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CompTIA Adds Linux+ Certification
11 platter hard driv writes: "CompTIA (the Computing Technology Industry Association), the people who made the A+ and I-NET+ certifications, have made a Linux certification. I just received an e-mail a day or two ago that the test is out of beta. This seems pretty important seeing how CompTIA is non-vendor specific." Legions of PHBs and Kinko's nationwide look forward to the resulting resume changes.
LPI has been around longer, is also vendor non-specific, and has multiple levels of tests for various degrees of skill.
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The test was a lot easier than the SAIR cert tests of the same level(Install and Config and Sys. Admin) but there were a lot more hardware specific questions (SCSi, LVD, RAID, Fibre Channel, Hard Disks, Video Cards, etc). I guess that is from there A+ people, maybe. I have not yuet recieved my results from the Beta exam but I am 99% sure I passed it. It is nice to see that a major certification company like CompTia has a linux certification for people to get. I have the SAIR cert but I thik this one will help a little more when I leave the military and go looking for a Linux (or Unix) sysadmin job.
"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people in the world?"
At first glance this seems to be a fairly basic-ish certification as the course is aimed at the Linux Professional with 6 months of experience with the Linux Operating System, but after looking at it further it covers a lot of different area's. These seem to include installation, xwindows, planning systems and all the basic linux services. One very surprising thing is that so little of the marking schedule is based on Planning the Implmentation (only 4%), I would have thought a lot more should be based on this, as this would be a valuable skill.
Overall its good seeing a course which is aimed at linux as a whole, instead of one distribution, and is also something that I would have the skills to complete myself.
Looks like the hiring teams no longer need to actually find out how well you know your stuff, only if you have a piece of paper that says you do.
I'm just as happy as everyone else that Linux is getting more recognition, but I've seen too many people with A+, N+, CCNA, CNA, MCP certifications and Masters Degrees in CS, comming to me to actually learn the first thing about computers, to put any faith in any certifications, and I'm quite disturbed by the fact that many employers do.
Does anybody know of any real certifications out there that tests your skills, rather than your ability to memorize test questions?
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I have memory difficulties but have never failed to figure out a *N*X box after being placed in front of it, or in front of its 20' of manuals. Within a week of starting work in a *N*X shop I've always become a valued expert resource for the team, even on systems I'd never seen before starting the job.
But in this economy the smarts in the hiring department were shoved aside, because so much of the boom-time workforce was full of people who claimed "No problem, I can just learn that" without being able to deliver. Right now, those of us whose learning/execution style leans towards pattern recognition and understanding of the architecutre are getting the short end of the stick, because they want to ask a few poorly-worded, poorly-constructed test questions that supposedly boil down everything one would know. I've even caught some of them not knowing their _expected_ correct answer was not _really_ a correct answer!
Of course there are some environments in which this won't cut it. Hiring just _one_ person to be at the head of a support structure for a given vendor's *N*X is one example, that person should have enough background to answer from memory immediately. But even things so simple as filesystem mounting is different between vendors, and in 95% of the cases the differences between in-house policies at different companies are much more important than what particular commands/files are used on one vendor's system.
Nice to see that the problem-solving and architecture-understanding skills have been stomped out of the market, in favor people who can emulate a raw keyword search through a textfile.
Actually, by doing exactly that, you're more qualified than many. I'd much rather have one of my system admins be able to admit they don't know how to do something, know where to look to learn, and then have the overall computing background to understand an implement the steps of a HOWTO, etc. Heck, even the best system admin doesn't know everything. Most tend to specialize in certain areas (filesystems, I/O, Raid/LVM, applications, etc) By that I mean they REALLY understand how to setup certain types of things, but in other areas they need to look stuff up. I've been administering systems for years - and you still hit situations where you have to research some stuff.
Sysadmins, no matter how good, don't know how to do everything off the top of their head. THose that think they do are dangerous because you risk having them screw up something major. A good sys admin is one who is savvy enough to be dropped in front of a system they have never used before and using their overall computing experieince and available reference material - figure out how to set it up or enable some feature while at the same time knowing their limits and knowing if they are treading in an area of the system where they can do real damage - at that point someone who takes the time to research what their about to do online or by asking for help is much better than the person who just lows ahead and screws up.
So gon't sell yourself short. If you think passing a test would qualify you to deploy stuff on a network securely, you're dangerous. A good sysadmin may knwo how to deploy a system in a fairly secure manner, but a great sysadmin will know how to test for anything he/she missed and know where to look to make sure they didn't miss anything.
I've been adminsitering systems since I graduated from college both at work and at home - and I learn something almost ever day. Stuff keep schanging so fast you can't possibly stay current just studying for a test :)
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Having done some entry-level IT hiring in the past.. let me tell you about certifications.
