That may once have been true, but many HR departments are populated with technology professionals, who can filter resumes and get them to the right hiring manager.
Certifications, IMHO, should be used to gauge against what is actually on the resume. If there is a certification on the resume and no actual experience, then that resume does not get the same treatment as the resume that illustrates experience in a particular technical skill.
Believe it or not, recruiters like me are reading the resumes and not only looking at the certifications and buzzwords. I look for experience by project first.
There are times when I have talked a manager into seeing a candidate that only wanted to see CISCO people. He hired the Nortel candidate. It's all a matter of knowing the manager's hiring needs and understanding the technical environment.
As an HR Consultant within IT services, I often receive resumes that have certifications. From a money perspective, a certification may very well help to add to your personal bottom line. From a practical point of view, a certification demonstrates knowledge in a specific area of expertise.
The original reasoning behind certifications (within technology) was to validate what an individual already knew. This is not the case today since certifications are used to gain entry into a particular area.
I can confidently say that all of the hiring managers that I support regularly say to me that the certification(s) that a person holds is fine so long that they can perform the duties and responsibilities of the position.
Additionally, in our litigious society, the certification process is used by some firms in order to further insure against lawsuits from their clients.
If you are one of the people with knowledge in a particular area of information technology, use the fact that the recruiter may not know what you do as an opportunity to educate them. This goes a long way towards that recruiter working on your behalf.
For those of you that hoping to land that next (or first) position/contract, you want to consider using language that a layman can easily grasp. Explain the projects that you have worked on and the technical environment (you may also want to consider placing the details of the technical environment in a separate paragraph).
In conclusion, the certification of technical skills is still important, as it adds value (and money) to the technical environment that you are working in. For my part, I hope that the certification process goes back to its roots; it should be used to validate experience.
Slashdot Mirror
That may once have been true, but many HR departments are populated with technology professionals, who can filter resumes and get them to the right hiring manager. Certifications, IMHO, should be used to gauge against what is actually on the resume. If there is a certification on the resume and no actual experience, then that resume does not get the same treatment as the resume that illustrates experience in a particular technical skill. Believe it or not, recruiters like me are reading the resumes and not only looking at the certifications and buzzwords. I look for experience by project first. There are times when I have talked a manager into seeing a candidate that only wanted to see CISCO people. He hired the Nortel candidate. It's all a matter of knowing the manager's hiring needs and understanding the technical environment.
As an HR Consultant within IT services, I often receive resumes that have certifications. From a money perspective, a certification may very well help to add to your personal bottom line. From a practical point of view, a certification demonstrates knowledge in a specific area of expertise.
The original reasoning behind certifications (within technology) was to validate what an individual already knew. This is not the case today since certifications are used to gain entry into a particular area.
I can confidently say that all of the hiring managers that I support regularly say to me that the certification(s) that a person holds is fine so long that they can perform the duties and responsibilities of the position.
Additionally, in our litigious society, the certification process is used by some firms in order to further insure against lawsuits from their clients.
If you are one of the people with knowledge in a particular area of information technology, use the fact that the recruiter may not know what you do as an opportunity to educate them. This goes a long way towards that recruiter working on your behalf.
For those of you that hoping to land that next (or first) position/contract, you want to consider using language that a layman can easily grasp. Explain the projects that you have worked on and the technical environment (you may also want to consider placing the details of the technical environment in a separate paragraph).
In conclusion, the certification of technical skills is still important, as it adds value (and money) to the technical environment that you are working in. For my part, I hope that the certification process goes back to its roots; it should be used to validate experience.