IT Certifications are impossible.

[Insomniator]

I've been working with vmware years... I can set it up, set up storage, networking, troubleshoot, maintain etc... my job is vmware/windows admin and I'm at least AVERAGE at it!

So work is pushing/paying for training always and I need to take the 6.5 'Foundations' exam which will allow me to take the real VCP exam (might be two, don't remember). Problem is -- it seems impossible.

I cannot recite off the top of my head every single menu option in exact order for every single GUI type, or know exactly how much of X every single feature supports. I'm not going to remember all of these possible tricks with questions that they openly admit to in these 120 exam practice videos. So far they are basically saying - read and know the entire vSphere Documentation Manual word for word and watch out in case we flip two random words to change the answer entirely.

The worst part is that this isn't even the real exam! Just a get your feet wet kind of thing to prepare me to take the actual exams.

Am I out of the club and missing the part where everyone just downloads dumps and memorizes exact questions? Is that what I'm supposed to be doing? Am I a fool for attempting to study?

Same for the Microsoft exams except they seem even worse. The most annoying part is is that I've worked with plenty of people certified up their asses and seemed to know squat, and vice versa.

/rant

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm the same way, I'm glad my company does not require any kind of certs, but I'm also out of the IT field. I think the IT department is starting to go that route where I work. I absolutely suck at theory stuff. It's stupid to even have to learn stuff like that by heart, you either know how when it's in front of you, or you can just look it up. I use to barely pass Cisco tests in college, but would ace the hands on part.

 

[rsutoratosu]

My last cert was mcse windows nt4 / sql 7 / exchange 5.5. You need to figure out whats next for you.. the way I see it, the sys admin jobs will be phase out slowly as more people move to data center (cloud/azure/amazon/etc) they'll need less sys admin. I'm transitioning my sys admin into database / data mining positions. ill miss the days that you can talk about esx and iscsi..

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I think all of the cert stuff is stupid. 90% of the time you're googling at work for the issue anyways. My co-worker did his A+ and had to spend all of this money and time studying and when I looked through the book, it's all common sense stuff. Why do you have to memorize every single thing in there when it's a search away. Half the stuff on there gets outdated within a year or so anyways.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

They arent impossible, they are just shitty written and dont focus on real world ideas/concepts and procedures.

Case in point, cisco doesnt have how to upgrade code on the exam but do expect you to learn all of the logging levels and their names. Because thats been useful never in my 20+ year career.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The worse part too is that they expire. So you do all that work and it's only good for 3 years. It would probably take me 3 years to study for one. It's nothing but a big money grab.

There are people that are "book smart" and can ace all that stuff no problem, but then they have no clue when it comes to actually applying it.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Like most certifications, I just assume the study guides teach you how to take the test, not teach you the material.

Jump through the hoops like other people do. You just need to put in the time & effort.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Its designed for paper tigers. And dumb companies (like my employer) loves to hire them.

 

[RLGL]

The most annoying part is is that I've worked with plenty of people certified up their asses and seemed to know squat, and vice versa.

I am a retired mechanic, I know your pain. I once worked with someone who had passed the " Master Mechanic" tests in my field. Thing is, he couldn't troubleshoot his way out of a paper bag.

 

[Thebobo]

Report to Job, panel shows ground fault. Ask building manager if contractors are doing work in building, blame contractors. 99.999 time it true.

 

[sourceninja]

I think the OP is over complicating things. The VCP exams are pretty much a cakewalk if you have 3-4 years experience in vmware (and it's ancillary products). You don't need to memorize every gui option. The test is multiple choice and if you are familiar with the product you will narrow down the choice down to two in a instant.

I have over 25 IT certifications. Multiple cisco, vmware, All the AWS certs, multiple Microsoft, Linux, multiple hardware vendors, etc. My advice is always the same.

1. Learn the foundations
   • You are not going to get a CCNA if you can't do basic binary math
   • You are not going to have a shot at modern MCSA exams without understanding powershell, etc.
2. Learn how to use the product for real
   • This means you to need to lab it up.
   • Books are guides but they are not teachers - Come up with your own scenarios and test them.
   • Seek a mentor - You will have questions, they will have answers. This is especially important for policy based exams (security).
   • Know how to do it both in the GUI and the terminal. I failed my CCNA:Security the first time out because I knew how to configure ASA's on the terminal, but not with ASDM (The gui).
3. Learn the terminology
   • Every technology has special terms. You can be a amazon network engineer, but if you can't recite the OSI model (even if you understand it) you are lost.
   • Flashcards!
4. Learn the administrative information
   • This is big on Microsoft and vmware, you are going to be asked licensing, upgrade paths, etc.
5. Learn the material/company way.
   • There might be five ways to do something that are all correct, but there is only one "right" way.
   • This is where you need a study guide for the test.
   • Note that in some cases you might need to know multiple "right ways".
   • Read the white papers - This is huge for AWS you can get 60% of the answers right from white papers.

