sometimes sad account of life as a professional football player.

The installation of the CD, provided with the book, can cause untold problems. Murach does not give any warning that these problems can occur. When I contacted them by email a few times they had still refused to respond. It is quite literally a case of "take the money and run".

Even accessing online technical sites proves a challenge to solving it!

Do not buy books from this company unless you are willing to take the risk that you won't actually be able to use it.

This is an excellent book. I've had it for some time and I don't know how I could have done it without it.

I checked this book out from the library in order to get up to speed at work. I have a good grasp on programming (mostly scripting languages) so as long as you're not a total novice and can understand logic routines then I highly recommend this book for a those new to SQL.

It covers everything in a no fuss, here it is, this is what it means and here's an example (that actually works)! This book is a must for those who just want to get straight to the meat of it.

My IT manager saw it and asked me to purchase a copy for the office even though it's a bit old - it's that good!

This is the first Murach book i've read, and it's probably not going to be the last.

The quality of this book is well above the quality of most techie books that i've read, and second only to the Head First series. I like the two-page format that this book provides. You open the book and on the left page is all the details of what you are learning and on the right you get a broken down summary of what you just read on the left. This may seem like redundant info... and it is, but really, the info gets drilled deep into your brain. You might think that this format would bore one to tears, but it doesn't... well not too bad anyways.

Brian does a good job of explaining how things work. You get a decent overview of Microsoft SQL Server (such as using Enterprise Manager, Query Analyzer and such), but most of this book is about the SQL language. You will learn all about your basic SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT and DELETE statements and how to use them to your full potential. You also learn about stored procedures, subqueries, triggers...etc. In other words you get a pretty darn good overview of SQL for SQL Server.

If I could do half stars here on Amazon then this book would be more like a 4.5/5, only because of the redundancy (the whole two-page style I mentioned above). Like I said before, it is good because it gets drilled into your brain, but without that there could have been a lot more meat on these bones. But then again, learning was easier this way...

This is a good book. However, if you are just beginning to learn SQL, then you should really slug through "SQL Queries for Mere Mortals" first. Having done that, I found Murach's 2 page presentation style on each topic a very good way to reinforce what I had learned in "SQL Queries for Mere Mortals". The Murach text also teaches you the SQL extensions specific to Microsoft SQL Server 2000, and covers the UPDATE, DELETE & INSERT keywords, plus Data Definition Language and the other advanced features of SQL Server.

Excellent book and a quick read. The author has "been there" in terms of working with people with developmental disabilities; he really makes us think about how we've segregated these folks from mainstream society in the name of taking care of them. They truly are people first, and the author's story helps change your perspective to see that.

One of the great hidden scandals of our time is the treatment of people with significant disabilities, who are subjected to actions and practices that for any other group would be considered disrespectful, prejudicial, abusive, and a clear violation of fundamental civil and human rights. Yet, the existence of such practices is either ignored, or worse yet, considered acceptable. "Raymond's Room" sheds some much needed light on this issue, and does so in a way that is truly engaging and thought-provoking. Dale DiLeo is to be applauded in his willingness to pull no punches in his critique of the all too often dysfunctional service system, as well as his own self-reflection and self-criticism regarding his role within this system. This book is a call to action for all social justice and human rights advocates, as well as a must read for anyone who considers themselves an advocate for people with disabilities.

I was eager to read this book and was not surprised that it paralleled many of my own experiences in the field. Dale shares valuable experiences and insights that people, whether they're in this field as professionals or not, need to know. I ended up buying a copy of this book for each of the graduate students in my "Disability Systems" course in the Rehabilitation Counseling Program at San Diego State University! This book will definitely go on our reading list for all our students as a "must read" item. Thanks Dale!

Because my career has paralleled Dale DiLeo's, I can testify that he's got it right. Thirty years ago many of us were insprired by leaders in the disability field who provided a vision for change based on a combination of the latest research and the civil rights movement of the 60s. What happened? Progress has been made incrementally, instead of the expected broad shifts in perspective. Federal law has provided direction, but the states have failed to implement the intent of federal legislation. Why? The disability services bureaucracy AKA the DIC (Disability Industrial Complex) has their fingerprints all over it! Thanks, Dale! FREE OUR PEOPLE!

This book has some very good information on the disabilities field and I plan on using it in my introductory course on disibilities. However while the author rails against the Disability Industrial Complex (DIC), he does not stress enough the real problem with servcies to people with disabilities in this country: their de-valued status which results in inadequate funding, low pay for service providers and extremely high turnover. There are too many "experts" in this field who have left management and direct service to become consultants; resulting in what could be called a Disability Consultant Complex (DCC). So while they may fill hotel meeting rooms for their presentations about what is wrong with the system, the reality is over half the people that attend these sessions will leave the field within one year's time. If more consultants stayed in the field to direct services, advocate politically and practice the philosophy, the service system could improve. There are simply too many people "talking the talk" in the disabilties field.