Ask Slashdot: Are Any Certifications Worth Going For? 317
An anonymous reader writes: I am an IT professional in my 30s and have had some form if IT employment for the last 15 years. I've worked my way from technical support to IS manager, but my career seems to have stalled. I have a fancy 4-year degree in Information Systems (I was never much of a programmer) from an actual college, and a good deal of real-world experience combined with reading the odd technical book here and there to keep abreast of what's going on in the world of tech, but what I don't have is any certifications. None.
When I was a poor student fresh from college, I decided that certifications were a waste of money, since the jobs I was applying for at the time didn't care about them, and the tests were several hundred dollars each. Now, it seems most jobs I see listed want some certifications, and I suspect HR systems are weeding out resumes that don't have the correct alchemical formula of certifications.
So my question is: are any certifications now worth it? If so, where do I start? I will probably stick to the track I'm on (I'm better at managing than developing). Going to classes might be an option, but I'd prefer to be able to self-study if possible to work around being on-call constantly (and, to be blunt, classes are expensive). I don't want to stump up for a class only to find out I don't actually like the class or the material or the certification isn't actually what I thought it was.
When I was a poor student fresh from college, I decided that certifications were a waste of money, since the jobs I was applying for at the time didn't care about them, and the tests were several hundred dollars each. Now, it seems most jobs I see listed want some certifications, and I suspect HR systems are weeding out resumes that don't have the correct alchemical formula of certifications.
So my question is: are any certifications now worth it? If so, where do I start? I will probably stick to the track I'm on (I'm better at managing than developing). Going to classes might be an option, but I'd prefer to be able to self-study if possible to work around being on-call constantly (and, to be blunt, classes are expensive). I don't want to stump up for a class only to find out I don't actually like the class or the material or the certification isn't actually what I thought it was.
practical-based certs hold their value (Score:5, Informative)
I would argue that certs with practicals (CCIE, JNCIE, RHCE, etc) tend to hold their value much better than those that can simply be gotten by taking tests.
Re:practical-based certs hold their value (Score:5, Informative)
I agree with this. I just took the RHSA, and I can honestly say that having book knowledge wouldn't allow you to pass if you've never done some of the tasks before.
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The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacities as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS
You must have "done some of the tasks" before.
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Unfortunately, showing up for the RHCE and correcting their questions..... does not endear you to the instructor or the class.
Then don't do that.
Or be satisfied with not being endeared to the instructor.
There are two reasonable options here.
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There is a reason for this! (Score:5, Informative)
The multiple guess tests show no practical application for knowledge. I have met plenty of people with certifications that are worthless, and the people with them were just as useless.. sometimes with dozens of these tests. These people were duped into spending tons of cash to get these certificates and had no practical knowledge. Knowing how to enter a netmask in someone's GUI does not mean you understand what a netmask is, or what a broadcast address is, or how to calculate either from the other.
RHCE, CEH, etc.. require practical knowledge. Having work experience can be, and usually is, enough to compensate for the lack of a certificate. The more experience you have the less essential a certification is. I have been in the business for nearly 3 decades, and quite honestly I'm never asked about certificates. Go back even 15 years and people did ask, and I did have some certificates. Today, I'm never asked and have a steady stream of requests to review job offers and even suggest candidates.
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Many more recent certs are no longer relying solely on multiple choice. For example, the past several revisions of the CCNA exam have become more and more focused on network simulator questions and multiple choice has been relegated to checking for things best asked through multiple choice. The multiple-choice only cert test is a relic which is well on the way to being gone (at least in the networking area).
Re:CCNA is no picnic (Score:2)
I am researching taking it as I see job postings requiring them for non network admins.
It is rediculous and overkill and nearly impossible to pass without prepping for 6 months and buying your own switches and routers as the simulators won't cover what you need to pass all for a silly assocites level.
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Knowing how to enter a netmask in someone's GUI does not mean you understand what a netmask is, or what a broadcast address is, or how to calculate either from the other.
If you don't know what a netmask is, you shouldn't be able to pass CCNA (though could get an MCSE or RHCE). I was just chatting with a server admin here and they don't know the difference between a switch and router (almost all switches are L-3 switches, and almost all routers will bridge ports, so is there a difference?).