Once you have that, it's time to test prep/test

1. Pre-Test
   • Never ever braindump a test. This is cheating and you are only hurting yourself.
   • Find example questions - All test makers have sample questions that will help you understand the format and the style of the questions.
   • Read the exam guide - All test makers post a document letting you know what areas the test will cover and points associated with each section.
   • Are there labs? If there are labs, see if you can track down some sample labs or build your own labs.
   • Take a approved practice quiz - Note that sometimes these are harder than the real quiz.
   • Make flashcards, drill them.
   • Join a group of like minded individuals, talk shop.
   • It's easier than you think - Most of these tests are way easier and you are just working yourself up. They sound hard on paper, but 90% of them are cakewalks if you prepared at all.
2. Testing tips
   • Read the last line of a question - Most of the time this is the question.
   • The the answers next, try to exclude obvious bad answers.
   • If you are still in doubt, read the question.
   • If the quiz allows you to go back to previous questions, write down or flag questions you are unsure on. Future questions may provide the answer.
   • If paper is provided, don't be afraid to 'dump' to the paper before starting the exam. Unless the rules prohibit it, many timers do not start until you accept the EULA. This is a great time to jot down those last minute things you memorized or to write down a grid or anything else that might be useful to you.
   • Do not second guess yourself. When you reach the end of the test only review questions you did not answer. If you answered and even thought you had a clue go with that. Your first choice is more often than not the right choice.
3. After the test
   • Pass or fail, if the test results tell you the areas you are weak on, go study again. Use this as a chance to learn and grow.
   • Try not to renew certifications, but to grow beyond them. If you have a a+, don't take it again, take a net+ or security+. It renews the previous certification and forces you to grow.

A lot of people discourage certifications. They will point to that paper tiger they met or how they are unrealistic etc. Ignore them. You never hear anyone complain about the uncertified guy who can't do anything simply because that guy was unlikely to get the job at all! Certifications don't make masters, they make baselines. At a minimum it means you understand the terminology and have exposure to the material. It can also breed confidence. Many certifications will expose you to material, patterns, or concepts that your job may not. I worked with VMware for a decade and I never used their replication or backup products. I had to learn them for my VCP. When I took my Office 365 MCSA exam I also had to learn to use sharepoint, a product I don't think should even exist, but I got more exposure to it and learned something I never would otherwise. And yes, many of the tests will require you to learn something that is "not real world", but you would be suprised how often I find things in the real world that are not "real world". For example I had to learn to use elastic beanstalk for my AWS devops pro exam. Nobody would recommend using that in the real world, but I've ran into it more times than I can count now and knowing it has allowed me to help people get off of it.

I'm obviously not an expert in everything I have a certification in. I can however claim to be much more well rounded and speak to exactly why I got each one. I use certifications as a target for continuing my education. Like a boss fight in a video game. If I don't have a end game I can't bring myself to study. I'd like to encourage everyone to go take a exam. It's good for you and you just might learn something.

 

[Riverhound777]

Certs are useless, i've always said it. They help you get your foot in the door until experience takes over, or at least that's how it should be. It's a scam if employers require you to take them I say. The last I took was for 2013 MCSA, I got 2 tests in and then just didn't have time. All they were was memorizing the questions.

I think the main problem is that it's a vicious cycle of people getting the questions and handing them out, so people get like 98-100% on the tests, so MS thinks, oh these are too easy and everyone is passing, we need to make it harder. They never stop and think about why, or if students are actually learning anything. All my tests where was memorizing shell commands and crap, which I will never remember and just google anyway.

I'll give an example, they change the syntax for commands going from 2007 to 2010+ for Exchange powershell. So on the test they will show you the old command and the new one. Both are correct, but they want to know if you memorized the new command. Why is that important? I just google exchange 2010 mailbox export, I don't care if it's Get-MailboxExportRequest or Export-Mailbox. It's all a money grab. And yes I looked those commands up in our Exchange Evernote notes, haha.

