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The IT Certs That No Longer Pay Extra

Posted by samzenpus on from the changing-values dept.

snydeq writes "Overall employment in tech is improving, but the certs you could once count on for a job or extra pay are losing their value, InfoWorld reports. 'Businesses no longer value what are increasingly considered standard skills, and instead are putting their money both into a new set of emerging specialties and into hybrid technology/business roles.'"

15 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. Hybrid Programmer-BusinessAnalyst Roles by sanman2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think that the ability to succeed in a hybridized programmer-businessanalyst role depends on how complex the business and its processes are, as well as how complex its IT platforms are. If you're a more simpler company with simpler business processes and simpler platforms, then it's doable. But if you're in a complicated business environment with complex IT infrastructure, then creating these hybridized roles is asking for trouble.

    1. Re:Hybrid Programmer-BusinessAnalyst Roles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      But a hybridized role offers the possibility of leveraging the perspectives of both, creating synergistic opportunities resulting from such unique dual-paradigm exposure.

    2. Re:Hybrid Programmer-BusinessAnalyst Roles by c0lo · · Score: 5, Informative

      Just like how business graduates leveraged fast talking with dick wagging! And look at those guys.
      They get million dollar bonuses while the companies they pilot crashland into the ground and investors feel the synergy of being gang-raped and immolated.

      FTFY

      --
      Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    3. Re:Hybrid Programmer-BusinessAnalyst Roles by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not everyone should be generalists, sure. However, IT in the past decade or two has in fact shifted towards the idea that everyone should be specialists, and that's wrong as well. Not just for small outfits where people will fill several roles out of necessity; it's true even in large corporations that can afford to retain numerous specialists. Some of those large corporations now see an increasing need for generalists who are able to keep an overview of the tech landscape as well as the business landscape. You don't just need communication between the various specialists and between it and the business, you need coordination, and for that, neither a manager nor a specialist will suffice; you'll need a generalist techie with good business knowledge as well.

      Being such a generalist can be a great deal of fun (it's what I currently do), but there is a snag. Good generalists are hard to find, perhaps because so many choose to specialise. It takes a good deal of searching to fill a generalist position, or one has to tailor the role slightly to the person that one finds, which goes directly against the idea of ever increasing specialisation, and the parameterisation and compartimentalisation of IT work. As a results, generalist roles are often poorly understood and perceived to be hard to manage. The work's great and if you do it well, everyone will wonder how they ever did without having someone like you. But in my own experience it is very hard to carve out an actual career for yourself this way. For the aforementioned reasons, not because there is no need for generalists.

      By the way, the trend towards ever deeper specialisation does not only exist in tech work; I see it happening in many other fields as well. And it isn't just the result of the maturation of professions; I suspect that there is another important factor: our managers and the methods used for running our companies. These days it's all management-by-the-numbers, spreadsheets and dashboards. The managers behind those dashboards love managing resources, but in general they hate managing people, and there is a difference.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  2. Good, Because Certs Are Worthless by afabbro · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There are really own two certs I respect: Cisco's CCIE and Oracle's OCM. Both require hands-on lab demonstrations of skill. (Is RedHat doing that now, too?)

    All other certs are undervalued by dumps. Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco - you name it, all you need to do is buy or torrent the questions online, memorize the answers, and go in and take the test. Literally, anyone with zero knowledge of the material can do this. It's laughable.

    When I've been involved in hiring, I've never really paid attention to someone's certs. I'd certainly hire someone with several years of hands-on experience in a technology who wasn't certified over someone with no experience who was.

    --
    Advice: on VPS providers
    1. Re:Good, Because Certs Are Worthless by cashman73 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I thought that the only certificate that tech employers cared about was the H1B?

    2. Re:Good, Because Certs Are Worthless by StuartHankins · · Score: 5, Informative

      Red Hat exams involve configuring, testing and repairing live systems.

      http://www.redhat.com/training/certifications/rhce/
      http://www.redhat.com/training/certifications/expertise/

    3. Re:Good, Because Certs Are Worthless by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Interesting

      In other words, a reasonably experienced admin armed with Google and a basic knowledge of LDAP, DNS and Windows configuration is better armed for working with an Active Directory environment than someone who received a Microsoft certification.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    4. Re:Good, Because Certs Are Worthless by txsable · · Score: 5, Informative

      Correct, the RHCT/RHCSA and RHCE certs do require a hands-on lab exam. I've done both of those--actually, all three since the RHEL5 to RHEL6 update happened between when I got my RHCT and RHCE, I had to take the RHCSA for RHEL6 before I could take the RHCE.

      (wow, I don't usually type that many initialisms in one sentence...)

  3. Re:Dev Certs are Not Worthwhile by c0lo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In fact, when I read a resume, I am happy to see no certificates.

    Me too, the reason being: I appreciate persons that value their time (i.e. better do nothing - not even gain experience - than waste the time with the certification).

    --
    Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
  4. No job yet, but... by multiben · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have certificate of participation I received for my recent attendance in an "Equality at Work" seminar. Still no job offers as yet, but I expect the big bucks to start rolling in anytime soon.

  5. Re:Easily answered by wickedskaman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Part of being driven is networking and getting solutions using all resources available to you.

    --
    Sand's overrated... it's just tiny little rocks.
  6. RHCE requires a hard hands on lab. Only 5% pass. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In 2000, my company flew 20 system administrators to a week-long course all day Monday to Thursday. On Friday, we had to take the exam: a four-part lab and long test (100 questions if I recall correctly). The four-part lab was hard. Everyone had one computer assigned to him. The instructor would load a disk image onto each computer. The OS was broken or mis-configured in some way. For example, it might not boot, or you couldn't logon, or it might not load a webpage. You had to figure out how it was broken and how to fix it on your own. We had no access to internet, but I think you could use the manual (not that it would help you directly).

    I had studied every night for a month before the class. I studied again every night Monday through Thursday during our class. During Friday's exam, I think it took me around 30 minutes on average to fix each of the four broken OS images. By the time I finished, many of my coworkers were still on the first or second problem. When the results came back, I was the only person who passed. Our of 20 people our company paid to fly across the country and put up in a hotel, I was the only person who earned a RHCE certificate. My conclusion: I respect anyone who has it. It certainly has no resemblance to a certificate that requires only a multiple-choice exam taken at some Prometric franchise.

  7. Re:RHCE requires a hard hands on lab. Only 5% pass by slaughts · · Score: 5, Informative

    I couldn't agree more. I used to think that the RHCE was a joke, and anyone could get one, but after taking the exam last year, I definitely respect anyone that passes it. I've been using Linux for 15+ years, and I found it very challenging. I struggled with a few of the things I don't do on a day-to-day basis, but having years of experience I was able to work through them.

  8. Re:Weighing certifications while hiring by captbob2002 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Careful, some of us with cert may agree with you but we went out and got them in order to get past the HR weenies that throw away resumes that lack the appropriate buzzwords/acronyms.