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If you don't know what a netmask is, you shouldn't be able to pass CCNA (though could get an MCSE or RHCE). I was just chatting with a server admin here and they don't know the difference between a switch and router (almost all switches are L-3 switches, and almost all routers will bridge ports, so is there a difference?).
The functionality can be very similar and the lines are increasingly blurred but the key difference is that switches have ASIC's to do the majority of the work while routers have general purpose processors that do most of the work.
Re:There is a reason for this! (Score:4, Informative)
What the vendor calls the device is more about what the primary intended place for the device is on the network; it is a reflection on the "standard" configuration of the device, or at least the defaults.
The problem with this assessment "Switches use ASICs; routers don't" is it is only true for low-end devices. The only way you are getting away without ASICs is if you are in a small-business, branch office, or Enterprise WAN with little traffic.
Switches require ASICs, but "routers" need them too. Routers typically need more advanced ASICs, since they need to look at Layer 3 network prefixes, not just a simple list of MAC addresses for L2 bridging.
The Cisco ASR routers use ASICs extensively, ditto for 76xx routers; in fact, they are exclusively used for forwarding, there is very little or no software-based switching through a high-end router. If a condition occurs where you run out of hardware TCAM or lose CEF and revert to non-ASIC-based software switching, it will be a very bad day indeed.
Juniper M/T/MX series edge routers are the same way. All forwarding is done in a separate ASIC-based hardware forwarding plane. Packets are not interpreted or forwarded by software. Even firewall rules, QoS policies, etc, are handled by ASICs on a reasonably high end router.
Once upon a time there were cases where you needed to upgrade PBB cards or policy feature cards on routers to add to policy management/access list functionality. These are definitely hardware-driven functions.
Common Layer 3 switches in fixed access configs have similar capability in some respects but more limited featuresets and limited capacity for table sizes, typically; you often don't have quite the same IP policy management features as on a full blown router; some of the L3 switches don't even have decent QoS (which is terrible).
Also if you need to take a full BGP table; you are not going to want to use a fixed-configuration Layer 3 access switch to do that --- since it probably lacks the memory, and even if it had the memory, generally there will be no supervisor redundancy.
The requirement to support a huge IP forwarding table, which requires extra memory and CPU, is what an Edge router needs on a multihomed network.
So there are clearly devices that specialize in being better edge routers than switches.
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You're misreading, the QuantumFlow Processor IS the ASIC
Further, each PPE can access hardware feature acceleration of network address and prefix lookups, hash lookups, WRED, Traffic Policers, range lookups, and TCAM for advanced classification and access-control-list (ACL) acceleration as it processes packets
If you turn off dCEF and force all packets through the RP CPU you'd quickly bring an ASR to it's knees. By comparison the Cisco 7200 did everything in CPU, but it had much lower bounds to its capabilit
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Cat4900s do IPv6 in software
Fact is, it's generally functionality per port. Hardware is nice (FPGA is much better). The real deal is, can it do NAT? Can it do application layer packet inspection? Can it encapsulate traffic in GRE tunnels? Can it...
Routers are the devices of a gazillion functions.
Switches are devices which move packets from A to B.
Devices like 6880s blur lines because they add features like NAT to a switch.
Another great idea is... a switch typically supports
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Which is why IT departments are now requiring CCNA in addition to the MCSE. Wan engineers are tired of sys admins opening tickets.
The CCNA is way overkill just like requiring network admins to be mcse certified in case they use a shared drive. But to run viritual machines you need to setup viritual networks and subnet and and diagnose connection problems
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Almost all switches are L-3 switches, and almost all routers will bridge ports, so is there a difference?
A Layer 3 switch is just another word that means the exact same thing as router.
In fact.... the world's very first router ran on what is now an ancient microcomputer, and it was called a packet switch
Usually, when a vendor has multiple product lines and they describe some products as Layer 3 Switches and some products as Routers; what they are actually telling you is what primary task the device h
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Cisco has skewed the definitions and those who with certs say the CISCO versions to show how smart they are.
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If you don't know what a netmask is, you shouldn't be able to pass CCNA (though could get an MCSE or RHCE).
That's absurd. Whatever your opinion of MCSE, you aren't going to get one without knowing what a subnet mask is.
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That it exists and perhaps some memorization of the major ABC classes. Nothing about what it actually is or anything about the math involved in calculating it.