My boss has given up on reminding me. He took a VMWare exam and agreed it didn't teach him anything useful.

sourceninja, you sound like a CBT teacher

 

[sourceninja]

Certs are useless, i've always said it. They help you get your foot in the door until experience takes over, or at least that's how it should be. It's a scam if employers require you to take them I say. The last I took was for 2013 MCSA, I got 2 tests in and then just didn't have time. All they were was memorizing the questions.

I think the main problem is that it's a vicious cycle of people getting the questions and handing them out, so people get like 98-100% on the tests, so MS thinks, oh these are too easy and everyone is passing, we need to make it harder. They never stop and think about why, or if students are actually learning anything. All my tests where was memorizing shell commands and crap, which I will never remember and just google anyway.

My boss has given up on reminding me. He took a VMWare exam and agreed it didn't teach him anything useful.

Why would a exam teach you anything? That's not the point of a certification. It's about vetting experience. The road to getting it is where you learn. There is a reason MS is putting all those powershell commands into the exam. The days of GUI are dying in the cloud and there are generations of Microsoft IT administrators who have never used powershell and possibly have never even used the terminal for any administrative tasks. Understanding the structure of a powershell command, the inputs, the way it deals without output (How many people complain that powershell doesn't produce complete output because they don't understand how powershell works?), etc are what they want to make sure you understand. Is it better for you to google "How to add a new AD user via powershell?" or to know it's New-ADUser and to simply lookup the options? Saying "I'd just google it" wouldn't cut it in front of a customer or in an interview with me. It didn't cut it when I was a Unix admin 10 years ago either. If I said I knew how to use DNS and someone said "How do you add a CNAME record to bind?" I didn't reply with "I don't need to memorize that, I can just google it." IT administrators are going to have to get used to having interview processes a lot closer to what developers go though. I'm expecting all my engineers to be able to write scripts quickly, build repeatable and reusable tools, and to only use RDP/SSH as a very very very last resort. Infrastructure is code now as far as I'm concerned.

One of my new hire tests is to write a script that takes tabular data, processes it to retrieve usernames and public ssh keys, ensures each user exists on the system and that the only public SSH key in their authorized keys is the one listed there. It should take a competent engineer no time to do. The ones who complain it's not real world because they would use puppet/chef/etc don't understand the point of the question. It's do you know how to use your tools? I don't care if they do it with sed, awk, grep, cut, etc. I want them to show me they know how to use their tools. MS exam questions are very similar in that aspect.

 

[Riverhound777]

Why would a exam teach you anything? That's not the point of a certification. It's about vetting experience. The road to getting it is where you learn. There is a reason MS is putting all those powershell commands into the exam. The days of GUI are dying in the cloud and there are generations of Microsoft IT administrators who have never used powershell and possibly have never even used the terminal for any administrative tasks. Understanding the structure of a powershell command, the inputs, the way it deals without output (How many people complain that powershell doesn't produce complete output because they don't understand how powershell works?), etc are what they want to make sure you understand. Is it better for you to google "How to add a new AD user via powershell?" or to know it's New-ADUser and to simply lookup the options? Saying "I'd just google it" wouldn't cut it in front of a customer or in an interview with me. It didn't cut it when I was a Unix admin 10 years ago either. If I said I knew how to use DNS and someone said "How do you add a CNAME record to bind?" I didn't reply with "I don't need to memorize that, I can just google it." IT administrators are going to have to get used to having interview processes a lot closer to what developers go though. I'm expecting all my engineers to be able to write scripts quickly, build repeatable and reusable tools, and to only use RDP/SSH as a very very very last resort. Infrastructure is code now as far as I'm concerned.

One of my new hire tests is to write a script that takes tabular data, processes it to retrieve usernames and public ssh keys, ensures each user exists on the system and that the only public SSH key in their authorized keys is the one listed there. It should take a competent engineer no time to do. The ones who complain it's not real world because they would use puppet/chef/etc don't understand the point of the question. It's do you know how to use your tools? I don't care if they do it with sed, awk, grep, cut, etc. I want them to show me they know how to use their tools. MS exam questions are very similar in that aspect.

You may be right in the large business world, and I suppose many people on here could be going that route, but in my world of IT consulting for small businesses, I rarely do any powershell or scripts. When I do, I look them up.

I'm sure there are lots of things I need to know that you probably never deal with, like figuring out how to pull port forward lists from some old random off brand firewall that hasn't been used in 10 years and configuring a brand new firewall from scratch with the ports and rules. I do that once a month, you might replace your company firewall once every 5 years.

