I appreciate this balanced response and I want to add a few points.
First, I didn't get my technical job nine years ago with an MCSE, but my Master's degree certainly didn't hurt me when I applied. It didn't mean I know everything but it does mean (to competent managers) a person is able, at the very least, to envision a goal and complete a course of study. Indeed, I have moved up the ranks over the last nine years because I have continued to demonstrate that I still have the qualities I showed in taking on and completing a graduate course of study.
Second, when my supervisor looks at resumes, the MCSE is a plus. It doesn't mean the person will be hired, but it is a plus -- only a moron would think otherwise. I will also attest, because I am speaking without bias, that at least one tech in our group is pretty damned incompetent -- EVEN THOUGH he has an MCSE. In fact most would agree he is the WORST in the group. Still, some might say that being at the bottom is better (for him) than not being able to find a job at all -- and I suspect he got the job because of that little bit of extra something his certification promised.
I often hear that some managers shred resumes that bear the acronym MCSE, but I don't believe it unless the certification is accompanied by some other sign or signs that the person is not suited to the job -- for example, a complete lack of experience in IT or large gaps of time unaccounted for in a job history. To toss a resume ONLY because those four letters appear on it is total idiocy, and a competent manager wouldn't do it.
Third, regarding the "clueless" person who might not know something about UNIX, anyone who works with computers ought to know that there are a bazillion things to know, and nobody knows them all. There is ALWAYS a detail that you don't know, and ALWAYS a mistake to make -- including whether to spell MCSE MCSE or MSCE. I'll tell you right now nine out of ten engineers I work with always spell "lose" as "loose," which I consider idiotic (and they CANNOT learn to spell it correctly); but that doesn't mean they can't troubleshoot a network or write savvy programs. So who knows everything? Raw scorn usually means insecurity, just like sarcasm about certification comes 90% from people who never bothered to get any.
Finally, certification is costly. Whether it is worth the money and the time invested is a decision every individual has to make (I'm still paying off my student loans and I'm still angry about it). Maybe it's NOT worth it -- but to say a company will reject someone because (and only because) they have certification is like saying a company will reject someone because they know something about the job they're applying for. It's nonsense.
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I appreciate this balanced response and I want to add a few points.
First, I didn't get my technical job nine years ago with an MCSE, but my Master's degree certainly didn't hurt me when I applied. It didn't mean I know everything but it does mean (to competent managers) a person is able, at the very least, to envision a goal and complete a course of study. Indeed, I have moved up the ranks over the last nine years because I have continued to demonstrate that I still have the qualities I showed in taking on and completing a graduate course of study.
Second, when my supervisor looks at resumes, the MCSE is a plus. It doesn't mean the person will be hired, but it is a plus -- only a moron would think otherwise. I will also attest, because I am speaking without bias, that at least one tech in our group is pretty damned incompetent -- EVEN THOUGH he has an MCSE. In fact most would agree he is the WORST in the group. Still, some might say that being at the bottom is better (for him) than not being able to find a job at all -- and I suspect he got the job because of that little bit of extra something his certification promised.
I often hear that some managers shred resumes that bear the acronym MCSE, but I don't believe it unless the certification is accompanied by some other sign or signs that the person is not suited to the job -- for example, a complete lack of experience in IT or large gaps of time unaccounted for in a job history. To toss a resume ONLY because those four letters appear on it is total idiocy, and a competent manager wouldn't do it.
Third, regarding the "clueless" person who might not know something about UNIX, anyone who works with computers ought to know that there are a bazillion things to know, and nobody knows them all. There is ALWAYS a detail that you don't know, and ALWAYS a mistake to make -- including whether to spell MCSE MCSE or MSCE. I'll tell you right now nine out of ten engineers I work with always spell "lose" as "loose," which I consider idiotic (and they CANNOT learn to spell it correctly); but that doesn't mean they can't troubleshoot a network or write savvy programs. So who knows everything? Raw scorn usually means insecurity, just like sarcasm about certification comes 90% from people who never bothered to get any.
Finally, certification is costly. Whether it is worth the money and the time invested is a decision every individual has to make (I'm still paying off my student loans and I'm still angry about it). Maybe it's NOT worth it -- but to say a company will reject someone because (and only because) they have certification is like saying a company will reject someone because they know something about the job they're applying for. It's nonsense.