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Re: There is a reason for this! (Score:2)
Your server admin is lying about his RHCE. The RHCE should have no trouble turning a host with a dozen NICS into a L2 switch with VLANS, span ports, and adding L3 and above functionality. Your Cisco device is important, but is well understood and frankly, somewhat child's play to an RHCE.
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The skills you assert aren't tested for. Most Linux admins I know don't know networking at all. For RHCE, you need to know how to put in settings in a server. But not what they do or what they mean. The Cisco device isn't well understood. The last RHCE I dealt with configured a duplex mismatch and blamed the Cisco for doing what he told it to do. The Cisco device is simple and understood by people who know basics of networking. But RHCEs don't need to know to pass t
I disagree (Score:3)
I don't believe someone should be able to pass a RHCE or even a higher level MCSE without understanding something so basic as a netmask and broadcast address. I have seen plenty of Junior level admins stuff a /24 netmask into a /25 and have network problems that they can't explain. A "good" SA should be able to catch and correct this without need to find the network team to debug the issue for them. And yes, I have seen many MSCE holders have to traverse that path and bother their Network team for a simp
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That's a very good point. When you can repeatedly tell the world that you are an engineer without an actual qualification, or experience, that resembles an engineering degree in any way it is natural that you would think that way.
The "I'm an engineer and I say steel doesn't get soft when hot so 9/11 was faked" from you was a blight on a profession that you are not a member of.
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Are you a Certified Architect?
Same advice to the OP, look into an Open Group Architect certification.
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Understanding netmasks and broadcast addresses is worthy of a certification? Really? Are there really people who work in IT who don't understand the basic concepts of networking? Isn't this taught in the first year of college? I mean we're not in 1980 anymore!
Yes, Yes, Yes, Maybe - but the first year of college is about booze and women - P's get Degrees!
It is worth certification because it is such a fundamental component of the job of an IT person now that the Internet is ubiquitous, and because such a horrifying number of IT people don't have any understanding of switching, routing and subnetting is.
There is a reason CCNA qualifications are so widely sought - it teaches the fundamentals of networking that every IT professional should know.
Re:There is a reason for this! (Score:4, Insightful)
Understanding netmasks and broadcast addresses is worthy of a certification? Really? Are there really people who work in IT who don't understand the basic concepts of networking? Isn't this taught in the first year of college? I mean we're not in 1980 anymore!
Yes, Yes, Yes, Maybe - but the first year of college is about booze and women - P's get Degrees!
It is worth certification because it is such a fundamental component of the job of an IT person now that the Internet is ubiquitous, and because such a horrifying number of IT people don't have any understanding of switching, routing and subnetting is.
There is a reason CCNA qualifications are so widely sought - it teaches the fundamentals of networking that every IT professional should know.
The CCNA in its current iteration is ridiculous. It is the hardest now of all the tests and requires 5 months and buying your own switches and routers as the training material and simulators do not cover everything. It is says associate but it is like requiring a WAn engineer to take the MCSE so he can troubleshoot login issues. Yes I know the tests progress supposedly but the CCNA you need to know not just subnetting, but span trees, tons and tons of theory, CIDS, and a dozen other topologies and requires like 1500 page books to master the material.
I would think more entry level certifications would be better for a non network engineer to take. If you can pass the CCNA you can setup a network of any size with ease. Not just tell me what a subnet mask is which is the intention of taking it.
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I'm going to have to take your word for it, because I did mine 3 years ago. I haven't bothered renewing it because I'm not looking for work.
At the time, I was really surprised about how easy the questions on the exam were. The reading material and topic covered were vast, but the exam wasn't asking tricky questions. If you studied all the topics, you only needed to understand them all to be able to do well in the test. (Not like the Microsoft tests that ask obscure trivia and provide four realistic options
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You'd be utterly surprised
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I know employers who want talk to you if you do not have both the ccna and mcsa as much as we bash paper mcses here.
HR uses them as a filtering mechanism and colleagues respect you more. I had perspective employer make the MS certification requirement being current a condition of employment. Goes outdated? You're fired.
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CCIE is worth it if you have a passion for routers and networking. The rest (including the other Cisco certs) are trash.
Your career is stalled because you're not interested in programming and don't have an easy knack for management. You've reached the pinnacle of general systems administration and no certifications will change that. There will be more raises as you refine your expertise but you're no longer on a fast growth curve.
If I'm wrong, go get your MBA or MSCS and your career will un-stall.
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The CCIE isn't a certification you just go and get!
Maybe you can just sit down and study pass the CCIE qualification exam, but the CCIE Lab is an 8 hour puzzle that only the most proficient Cisco engineers can pass.
If you're a CCIE and you just woke up one day and said "I'm going to go and get my CCIE qualification" and thought the CCIE Lab was a straightforward (not easy, but you know, not has hard as getting a postgraduate degree) affair, feel free to let me know in reply!
Were you thinking of the CCNA? In
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But telling someone with no Cisco training to "Go and get a CCIE" is like telling a year 12 student to "Go and get a PhD".
Well..... I think there is one good reason to tell this to someone who has no certifications and has stated that they think certs aren't worth it: It should be a humbling experience, and hopefully they won't get to the point of blowing stupid amounts of money on an exam they can't possibly expect to pass. :)
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These are valuable certifications. They are also (I suspect) entirely out of reach for the OP for now, probably, seeing as he's in his 30s and has not pursued even the lower level certs. The thing is, these certs are somewhat progressive, and you need to have some experience preparing and taking certification tests before you take the slightly harder tests like the CCIE written, which is still, I understand, a cakewalk compared to the IE lab.
You don't just wake up one day and decide to sit the CCIE;
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I quit programming about 3 years back. I don't even have the CCIE yet and I've moved WAY UP the list. I have dozens of certs (all earned). IT is great since it's super easy and all you typically do is the same stuff other people did before you. There's always a web page that explains it for yo
Practical certs like GIAC help and hold value (Score:4, Informative)
If you are serious about infosec certifications, check out GIAC (http://www.giac.org) . The certs are very applied and test practical knowledge (e.g. they are open book... no need to test how well you can memorize stuff). CISSP is good to get you started in the field.
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+1 to CISSP, I had essentially the same experience as the OP, and decided that IS manager tedious. I went and wrote my CISSP, got 'lucky' a couple of times with breach issues and poof, 5 yrs later I'm a Sr Infosec Manager.
While it doesn't have a practical component, I've met very few people who honestly say they left the exam knowing if they passed or failed. Most nerve wracking test I've ever sat for anyways. And most of infosec (absent specialties such as pentest, and even then arguably) is 90% thinkin
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Those certifications are very expensive, and they require a fair amount of relevant experience. They are not a good way to get started in a field, they are a strong commitment to an existing career path. Same as a PMI certification. Very bad choice for someone who comes on Slashdot to ask for general career advice.
Get an MBA (Score:4, Interesting)
You are already moving in that direction and admittedly not a programmer. It is basically a paper chase not too far removed from a cert but non-revocable. You will have an IS degree + years of experience + an MBA. There s a large amount of career potential in that.
But stop hanging out at /., instead lurk around at CO.com and datamation.com to ensure you know all the latest trends.
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What's co.com?
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oops cio.com
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Definitely the better option. In your mid-thirties you're coming up on your "best before" date for a lot of IT jobs, if only because employers will assume you're not up-to-date on the latest and greatest (and because they'd rather pay someone who is younger and less likely to object to work conditions that can be pretty bad).
It's either "up or out" time.
Been there done that. Get very expensive TShirt. (Score:2, Interesting)
That won't work. I did it. Getting a MBA will not automatically get you into management or into the business side.
What will happen is that after 2+ years and a ton of money, you'll be back to doing what you were doing but with very expensive letters after your name - that no one in technology really cares about. I went to a top 40 school - not good enough for a lucrative consulting gigs like the Harvard guys get.
What I advise people who ask is first move into the business side or leadership roles - like a t
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Actually, being in the IT field with an aptitude for management would make him the ideal candidate for a PMI PMP (Project Manager Professional) certification. You need to know some stuff about IT, like the effort it takes for development, the kinds of tools and system available, the tradeoffs between budget, time, and quality, etc. Lots of companies (and governments) look for PMP certifications for project manager positions. And since the OP doesn't particularly like coding, he can spend his whole day in
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In more than 15 years I haven't met a certified PM who lasted more than a few years in that kind of job. The good ones evolve towards senior management, the bad ones end up leading scrum master workshops where people spend their time openly playing angry birds on their phone then use the cheap printout certificate of achievement as an ironic prop in their cubicle.
I wish some stats were available to back my claims, but I suspect that PM is the discipline in IT with the highest burn-out and/or suicide rate. O
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You sound like a horribly bad PM, the things you complained about are the PM's responsibility . I am sure no one was sad to see you go....
sheesh.
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You will have an IS degree + years of experience + an MBA. There s a large amount of career potential in that.
Or go for a Doctor of Business Administration. Anyways... I thought the snazzy thing these days was "MBA Equivalent"; you know... like getting a Masters in Finance and taking some other random classes. So you are slightly differentiated from the standard 'MBA' curriculua :)
PMP, if you aren't a technical person (Score:3)
Certifications get squat (Score:2)
I interviewed someone with certifications. They had no skill.
I work in an office with no certifications.
Certifications might get you a raise, might not, averages on not. Won't get you a job. Averages on won't.
It might get you past the HR filter. But the best way to get past the HR filter is know someone. Good old fashioned networking.
If you have a job, get a cert and get a raise. If you have nothing else to do, get a cert and possibly get past the HR filter. But be prepared for the non-cert questions
My Company Requires SalesForce Certs (Score:2)
ITIL (Score:3)
For you profile, ITIL certification may be worth looking at. It gives knowledge essential for managing large IS departments, implementations, and data centres. It may not be as glamorous as PMP, but is essential part of managing IT for large companies. It is still a rare certification so it may actually be worth it. Being an IS manager you may appreciate many sections of the standard and contrast it with the way of doing things in your previous jobs.
Who wants to work for... (Score:2)
Six Sigma / Lean / PMM (Score:3)
It doesn't sound like you are a in the trenches programmer / admin so, why not take the strengths that you have (higher level technical ability and management) and work toward becoming a business process person. Being able to speak tech and business is quite valuable. Six Sigma / Lean are quite popular these days in organizations looking to become more efficient in their process then support the process with technology systems if appropriate. PMM is some sort of Project Management Methodology Certification, don't know much about it, but it seems popular in tech management circles.
Some advice.... (Score:3)
It looks like you want to continue on the management track. In that case, your best best is to get an MBA. Yes, it's difficult and expensive but you might be able to get your employer to pay for at least part of it. I think that certifications are generally better for hands-on types. As a manager you're not likely to get much of that. If you just want to nibble around the edges in the technology then look at taking some of the free online courses. You won't get degree or any course credit out of it but it will give you an exposure to it.
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management track people have higher turnover.
and harder time finding a job later. it's just mathematics that dictate it, also it tells that they're not really that much into the field itself, so while in theory they might be able to manage any kind of project(not just IT), it's pretty hard for many to find any.
also this is related to the supposed age discrimination in IT. the older you are, the more detached you are from the trench work the less likely it is for anyone to hire you since they could hire just
The best certs are... (Score:2)
Please don't get an MBA (Score:5, Insightful)
An MBA is a vehicle to convince other people that have MBAs that you believe that an MBA is necessary to work with other people that have MBAs that share in the misguided notion that having an MBA qualifies you to manage a business. Really, it is a ticket into a network of folks that believe that shortcuts and not actual work create a business.
Most certifications are like MBAs- except that they are shortcuts for HR resume screens, who use them as an easy filter and to avoid accountability that the people that they let through are qualified... "these applicants are CERTIFIED!" ... If you have the experience and you know someone, you will get the job, if not, you're in the pool of "everyone else" that has a certification. The most important factor in getting a job is networking.
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Some suggestions (Score:5, Interesting)
Go to Toastmasters and get a CC ("Competent Communicator") or any of theit further awards. It'll teach you how to present and interact with others in a professional scenario.
Pick a karate school you like and get a black belt. It'll teach you discipline and focus, and help you keep your health as you get older.
Join the SCA and work yourself up to becoming a knight. If you take it seriously it'll teach you honor and integrity.
Take first aid, CPR, and EMT training. Take some survival courses.
Take MIT courses from edX [edx.org] or Coursera [coursera.org] for the certificate and grade.
You are fine without any. (Score:2)
Certifications are for the inexperienced. My utter lack of credentials combined with my long history of being well-paid to do the work IS my meta-certification, if you get what I am saying.
Just went through the same thing (Score:2)
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The Problem With Certs (Score:3)
The main problem with certs can be demonstrating by googling the cert title or number + "dumps". You will find the exact questions and answers for most tests. (More on "most" in a moment.) I don't mean a detailed outline - I mean the full text of the question, the possible answers, and which one is correct. Memorize the answers and you pass the cert.
