Professional Certifications

[crokett]

What is your view on them? I took an exam yesterday and now have a piece of paper to say that I know what I knew I already know. That is to say my boss 'suggested' a month ago that I get the cert before the end of the year. I took a practice exam, reviewed stuff for a few hours then went and took the exam yesterday.

[pecker]

I think you can now ask your boss for a raise.

[Ed62]

It never hurts to have things like that for future use. Kind of like knowing how to cook or sew. Maybe you won't ever use that knowledge, but if you need it, you'll have it. Besides, they probably didn't know you knew what you already knew.

Ed

[cgallery]

I think you can now ask your boss for a raise.

LOL. Classic!

[stocktr8er]

Certificates always impress someone so it can't hurt to have them if you can get them. Might help on a resume someday or get a client or a raise.

I find in my industry, all certificates do is require more continuing education hours. I just found out 8 years into one of mine, the rules are changing and now they want 12 CEUs and $75 (each year) to recertify me.

[cabinetman]

Taking a test and passing the test to get a certification, means the test was passed.
.

[germdoc]

If your doctor's MD degree says "Betty Crocker School of Medicine" or "medschool.com" you should probably look for another doctor.

Many people have told me over the years I should be certified, BTW...

[JSUPreston]

I've known guys that have been MCSE certified and didn't know how to use a command prompt. I had one guy that was an instructor for one of my CNE classes (long time ago) that had never worked on a production network. He had been a trainer his entire career. I was having to correct him in class.

I've also known guys that are not certified that were actually telling the vendors how to fix the products. That being said, if you know the stuff and can pass the test, I think certs are a great thing.

Which one did you get? I'm debating on starting to work on CCNA. I've taken one class because of work, and it's really piqued my interest. I'm supporting Cisco gear now, and it's a lot more interesting than I originally thought.

[crokett]

I got the Brocade Certified Fabric Professional (SAN certification). Interesting thing is that I support mostly Cisco stuff day to day. I am considering the Cisco cert next year but that will be a major investment of time and will require some coordination from my boss to give me some hours every week to work on it.

I've discovered in my profession that the guys who care the most about getting certified generally are the more useless ones. The good ones only go when somebody makes it a job requirement. That said, the Cisco one actually means something, which is why it is so hard.

[jonmulzer]

I've discovered in my profession that the guys who care the most about getting certified generally are the more useless ones. The good ones only go when somebody makes it a job requirement. That said, the Cisco one actually means something, which is why it is so hard.

Exactly! I have worked IT jobs off and on for quite some time and that was my experience also. I spent some time doing some consulting for a major healthcare company and I was offered that job because of what I knew, not how many acronyms I could put after my name. I worked in a territory that covered 4 of their internal guys and the customers would frequently call me directly to cover certain things because I used common sense and got it taken care of. The more certifications you get right off the bat, the less common sense you have it seems and the less experience will actually teach you.

You will however know how to follow a flowchart EXACTLY!

[Uncle Cracker]

I have as many certifications as are offered in my industry, because when you work as a consultant, credibility is very important. As for legitimacy, very few certifications are required in my line, but they're coming, so I'll be ready. But my customers are more interested in what I know from experience, and my being able to think on my feet. Certifications don't really tell the story there.

[twistsol]

I have a driver's license, and it has no bearing on my ability to drive. There's a reason certified and qualified are different words.

[Thalermade]

In the IT world there seems to be quite the debate over certifications.

A former neighbor of mine who is a civil engineer had to get some certifications because his boss was a bigshot on some industry group that felt certs were important.

My wife is a dietitian and has a bunch of certs, and licenses.

While there are many legit certs, I sometimes feel certification has become an industry in itself.

Whoops, good thing I checked, my CTS expires this year, better get some travel funds approved to go some industry training.

certified and certifiable,
Russ

[jonmulzer]

While there are many legit certs, I sometimes feel certification has become an industry in itself.

It definitely is. Do you want your MCSE? Spend a few grand and go to a week long bootcamp and they will guarantee you pass the test. You won't know how to do hardly anything though. Simple concepts you should have mastered like group policy, permissions and exceptions and even TCP/IP will probably make as much sense to you as Latin.

[Tom Slick]

I often wonder about certifications myself.
I am FADAL factory certified to work on their CNC machines. what does that really mean? I sat in a class for 4 days and BS'd with the instructor at the factory, but, FADAL will fully warranty any parts I install. Without that cert, no warranty. could be important when installing $7k parts. Now that I don't work around FADAL machines it is only resume filler.

For an accountant, a certificate is the difference between charging $150/hr as a CPA or $15/hr as a bookkeeper.
If you are a public school teacher in Calif, no certificates means no job.
A certified Professional Engineer (PE) takes on a lot of responsibility.

on the other hand, the local autoparts stores have "ASE certified" parts people, the certificates are right on the wall, but for some reason their people don't know parts.

do you need to be certified to use CPR? I have a card for it.

I think it all depends on industry.