Professional Certifications

I was told by one of my professors, who is certified in a number of things (See here.) that cert are like mini-degrees and the more you have of them the better. He said in the IT field, experience and know-how are the keys and you get both of those with most certification processes.

 

This is crap advice. Most IT people see certs as BS. Paper techs. Certs do not at all translate to experience. It just means that you can pass a test.

I'd take someone with experience over certs every day of the week.

 

Man, I haven't had one in a while, but will be working on PMP, relating to project management.

As for the past, these are some I got roughly 10 years ago and further:
- Novell MCNE
- Microsoft MCSE
- Compaq/HP ASE
- A+ cert.

 

I obtained mine, while gaining experience so this comes in flavors.

 

Computer Forensics Examiner? So, that guy can find p*rn on somebody's hard drive even after they delete it?

 

Sorry but I should have made myself clearer. I did not mean certs would translate into work experience I meant school experience and in many cases this is true. I know several people who have skipped college, gotten certified in a number of things, and when on to receive excellent jobs. I know two women, one who went to Philadelphia and the other to Memphis and both were making $80,000+ by their second year with certs and without degree in the IT field.

 

I took a class in this last semester. It is amazing what you can find on anything that stores information from computers to laptops to cell phones and even iPods. My professor brought in a USB reader and program that could show different types of cell phones' deleted messages from the past 6 months. I try even harder to use my head to store pertinent information.

 

Certs are great to augment to your experience. When you don't have experience the certs matter more. After experience most of your jobs are found through networking anyway. I don't think I've had anyone read my resume in the past 6 years.
My certs include CCIE & other cisco certs, Microsoft stuff (not MCSE) and some storage and security certs. I don't have a degree (5 years college but no degree) but I make more than my brothers who are doctors.

 

I don't think that's true at all. That's bitter geek speak. That's old school IT paradigm right there. Most IT folks see entry level certs like MCP and A+ as bs, but they aren't. While you can definately get them without any experience, you have to have some level of knowledge to pass them, and they are adequite for entry level positions. The mid and high level certs that require classes and/or hands-on tests are more legit in people's eyes, because they are way more complex and take a real working knowledge to pass.

Would I take certs over experience? No. But if I were hiring for X position, and there were two people, one with two years experience and certs in that field and one with four years experience and no certs, I would definately lean towards the certified individual.

Getting certified means that you learned the proper way to do things in a given area. Experience means that you have done the job for a while, but you may not be doing it completely correctly.

Another reason to get certs is continuing education. If you get one or two a year, you are obviously trying to expand and keep up with technology. All MDs have to get continuing ed, and so should IT pros.

Rocket River: I would break out of the norm and go for something more complicated and less common than MCSE. Tons of people have it. I'm not saying that it doesn't show knowledge, but if you want to seperate yourself from the pack, get a XP Pro cert (MCP) and then get linux certified, security certified, some kind of network cert, etc. I would steer clear of any Comptia certs at first if you are looking for a more advanced position. Don't get me wrong, Comptia certs are great entry certs in x field (I have 3 of them), but they aren't going to impress anyone who is hiring for say, a network admin job.

I'd also go for certs that are interesting to you. The certs I've gotten that bore me were harder. I do certs that keep me interested. Personally, I'm going for a Certified Wireless Network Admin (CWNA) cert right now, not because it's required for my job (although it will help), but because it's interesting.

Hope that helps!

 

The more letters behind your name the better.

I don't have any certs just a B.S degree in IT including 5yrs experience and I'm balling.

 

Certs are great if your employers pay you to get them. Otherwise, you can't beat real experience. When I was doing interviews, I usually ignored certs unless I was hiring completely entry-level.

All in all, there's a reason a real degree costs so much and takes so long to get, and that's because it is worth it.

 

Yeah. I would suggest you go ahead and get the MCSE. It is like the building blocks. It doesn't matter that a lot of other people have it. Then you can go for the more 'valuable' ones - Cisco, linux, security, etc.

 

Good to pass the test by, maybe. I wouldn't say good to study by. There are plenty of brain dump sites like that. That's pretty much where the paper cert notoriety started. Not saying I don't use it. I'm going to use one to do my CCIE recertification. I'm too busy and lazy to study for something I've already passed 3 times in the past.

 

Try and get certified in an area that you would like to work.

 

You can't substitue certs for experience, but I don't think you meant that. The more the better, RR was right that hiring managers will look favorably on them.

 

Master Baiter, I agree completely. Some dudes come into my office flaunting their CERTs, and they know ZERO about what we do. They may be incorrectly hired, though, and that's the manager's fault.

We should talk about this. I think this deserves its own thread.