How rare are IT certifications?

[IndyColtsFan]

i would so not get hired. put me infront of a VMWare console, exchange server, Citrix server i can do my job, but to ask me how to do it in words i would fall falt on my face. muscle memory i guess. The only cert i have is an old ass Citrix cert.

A good IT interviewer does not ask "Tell me all the buttons you click to add an email box" and then not hire you because you forget a step. A good IT interviewer asks questions to see how you think and how you solve problems. You might have some conceptual questions in there ("Tell me about AD trusts") but no one cares if you know every single step of a task off the top of your head.

One classic interview at my last job asked a process question to a help desk interviewee: "A user calls and says she can't print to the network printer. Tell us your troubleshooting steps." We had a really bad candidate (an internal referal) and her very first response was "I'd call the network team." Obviously, that is a terrible answer and she was full of terrible answers that day.

 

[OutHouse]

One classic interview at my last job asked a process question to a help desk interviewee: "A user calls and says she can't print to the network printer. Tell us your troubleshooting steps."

That is exactly what i ask when i am asked to interview fresh meat for our helpdesk.

the other one i like to ask, i even made a thread of it years ago is. "say you are going to the break room and notice that the coffee pot is over flowing, what do you do"?

the answers i get from that are memorable...

 

[IndyColtsFan]

That is exactly what i ask when i am asked to interview fresh meat for our helpdesk.

the other one i like to ask, i even made a thread of it years ago is. "say you are going to the break room and notice that the coffee pot is over flowing, what do you do"?

the answers i get from that are memorable...

When the lady answered "I'd call the network team," she literally said no other word. We just stared at her and she sat there. Finally, we started prodding her. "The network engineer tells you the network is fine. What do you do next?" "Call the server admins." She had no initiative to do anything on her own and I think she thought she was applying to be a phone call router or something.

 

[Phynaz]

IT Certifications for the most part are for entry level people with no experience. They serve a purpose.

 

[Ns1]

the other one i like to ask, i even made a thread of it years ago is. "say you are going to the break room and notice that the coffee pot is over flowing, what do you do"?

1. Analyze the situation
2. Formulate a committee to determine options
3. Call meeting to discuss options with stakeholders
4. Formalize response, draft response, get approvals
5. Turn off coffee pot
6. Throw a pot luck for the team to thank them for their hard work in solving the problem. Pot lucks are a way for management to say "thank you for your hard work. As a token of our appreciation, you must now provide 1 dish for the entire department to consume"

 

[Juddog]

IT Certifications for the most part are for entry level people with no experience. They serve a purpose.

Really - you think it's that easy to get a CISSP, CCNA, or CCNP? I have yet to meet an entry-level person with either of those 3, and I've been in the IT business for 15 years.

 

[Oyeve]

Im an IT director. Been doing IT near 28yrs. My last "cert" was MSCE for NT4.

Certs are for noobs I guess, IMO google has killed the need for a fully certified guy. Hell, if I interview someone and give them a loaded question and if they answer that they would google it I would not hold it against them. We all do it. Hell, I google 50% of my job!

 

[SaurusX]

How are these IT exams compared to the actuary exams?

 

[Juddog]

Hahah I love this thread. An uneducated person might read this, and think "hey, this guy with a CCDE thinks he is the shizznit, doesn't he realize that certs are for noobs / entry level retards? All you need to do IT work is a computer with access to google!"

 

[Chapbass]

Certifications don't hurt your chances of getting jobs and promotions but they can be a bear to maintain. As a consultant I've got a slew of them (MCITP, EMC VNX IE, UCS TS, VCP, VCAP-DCA, DCD) and it's extremely difficult to stay on top of it all.

If you're not a consultant, my advice would be to pick one area (maybe two) you're interested in and want to focus your career on, get certified, and go from there.

I feel that this part is important. For example, I'm going down the Server admin path, with a focus on virtualization and storage. I have several years of experience, but not a TON (4 years virtualization/storage specific, 6-7 in IT in general) so for me, as far as certs go, VCP, VCAP, and some server and storage hardware certs could be important. Maybe a lesser cert for something else, like MCSA, could be useful as a "secondary" skill to show you're well rounded.

That said, if I were to start getting CCNA, CISSP, the microsoft one for DBAs that I cant think of right now, etc etc, then it just looks like I'm fishing for certs to try and be a jack of all trades and that I don't really take my core profession seriously. I'd be much better off spending my time studying and learning more VMWare related intracacies (even if it doesn't bring me a cert) because I can put it on my resume/talk to potential bosses about the stuff.



Okay, I'm rambling a bit, but I guess my TLDR is get the certs, especially the advanced ones, in the particular field you want to go into (networking, virtualization, databases, whatever), dont go around getting a bunch of entry level certs, as that just looks like you're trying to scratch the surface of everything.

 

[child of wonder]

Okay, I'm rambling a bit, but I guess my TLDR is get the certs, especially the advanced ones, in the particular field you want to go into (networking, virtualization, databases, whatever), dont go around getting a bunch of entry level certs, as that just looks like you're trying to scratch the surface of everything.

I agree. When I see a resume loaded with A+, Network+, Security+, Linux+, etc. I just roll my eyes.

 

[child of wonder]

Really - you think it's that easy to get a CISSP, CCNA, or CCNP? I have yet to meet an entry-level person with either of those 3, and I've been in the IT business for 15 years.

I work with a VCDX. I'm going to tell him he's an entry level noob who relies on Google.

