What Certifications are Valuable in Today's IT?

ganjadude asks: "I am a twenty-something who took the CCNA classes back in 2001. College at the time was not an option, so I am mainly self-taught in the field. I was wondering if there were others on Slashdot who took this route, and what certifications they have found will best further their careers. Does college matter in the security field anymore, or are certifications the way to go?" What certifications would you recommend as the most pertinent in today's IT market?

Comments

MCSE + A+

[Billly Gates]

= 7.50/hr job at Staples and moving back in with my parents. This was back in 2001 when the .com crashed and I had to compete with everyone with years and years of experience who were laid off.

Also I had no job experience in IT at the time and didn't go to college. I figured the certifications would be a way to enter the field yet I was wrong.

I am older now with some college as I continue to go back to school and the labor market is improving. With minimal certifications you can work at geeksquad or some help desk position for as much as $14/hr today to start out. I now repair computers but this came after a few years of taking bad jobs and getting my associates. But get your degree if you want to go anywhere. Colleges today have a record number of students in them compared to the past. Employers are taking note and requiring degrees for everything. The babyboomer generation only had %24 of those with 4 year degrees. Today generation Y has %70+ attending college!

Re:MCSE + A+

[SoulRider]

Yes but the number attending does not even come close to the number actually getting degrees. Back in the 60's I would say that the number of baby boomers in college was pretty close to what it is today. If "generation Y"? actually gets a 70% degree rate then bachelors degrees will become worthless and you will need a masters (already moving in that direction). It doesnt matter if you have a phd with a 4.0 gpa, if you cant do the work you are unemployable. My guess is the vp that threw away the resume because the applicant didnt have a college degree is probably worthless as an employee (probably the CEOs brother-in-law or something).

I dont have a college degree, no certifications and I have managed to keep a job in the IT industry for over 25 years, by the way I work for one of the largest outsourcers there is. How? network (who you know gets you a job), learn (what you know keeps that job), adapt (do the job that needs to be done, not the job you want to do), expect nothing but give everything (expectations only lead to disapointment, you work they pay you, you are even on that account, a little unpaid overtime at crunch time goes an extremely long way). In the end an employer will value you as an employee if you add value to that company. And unfortunately adding value usually entails doing the mundane, boring and unglamorous work that, that company has to offer.

No way to know

[mungtor]

In my experience, it depends on what your prospective employers are looking for.

Me, I'm a UNIX admin with a MS in Engineering, no certifications and completely self taught. I've never (knock on wood) been out of a job, and right now I'm working with a bunch of people who put more value on what I could do and how I worked with a team than what certifications I (don't) have.

A friend of mine is a great Windows admin. He knows his Active Directory stuff well and all the arcane Exchange best practices like the back of his hand. He has multiple MS certs and works in a shithole. The last place he interviewed at, everybody on the team loved him but when his resume got to the VP he threw it away because he doesn't have a college degree. Threw it away. Over the objections of all the people who actually talked to him.

So, given that, gather a few of the cheaper certifications you can to get your foot in the door with the ignorant. They won't impress people who really know what the story is, but it will get you in the door to talk to them and impress them with what you really know.

Re:A Few to Note

[mattwarden]

People make fun of MCSD? I don't know where you work, but I work at one of the 'Big Six' consulting firms, and this is about as untrue as it comes. We do .NET and J2EE development in our custom development practice. Surprisingly, no one cares about J2EE certifications. MCSD is big, though.

In our architecture and infrastructure practice, certifications are huge (and probably required, although don't quote me on that). So if you are going into networking, make sure you do the typical certs (A+, etc.) That is not my area, so I can't help you with specifics.

If you are a data person, no one cares about certifications. If you are a process/system designer, no one cares about certifications. If you are an enterprise applications person (SAP, Oracle/Peoplesoft, etc.), certifications are useful.

So, in summary, on the enterprise level MCSD and all EA and A/I certs are relevant. All others are a waste of money. YMMV on other levels.

99.999% of Certs are completely worthless

[marz007]

Have any or all of them and $0.75 and you might be able to buy a cup of coffee at 7-Eleven. Seriously, I have a few, didn't pay for them myself, and wouldn't ever pay my own money for them, nor would I pay for one of my employees to go waste time there.

If you missed the Dilbert about, 'I summon the powers of certification'... go find it, it hit this right on the nose.

Hands on, reading the f*ing manual, figuring it out in YOUR network situation, calling tech support, etc. is better, cheaper and more worthwhile than any certification you could pay for. Those classes just digest the manual for you, then give you a few brief labs on basic stuff that you will need to modify, extend, get help to do, back at your office anyway.

-=Marz

Dive into the field and it doesn't matter.

[cornjones]

I have no certs but here is what I find:

Certs are a nice bump when the guy looking doesn't know what they need at all. College is useful b/c it shows you can complete a long term project. Good professional projects are their own certification (another reason I like project work). Being able to speak lucidly on working X problems through with Y technology and Z constraints is the most useful point to any employer and many will recognize that.

That said, if you don't know what you want to do, certs show that you know the domain of a technology. MS certs are not as useless as they used to be and are probably the most marketable. Just, never, never, never put your certifications at the top of your resume. As a rule of thumb, if the certs are the thing you are most proud of, I don't need to read the rest.

People Skills Cert.

[PaulMorel]

Most of these posts are utter nonsense. If you have a college degree, even if it's not in the branch of technology that you're applying for, and even if you didn't go to the best college, it doesn't matter what certifications you have. The only thing that matters is WHO you know.

If you have been friendly to recruiters, to professors, and to peers/colleagues, then one of them will suggest you for a job, and you will get it, no matter how unqualified you are. I speak from experience. Why?

Because a smart person can be trained to do anything, but a jerk will always be a jerk (for the most part). If an employer can find out that you aren't a jerk ahead of time, then you're gravy.

I worked as musician when I came out of a good college with my CS degree. I finally broke into CS because the guy I was interviewing with happened to have been a poker buddy of my father's ... 15 years ago. Major coincidence, but since my father had a good rep, he thought that I would be ok too. In less than 2 years following that, my salary went up by $15k.

So, quit worrying about your certification, nerds. Worry about your people skills.

Re:Yes, college still matters

[Anonymous Coward]

On paper, that's all well and good. But you're neglecting that most incur a massive amount of debt by going to college, which is going to take years up years to pay off.

I disagree with your statement about a ceiling. I think it's the exact opoosite. A college degree gets you in the door but once you have a certain amount of experience, that degree is worth nothing.

Consider this: Who would you rather hire; A fresh college graduate, or someone with 4 years of experience but no college diploma?