They ARE useful... in a way. When I'm looking at a resume for an entry-level IT person who can come in and start taking some load off me for more 'simple' tasks... fixing PC's, helping clients, doing some network cabling.. etc....
Obviously, someone with experience is what I want. But... few people with experience fit the bill.. they are too senior, don't want that junior job.
Now.. if someone says they have A+.. I know I can tell them to open up a computer and add some ram and they won't go 'Hunh? What's that?'. Oh.. they may still have questions about what kind of ram... but at least they understand what's going on.
Ever heard how, In karate, the black-belt, aside from simply holding your pants up, symbolizes 'the beginning'. The same could be said of most certifications such as A+, N+, this new linux one, etc. They are a beginning, not an end.
If you had that linux certification, and no other experience, I would consider you for an entry-level linux job.. if I interviewed you and thought you had the brains for the particular job.
That's ALL they are... there are two things I really hate.
1) The classes tend to prepare people into thinking they now know everything, and are ready to take top-level jbos. This is especially true of MCSE, not so much of A+/N+/etc.
2) Employers and shops like to brag about their certified employees... 'All our technicians are A+ certified'.
Really.. I guess I'm saying that.. these certifications are a good entry into the business, but no more.
CCIE... the reason you respect that is because it's not a certification you can just go out, do a bit of studying, and get in a weekend if you know nothing. IT was designed to certify experts in internetworking. I looked at it a couple years ago.. the routing & Switching one. I know a LOT about TCP/IP... I've been doing fairly detailed stuff for about 9 years... and I knew about 80% of the IP section, which was only about 40% of the whole test. (if memory serves). It's hard.. so if someone actually passes CCIE, then that proves they DO know something. It's like a PH.D in networking.
I came up with this one today.. so sorry I posted it elsewhere already.. but..
I liken A+, N+, this new Linux certification, and those like them (MCSE even)... to the PADI Open Water Diver certification.
For those not familiar.. scuba diving is a self-regulated industry. There is generally no law that says you can't dive.. but a dive shop won't sell you tanks, or gear, or sell you air if you don't present a certification. They COULD.... but they won't. Wanna go on vacation to go diving? In general, a dive expedition won't take you out if you aren't certified. Oh.. they can make exceptions... but you get the idea.
You study for several hours.. take a few classes, do some practice diving, and then get run through some tests to get your certification.
Now.. NOBODY who takes the PADI Open-Water certification an passes would come out of it thinking 'I AM NOW AN EXPERT DIVER'. And that's the problem... with N+, MCSE, etc.. people come out of them thinking 'I AM NOW AN EXPERT'. That's what bothers us.. isn't it? It's not that they took it because they want to get int ot his business, and come to their new job willing to learn and grow.. it's because they tend to show up thinking 'I'm certified, I know it all.. nya nya'. And of course.. they don't.
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And I have to say, the certification is crap. Utter crap. Allow me to elaborate.
I started studying for the exam way back in early 2000. I bought a book (the "For Dummies" book, for chrissakes!) and skimmed through it. For various reasons, I didn't get around to taking the exam until July of this year. By then, the test had changed, including manmy questions about Win2K, third-party processors, and a much greater emphasis on trivia than I had been lead to expect. I had not studied for any of these things.
Furthermore, the things I had spent the most time cramming (IRQs and DMAs, mainly) were not on the exam. At all.
So I'm sitting there at the test machine, slowly realizing two things. One, I have never seen any of thses questions before in my life. And two, it doesn't matter, anyone with a bit of experience (NOT six months as a computer tech, much less) could answer these questions. I can't remember a specific example, for which I apologize, but even in areas where I had NO experience, I was able to get by by choosing the "least-worst" answer.
I passed the exam, and that is meaningless. I freely admit, as a tech I am very green. At my summer tech job, my boss had to correct me after I put an IDE cable in a hard drive with the red stripe facing AWAY from the power connector! That's a pretty basic mistake, and one you wouldn't expect a "professional, experienced computer technician" to make. But at the time, I had a card in my pocket saying I was exactly that!
My point? I cannot speak for any of the other CompTIA exams - maybe they are incisive and highly effective tools of tester skill that only the best of the best can pass, tests that lay one's ignorance open to the blistering light of knowledge - but the A+ exam does not achieve its goal of accurately evaluating the experience and skill of the test-taker. This makes me worry about Linux+. Do we really want a bunch of Linux+ professionals entering the job market, and making Linux look bad?
On a side note, I have successfully used my certification card to impress attractive women. Anyone else find these things useful?
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