 

[Chapbass]

I work with a VCDX. I'm going to tell him he's an entry level noob who relies on Google.

Do you really? Man, I'd love to go for that, but I'm nowhere close and it seems like that test would be stressful as hell. Is the dude just ace at everything VMWare?


Sidebar: how the IT market like in Minneapolis? I'm in Chicago, considering moving there for some other reasons, but I don't see very much on Monster/Careerbuilder as far as jobs go. Any insight on pay as well?

Don't want to derail this thread, just saw your location, so I had to ask.

 

[Chapbass]

Im an IT director. Been doing IT near 28yrs. My last "cert" was MSCE for NT4.

Certs are for noobs I guess, IMO google has killed the need for a fully certified guy. Hell, if I interview someone and give them a loaded question and if they answer that they would google it I would not hold it against them. We all do it. Hell, I google 50% of my job!

Hmmm...maybe we should start a governing body or whatever you want to call it that trains and certifies in Google-fu? Could be the start of something big....


EDIT: That said, I disagree that certs are for noobs. When it comes to adminitrating and fixing one-off problems, then definitely google can help. But if you're in the business of doing any sort of design work, where you're building from scratch (or rebuilding, adding on something big, whatever), then the nuts and bolts that certs teach you can help you get a much smoother running ship right from the getgo. All depends on what type of job you're doing.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I have MCSE 2000, 2003, MCITP:EA 2008.

I can't speak for the latest one since I only just got it, but the other two really helped me in getting a job.

I really should do 2012 as they gave me a cheap deal to do the first paper for free but I'm a bit burned out from that stuff.

 

[child of wonder]

Do you really? Man, I'd love to go for that, but I'm nowhere close and it seems like that test would be stressful as hell. Is the dude just ace at everything VMWare?


Sidebar: how the IT market like in Minneapolis? I'm in Chicago, considering moving there for some other reasons, but I don't see very much on Monster/Careerbuilder as far as jobs go. Any insight on pay as well?

Don't want to derail this thread, just saw your location, so I had to ask.

Really? I'm in Chicago right now doing some work.

IT market is good. Last I heard unemployment for IT professionals in the Twin Cities is really low, like 1.7%. I came from South Dakota, one of the lowest cost of living states out there, so pay was a big jump for me.

There's a lot of good companies looking for good people, mine included.

 

[Ns1]

Hmmm...maybe we should start a governing body or whatever you want to call it that trains and certifies in Google-fu? Could be the start of something big....

Google+?

oh wait...

 

[StinkyPinky]

Im an IT director. Been doing IT near 28yrs. My last "cert" was MSCE for NT4.

Certs are for noobs I guess, IMO google has killed the need for a fully certified guy. Hell, if I interview someone and give them a loaded question and if they answer that they would google it I would not hold it against them. We all do it. Hell, I google 50% of my job!

True, google is the best tech at our company. Way better than the rest of us.

 

[classy]

I went from a career that after 10 years I was making only 35K to switching to IT during the down time and after only 7 years making close to 70K. I did it with Certs and gaining experience. They say proof is in the pudding....................

 

[Chapbass]

Google+?

oh wait...

Hah!

 

[ImpulsE69]

Im an IT director. Been doing IT near 28yrs. My last "cert" was MSCE for NT4.

Certs are for noobs I guess, IMO google has killed the need for a fully certified guy. Hell, if I interview someone and give them a loaded question and if they answer that they would google it I would not hold it against them. We all do it. Hell, I google 50% of my job!

HAHA so this. It's one thing to have a paper saying you have knowledge, it's another knowing how to find the knowledge you don't know w/o bugging everyone else to tell you. A lot can be said for initiative.

The only certs I ever had were vendor specific things for certain jobs. Otherwise, I've done just fine with plain old experience and initiative.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Im an IT director. Been doing IT near 28yrs. My last "cert" was MSCE for NT4.

Certs are for noobs I guess, IMO google has killed the need for a fully certified guy.

Care to discuss Exchange Server backups? (I kid, I kid)

Hell, if I interview someone and give them a loaded question and if they answer that they would google it I would not hold it against them. We all do it. Hell, I google 50% of my job!

At my last company, we had a unique approach to interviewing IT people. On the first interview, we asked tech questions and also asked them to complete a written exam. On the second interview, we gave them the same exam but let them have access to a PC so they could Google information to help them solve the problems. If your score went way up, that was a positive.

 

[Insomniator]

Hmm maybe I should try to put together a resume now based on my exp and see how it looks. I just don't think it would get a lot of attention, especially because I'm not very specialized yet. 4 years exp and an IT degree from Rutgers.

I think I could nail interviews if I got them... I'd be happy with the same level job I just want to move to a new location (nyc).

 

[blurredvision]

How was 410? There are no practice tests for it... I don't even know if these tests are multiple choice or fill ins or what. The only section that worries me is IPv6 because well.... WTF is going on in that chapter.

The 410 is somewhat easy if you've worked with Server products for a while. A lot of the questions pertain to the new server manager. I don't recall a single IPv6 question, just a couple about IPv4 subnetting that's it.

The 410, 411 and 412 are all multiple choice with a couple of non-complicated drag-and-drops sprinkled in. Not sure about the 413 and 414.

 

[brianmanahan]

they probably dont apply as much in software dev because you often have to know a lot about the business in addition to programming, plus team management if you are a lead

in all other parts of IT you just care about tech, dont have to actually be intimiately involved with the business domain.

this is why i consider all other parts of IT slightly less legit :awe: