Certifications!?!?!?!

[Black99transam]

Are certifications worth it? I have alittle over 5 years experince in the IT world and I got most of that from the military i am now out in the civilian sector and I'm currently working as PC/network tech. I am getting allot of good experince here and will eventually be moving on, my question is should I get my MCSA and or MCSE relitivly soon? Are they worth the tiem or is my cirrent expernince equal to these? How should I go about getting my cert? Technical college, self study though books and CDS or one of those online streaming viedo things? Thanks in advance!

 

[Nightfall]

This might belong in off topic, so if you don't get many replies, try there...

I am sure you will get a ton of thoughts on this issue. Here are mine.

As someone who has worked in IT for over 10 years, and now I do hiring in IT for the company I work for, there are 4 things I look for in a candidate.

1. Education - Nothing replaces a college degree. I have a 4 year degree in CIS and it continues to help me.
2. Certifications - Having these does help the cause if they are up to date. Obviously, a MCP in Windows NT 4.0 is not worth as much as one in Windows 2000 or 2003 Server.
3. Experience - Self-explanatory
4. Knowledge - What software, hardware, topologies, technologies, etc. do you know.

A balance on all 4 will get you the job you are looking for. Certifications without the rest won't help you in the long run. I remember back in the dot com boom when certifications were seen as a bypass from college. Hundreds of kids got certifications and got jobs. However, the problem was these kids didn't have the experience or the education to really make a big impact or stay in the job market. Now, just getting that MCSE isn't going to help you much if you don't have the experience, knowledge, or education to back it up.

I don't know your education background, but you should have some good experience while in the military. Now you will need to continue to get good experience in the computer sector. Working as a PC/Network tech is a good start. My current job expanded into a directors position from a PC/Network tech in fact. Would a MCSE help you? I would say a college degree in CIS AND a MCSE would help you the best. Maybe you can go back to college and get both while getting college credit at the same time?

Good luck!

 

[Nightfall]

blah, double post

 

[trend]

Depends if you want to work for someone or run your own IT business..

If you want to get hired for a computer job, do what nightfall says.

If you are doing work for yourself.. It really doesn't matter after you have a big "have done work for" client list.

If someone asks me if I went to school for this.. Ijust expalin how what they wanted to teach me was what I learned years ago when I was doing work for such and such.. and I really did want to get into the higher level senior level classes, but I wasn't going to waste my money/time with taking the classes that I already have had already proven knowledge in.

Then I just go into how I have done security testing for billion dollar companies (they paid me.. not the other type ), how I have tutoried CEOs of large corporations, done work for franchies, etc.

These cert classes are great for what they are..

but I cnanot tell you how much I have learned from actually doing the work..
Example:
Person calls me up asking to fix their internet.

They explain they have had some power surges lately..

I ask them if they tried to do anything to fix this issue (so you can fix what they broke after you fix what the power surge broke) <<learned lesson
(unplugged router, plugged it back in) fixed..
Then their computers will not share files... so I see if they have sp2 insatlled, if so dissable firewalling <<well this might be in the books.. next year.
fixed...

Time there under 5minutes.. timed learned through experience on what to do (about 3 hours on site of another custoemr's location)

You can read and read until your face is blue, but most people are avg and most errors for avg customers will beavg ..

You get my drift.. nothing beats experience, but if you aren't troubleshooting someone's issue.. you still need to readup and further yourself

 

[Terumo]

Originally posted by: Black99transam
Are certifications worth it? I have alittle over 5 years experince in the IT world and I got most of that from the military i am now out in the civilian sector and I'm currently working as PC/network tech. I am getting allot of good experince here and will eventually be moving on, my question is should I get my MCSA and or MCSE relitivly soon? Are they worth the tiem or is my cirrent expernince equal to these? How should I go about getting my cert? Technical college, self study though books and CDS or one of those online streaming viedo things? Thanks in advance!

From what I've seen, what counts is experience, very good at troubleshooting, good writing and reading skills, can work with clients well, and work long hours if required (i.e., not bitch all the time about having to goto a worksite on Saturday and work until 11pm).

If you're planning to work for a Fortune 500 company, you'll need the paper. If you plan to work for a medium to small shop, what counts is experience and dependability. Sometimes employers are also willing to send you to college to get your computer science degree with extra speciality training (the route one of my relatives took, with schooling as a network engineer and managing mainframes), if you show that your experience is too good to let pass (he was former military, yet wasn't even a computer tech).

There's a lot of competition in the market, so paper alone isn't what's going to get you hired. Stick with trying to get a solid experience base not only on the common jobs, but something more challenging (like designing and installing a complex network and maintaining it). More projects you completed the better your resume will look and you employer knows that once hired you can do a job completely. IT is a very performance based profession, what counts is if you can do a job, do it well and on schedule.