As someone who periodically participates in hiring, I don't see much value in certs. I've had the experience of people who had certs who didn't know their stuff. I've never known any employer who given a choice between someone with many years of experience and someone with a cert, would choose the latter.
There are other problems with certs. I've always found the format is quite ridiculous. Why should I memorize things? If they test concepts, that'd be one thing, but often certs are "which of these commands is correct" kind of questions. What, am I trapped on a desert island with a datacenter to administer and no manuals?
That said, certs can't hurt. I find them valuable to study for though less to actually take. Vendors outline everything to get a basic knowledge, and that's useful to go over. The only time I see real value in certs is
All that said...the exception to the above is the certs that do have some value. These are the certs that you have to pass a lab for: RHCE, Oracle Certified Master, Cisco's CCIE, etc. A CCIE is highly valuable - those guys bill very well.
You aren't motivated, certs aren't going to help (Score:2)
In your case, certifications won't likely help you much.
I would say, that since you're asking the question, you probably are in the wrong field.
You're in a field with many bright, observant people and you haven't really bothered to pay close enough attention to the field around you but you call yourself an IS manager. I would say your problem is not certifications, its that you're just not that good or at a bear minimum, you aren't trying very hard and thats why your career is stalled.
With 15 years 'experi
Hot air (Score:2)
You want a certification for a good career? Certified HVAC Technician.
Don't (Score:2)
"Certified" is the keyword for recruiters to discard your resume. It means you have no experience in the subject beyond a one week course. Instead, take a real class in a subject you won't to work in and that has a reasonable carrier potential. For example, Big Data technologies such as Hadoop, Cassandra and Lucene have reasonable earning potential. Even though you are aiming to be a manager, make sure you can setup the components and run, say, simple Hadoop jobs hands on so you have a clue what you will as
Short answer, IMO: yes (Score:2)
H1B and the will to work 60-80 hours a week (Score:3)
H1B and the will to work 60-80 hours a week
Masters Degree.... (Score:3)
If you are in IT management and feel that your skills are best suited to spend the rest of your career in management, then you should work on a Masters degree (i.e. MBA or Masters in IT Management). Certifications are largely for skilled IT workers who actually do the work. Managers, on the other hand, tend to focus on strategy, keeping track of work and work assignments, reporting, etc. Usually for management positions, relevant experience covers any hands-on IT knowledge needed.
Maybe (Score:2)
Yes (Score:2)
The reasons are:
1) Management likes them. Having certs increases your chance of getting that interview.
2) They force you to learn parts of the product you normally don't use. This is the main thing for me, it gets me out of the items I normally admin and that the users primarily use and forces me to learn parts of the product I would not.
The saying goes certs will get you interviewed, experience will get you the job.
Consider (Score:2)
Sometimes process is more important than technical competence. A scrum master certification might get you recognized for seeing the bigger picture and potentially affecting change in a team. In addition to just scrum, the PSM course also touches on TDD, definition of done and many things that tie directly into the development process.
depends (Score:3)
So my question is: are any certifications now worth it?
Depends on who pays for them.
Your current employer, or the unemployment agency or someone else? Go for any and all you can get.
You yourself? Check the job offers of jobs you care about. Make a list of the certifications that are mentioned there and check the top two or three (most mentionings). Do them if they are affordable.
Certifications are largely a scam or a shakedown, take your pick. They teach you nothing, and they check your ability to memorize test questions more than they test your actual abilities. I've got the test papers from CISM still here, and while my 15 years of IT security experience helped me pass it almost without learning, any buffon who's never even seen a computer could've passed the test by simply learning by heart the contents of one folder.
It's expensive BUT... (Score:2)
Re:Just Lie (Score:5, Informative)
Just lie about what certs you have, in 12 years I've never had a single company ever ask me for proof of any of my dozens of certs.
Really bad advice. NEVER lie to a prospective employer. Sure, it may get you an interview and you might be able to BS your way into a job by claiming stuff you don't officially have, but is it worth it?
Is it worth it to be sitting on pins and needles waiting for them to check up on you and fire you? The IT world is generally pretty small in most areas. Unless you live in an area where there are a LOT of employers, lying to get a job is a reputation killer. You may think you can just walk away and get away with it, but don't be so sure.