So for me, experience is everything, tests mean jack. I concede that may not be true for everyone.

 

[child of wonder]

My office wall used to be covered in framed certifications from VMware, Microsoft, EMC, and Cisco. They're useful if you work in a implementation or administration role, but for the most part unless your employer specifically wants you to get them, outside of a few key ones, they're mostly useless. Outside of the VCP (which my company pays me to keep current) I don't bother with any of them anymore and let them all expire.

Build yourself a lab, find an online study guide, spend a few hours a week messing around, quit whining, and pass the exam.

 

[Chess]

If you work in the federal sector, its required for contractors, towards the qual....
Most of the time a Senior Network Engineer will look like this...
12+ years of Experience in C4I, Computer Science, MIS Degree, + CCNA/CCNP.

I work within DoD, so Sec+ is required, but I have plenty of certs, if you work on the stuff everyday its rather simple...


My boss wants me to get my PMP, so I am doing the bootcamp at the end of April... shall be interesting

 

[Chess]

My office wall used to be covered in framed certifications from VMware, Microsoft, EMC, and Cisco. They're useful if you work in a implementation or administration role, but for the most part unless your employer specifically wants you to get them, outside of a few key ones, they're mostly useless. Outside of the VCP (which my company pays me to keep current) I don't bother with any of them anymore and let them all expire.

Build yourself a lab, find an online study guide, spend a few hours a week messing around, quit whining, and pass the exam.

Hit the nail on the head there @child of wonder

 

[Genx87]

Ran into too many paper MCSEs in my time. My favorite is the guy who came down to our test site bragging about all his certs. Within 8 hours was sent packing because he took the site managers laptop off the domain to install a printer. And didnt know the local admin password. Nice work there buddy.

These tests are supposed to provide a basis for employers to gauge knowledge. But it is a test. If you dont use it daily it means dick all. And experiences outweigh test taking any day of the week imo. I passed the CCNA 15 years ago. Havent touched Crisco equipment since. Put me on a cisco terminal session today and watch as I flail about trying to do the most basic of tasks. And our organization uses cisco lol. Though I manage the people who perform the work.

 

[Insomniator]

Its easier to whine though

It does seem like a lot of the material is covered multiple times in this course, so maybe its not really 500 topics I need to know every single detail about. Maybe working more with my home lab and online labs will straighten things out and bring it all together.

I am pessimistic about all this because it took me two exam attempts to get my lowly VCA, which is like what salesmen get to say 'virtualization can save you money!' to their clients. I also thought my company offered raises for certifications, but it turns out the VCP isn't advanced enough so even if I get that all it might do is save me from the first line of layoffs some day.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I think the OP is over complicating things. The VCP exams are pretty much a cakewalk if you have 3-4 years experience in vmware (and it's ancillary products). You don't need to memorize every gui option. The test is multiple choice and if you are familiar with the product you will narrow down the choice down to two in a instant.

I have over 25 IT certifications. Multiple cisco, vmware, All the AWS certs, multiple Microsoft, Linux, multiple hardware vendors, etc. My advice is always the same.

1. Learn the foundations
   • You are not going to get a CCNA if you can't do basic binary math
   • You are not going to have a shot at modern MCSA exams without understanding powershell, etc.
2. Learn how to use the product for real
   • This means you to need to lab it up.
   • Books are guides but they are not teachers - Come up with your own scenarios and test them.
   • Seek a mentor - You will have questions, they will have answers. This is especially important for policy based exams (security).
   • Know how to do it both in the GUI and the terminal. I failed my CCNA:Security the first time out because I knew how to configure ASA's on the terminal, but not with ASDM (The gui).
3. Learn the terminology
   • Every technology has special terms. You can be a amazon network engineer, but if you can't recite the OSI model (even if you understand it) you are lost.
   • Flashcards!
4. Learn the administrative information
   • This is big on Microsoft and vmware, you are going to be asked licensing, upgrade paths, etc.
5. Learn the material/company way.
   • There might be five ways to do something that are all correct, but there is only one "right" way.
   • This is where you need a study guide for the test.
   • Note that in some cases you might need to know multiple "right ways".
   • Read the white papers - This is huge for AWS you can get 60% of the answers right from white papers.

