What certifications are worth going after?

[XMan]

A+?

Network+?

CNA/CNE?

MCSE?

 

[StageLeft]

Well basically the more the merrier Wet your lips on A+ because it should be the easiest.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Although certifications sound cool, I do not think they measure anything. I personally do not think they are worth the time and effort.

 

[XMan]

Well, uh, no offense, but although think they're not worth anything, they are listed as desirable for the promotion I'm looking at . . .

So if it's going to net me an raise of 10-20K, yeah, I think I'll get some certifications.

 

[StageLeft]

They may not be as good as some people say but I think they are worth the time and effort and money. A cert costs $100 US. Get several and you have MCSE. Thats a fairly low cost and if it takes you a long time you learned something. If you already know the stuff then it should be a quick study.

I know without a doubt that my current employer's impression of certs is why I'm employed right now.

 

[n0cmonkey]

No offence to MCSE's here, but I think those tests are worthless (NT 4.0 anyhow). I dabbled in that before I realized who has those certifications. And no, I dont mean EVERYONE that has one is an idiot, just the ones I met at the time. And the test questioons I had been given before the real tests (I never actually took the REAL test for it) were so stupid it boggled my mind. Almost none of them had anything to do with what you REALLY needed to know. Not to mention the increadibly poor wording... CNA/CNE seemed to have a slightly more technical crowd going for it. A Sun UNIX certification might be handy, but it wasnt on your list there

I looked at the network + a year or two ago and it looked INCREADIBLY easy. A+ information is way out of date and most of it is common sense (as of a year ago). So go for one of those two. If you actually know something about Windows Administration stay away from the MCSE. It may make you forget GOOD knowledge

 

[Russ]

<< So if it's going to net me an raise of 10-20K, yeah, I think I'll get some certifications. >>



I've never been a big fan of certs, but if I were working for somebody and looking at that kind of salary bump, I'd get every damned one of them.

Russ, NCNE

 

[AreaCode707]

MCSE is an important certification just because it's standard background for a lot of jobs. I've done technical recruiting for the last three years and if you're applying for anything in that line, they expect you to have it. A+ you don't need, I've never seen any company require that.

 

[purplehayes]

<< What certifications are worth going after? >>

The ones that will get you the biggest raise from your employer. Has your employer given you a list of certs that will get you promoted? If so, go after those; if not, ask what he/she has in mind and go from there.

PH

 

[mrCide]

A+ has been revised FYI. and win2k mcse is harder than NT4..

 

[THELAIR]

for networking, both the adminstation of, and the design of, you cant go wrong with the cisco track.

Often mentioned, rarely attained is the CCIE cert. Very highly respected.

And yes, most jobs seem to require MCSE as a minimal base for technical work, so in some circumstances it may be needed to get your foot in the door.

I find most comptia certs to be usless and centered at the 10/hour and lower market (ie Bestbuy computer repair guys with their A+ making 8 an hour)

All depends on how much time and effort you want to put in.

dont forget you can specialize, with certs... like novel, and citrix, or linux/unix. Everyone goes for hteir MCSE, i'd say concentrate ins omthing that not everyone has. My speciality is security (CISSP), I also have all of comptia's certs (cept server+), MCSE, CiW and a few others.

MCSE and CCNA with 3 years experience is still a pretty decent setup.