However, the best reason to not lie is that it is not ethical. ALWAYS do the ethical thing. Stay above the fray, tell the truth and get the certifications for real. It may take longer and be harder, but in the long run it will be worth it.
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Lying about certs is pretty bad, since it can be verified. But if you talk and act like you know what you're doing, there are plenty of people out there who'd be willing to hire you with or without certs. A lot of managers are pretty superficial, and good presentation is more than sufficient.
The thing is, usually, the job you get hired into won't be that demanding. A manager who can't tell know who's bullshitting and who isn't probably won't have terribly challenging work, no matter what the job description
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However, the best reason to not lie is that it is not ethical. ALWAYS do the ethical thing. Stay above the fray, tell the truth and get the certifications for real. It may take longer and be harder, but in the long run it will be worth it.
This.
Integrity is more important than education.
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However, the best reason to not lie is that it is not ethical. ALWAYS do the ethical thing. Stay above the fray, tell the truth and get the certifications for real. It may take longer and be harder, but in the long run it will be worth it.
Really bad advice.
You'll feel yourself superior and "above the fray", but in reality everyone who understands the business world better will pass you by in both pay and position.
I say that as someone who's listened to this bad advice all his life. Your reasons for not lying or not fucking over your boss or co-workers should be practical, not philosophical. You shouldn't lie because the damage if you're found out is bigger than the advantage you gain. For certifications, in most jurisdictions a lie on the de
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Job Title: Druggy Beach Bum
From 1-2010 to 1-2012
Job responsiblities included scoring drugs at 4:00 AM, dodging local police, spotty diseased prostitues.
John Mcafee, is that you?
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I think you guessed it by now I am a very ethical person albeit not a very moral one.
Do you understand the difference between morality and ethics?
Morality is an innate sense of what is right by ourselves and others.
Ethics is an attempt to codify morality into an organized system of knowledge.
If you think you're ethical but not moral, then you care more about following the rules than you do about what the rules are supposed to achieve.
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I call bullshit on this. The guy was probably an asshole, or he made a comment about the size of the ass of some VIP, and someone started to look for reasons to fire him. Uncovering fake credentials is a classic move in that situation (but planting coke or kiddie porn in the guy's office is usually more expedient).
Random certification check after the person is hired? Nah.
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Dear god please, we already have enough of you and I don't think I can take another.
What? And be a lawyer? I know it's a step up but...
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As far as I know there aren't any well known (or even up and coming) certifications specifically geared towards IPv6...yet. I suspect they will start coming once consulting on IPv6 transitions becomes a thing...and I'm pretty sure it will. Some day CIOs will wake up and decide they want IPv6 because they read about it somewhere, or their buddy CIO is doing it, or their competitor is doing it, or a supplier is requiring it, or a customer is requiring it, or any one of a million other reasons.
When that day co
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Yes. Governmental employer HR departments tend to take position requirements very seriously.
Re: Does anyone check? (Score:2)
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That wouldn't change a thing. If that guy applies to your company, it's doomed. He's not bringing bad luck with him, he has a death wish and a sixth sense allowing him to find potential disasters.
Slashdot will probably go bankrupt or get hacked pretty soon.
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add to that list that with a name like 'anonymous coward', it's hard to pass the credit check.
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dude you were great in T2.
wat. (Score:2)
You must be one of those people who liked the oily, whiny wimp who played Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars episodes 2 and 3. That's like the bad boy version of Justin Bieber.
Shame on you, and on the next three generations in your family.
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Definitely. If a 5-year old boy [bbc.com] can manage it then it is worth aspiring to. I'm assuming his programming skills are thin on the ground as well.
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Betteridge's law of headlines. No is always the answer. :)
Re:Certs are for grunts (Score:5, Insightful)
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are business men that just happened to make their fortune in IT. Ofcourse they're not going to need IT certification.
99% of us are grunts, including you and me.
Very few of us have that unique combination of sufficient skill and lots of luck to have a positive reputation that preceeds us.
Pretty much all us grunts are hired going through an HR department grunt.
The HR grunt doesn't know anything about IT, but he knows certifications.
Certifications have value not because they represent any qualifications, but because HR grunts aren't going to be fired if they select employees based on certifications.
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Gates probably screws around with a lot of IT stuff. But, even riches, fame, etc... aside, he wouldn't do IT. That's for those other guys. He was a programmer