Once you have that, it's time to test prep/test

1. Pre-Test
   • Never ever braindump a test. This is cheating and you are only hurting yourself.
   • Find example questions - All test makers have sample questions that will help you understand the format and the style of the questions.
   • Read the exam guide - All test makers post a document letting you know what areas the test will cover and points associated with each section.
   • Are there labs? If there are labs, see if you can track down some sample labs or build your own labs.
   • Take a approved practice quiz - Note that sometimes these are harder than the real quiz.
   • Make flashcards, drill them.
   • Join a group of like minded individuals, talk shop.
   • It's easier than you think - Most of these tests are way easier and you are just working yourself up. They sound hard on paper, but 90% of them are cakewalks if you prepared at all.
2. Testing tips
   • Read the last line of a question - Most of the time this is the question.
   • The the answers next, try to exclude obvious bad answers.
   • If you are still in doubt, read the question.
   • If the quiz allows you to go back to previous questions, write down or flag questions you are unsure on. Future questions may provide the answer.
   • If paper is provided, don't be afraid to 'dump' to the paper before starting the exam. Unless the rules prohibit it, many timers do not start until you accept the EULA. This is a great time to jot down those last minute things you memorized or to write down a grid or anything else that might be useful to you.
   • Do not second guess yourself. When you reach the end of the test only review questions you did not answer. If you answered and even thought you had a clue go with that. Your first choice is more often than not the right choice.
3. After the test
   • Pass or fail, if the test results tell you the areas you are weak on, go study again. Use this as a chance to learn and grow.
   • Try not to renew certifications, but to grow beyond them. If you have a a+, don't take it again, take a net+ or security+. It renews the previous certification and forces you to grow.

A lot of people discourage certifications. They will point to that paper tiger they met or how they are unrealistic etc. Ignore them. You never hear anyone complain about the uncertified guy who can't do anything simply because that guy was unlikely to get the job at all! Certifications don't make masters, they make baselines. At a minimum it means you understand the terminology and have exposure to the material. It can also breed confidence. Many certifications will expose you to material, patterns, or concepts that your job may not. I worked with VMware for a decade and I never used their replication or backup products. I had to learn them for my VCP. When I took my Office 365 MCSA exam I also had to learn to use sharepoint, a product I don't think should even exist, but I got more exposure to it and learned something I never would otherwise. And yes, many of the tests will require you to learn something that is "not real world", but you would be suprised how often I find things in the real world that are not "real world". For example I had to learn to use elastic beanstalk for my AWS devops pro exam. Nobody would recommend using that in the real world, but I've ran into it more times than I can count now and knowing it has allowed me to help people get off of it.

I'm obviously not an expert in everything I have a certification in. I can however claim to be much more well rounded and speak to exactly why I got each one. I use certifications as a target for continuing my education. Like a boss fight in a video game. If I don't have a end game I can't bring myself to study. I'd like to encourage everyone to go take a exam. It's good for you and you just might learn something.

And then by the time you do all this, you need to do it all over again in 3 years when the cert expires. Though with some certs like Cisco, I think if you take the next cert, it will renew the others. Unless that changed.

Some people have a life outside of work though. Work to live not live to work.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

They aren't impossible, they're just useless and pointless unless you're looking for a new job that requires it, or you're trying to impress people that don't know anything about them.

 

[child of wonder]

They aren't impossible, they're just useless and pointless unless you're looking for a new job that requires it, or you're trying to impress people that don't know anything about them.

Or you're a consultant, work for the vendor in question, or a partner who needs employees to achieve certifications for status with the vendor. In any of these cases certifications equal $$$.

 

[Zeze]

Oh my god the things y'all have to go through. Become a PM like me with none of those studies (only PMP). Easy 150K.

 

[kn51]

My boss wants me to get my PMP, so I am doing the bootcamp at the end of April... shall be interesting

Did mine using only Rita's book and her test bank. The PMBOK is probably one of the most boring books on the planet and besides a cursory look never really touched it.

 

[sourceninja]

And then by the time you do all this, you need to do it all over again in 3 years when the cert expires. Though with some certs like Cisco, I think if you take the next cert, it will renew the others. Unless that changed.

Some people have a life outside of work though. Work to live not live to work.

It's not as much work as it sounds. I spend maybe 2-3 weeks a year working on certifications. The payoff for me has been huge compared to my degree. The VCP got me my first consulting job and a huge pay raise. The CCNA boosted that further. In my current role the security certs I hold as well as the cloud certs have pushed me well into the top salary for my field and location. A week or two of continuing my education is worth that to me.

I also try to get new certs, not renew old ones. Like you said in most cases other certs renew old ones. For example I need to keep my Security+ valid, but rather than re-sit for that, I'm going to look at the CSA+.