What is your reason behind of Certs?!

junilinux

It maybe a little bit "foolish" question but when I have had a look around this forum and found lots of people signatures as well as their certs that they already got, it's really impressive...!
But should be a look behind, what is/are the reason(s) why they going to get so many certs like that? for knowledge? for making CV more beautiful or for showing off knowledge? Actually when I see their certs, someone got over 20, 30 certs, I really don't know which career path they are going on (some for virtualization, some stands for networking, some shows off linux, management...)
And about targets, someone have make targets for next year that he could reach out to 10 certs/12 months, it's incredible in my mind... How can he do that? There are lots of thinking slashing inside of my mind...

switchport

I think most people do them to help with job opportunities. That's why I started. Then there are some people who do them just to do them...I guess they get addicted, which is fine is they have nothing else to do with their time.

Anyways, hopefully you'll see this post before the admins delete it.

TacoRocket

I do it for the knowledge. I could care less about the certification. The thing though is once I do the learning the certification is the next step.

I don't mind dropping money for a certification. ROI or not.

I don't like it when people don't continuously improve themselves after they finish school. It leads to antiquated thought (as evident by the Server 2000 and 2003 machines at my current workplace). People get complacent. I don't believe you should be in this industry.

NetworkNewb

My goal is simply to see if I can get the entire alphabet in letters. Nothing more nothing less. People who just go for specializations and keep getting certs with the same letters in them are suckers in my book.

danny069

I do them for many reasons, to validate my knowledge, I see each one as an opponent in MMA. I see it as a personal challenge to acquire more and more and not to let any expire. Make me more marketable. I don't see them as stepping stones and forget about the latter, they are mine to keep forever. It is also rewarding to train, put in a lot of work and time and to conquer your goal in the end. You do also learn along the way. So it is gratifying as well.

techfiend

Most of mine were part of my WGU degree but I continued on to get MCSA and VCP-DCV on my own. Marketability, pass HR, and knowledge are my main reasons. I think studying certs is more interesting when you can immediately use the knowledge in your position. I like being a generalist and eventually want to move into IT architecture. Now that my associates level is complete I plan on slowing down and adjust my certs to what I'm doing on the job.

oxymoron5k

I do it because of the job opportunities that come with it. You might get a offer because of a cert or just because you studied for that long and now know that particular topic very well. I just spend an hour a day studying a cert and so far I have my A+, N+, and half way through my CCNA.

Dakinggamer87

Knowledge, skills, opportunities, and personal growth to accomplish new challenges.

TechGromit

junilinux wrote: »

But should be a look behind, what is/are the reason(s) why they going to get so many certs like that?

Mainly to make yourself marketable when searching for career opportunities. When companies are looking for new employees, certifications give them a certain degree of confidence applicants really know / are experienced in what they claim on their resume. While certifications do not guarantee that a person applying for a position really knows anything, they could just be good at taking tests, companies have to start with some kind of benchmark. Some interviewers ask technical questions when interviewing applications, but not all interviewers have the technical knowledge to know if the answers the applicants provide are valid or not. A typical manager of a small company that needs a system administrator isn't know to know if the answers they receive are correct or total BS.

Personally I have a lot of technical knowledge and experience and thought I could get new positions with no more certifications. I was laid off in 2013, and was more than a little surprised how difficult it was to secure employment, I feel that if I had the certifications such as CCNA, I would have had a lot easier time landing a new position. While I have managed networks for years, I never bothered to get the CCNA certification, which gave me a considerable disadvantage when searching for employment, even a recent college grad with a CCNA is more marketable then someone with years experience and no certs.

Certifications can be very expensive to obtain and maintain, when someone lists a half dozen or so certifications, chances are that they are very knowledgeable and experienced. Few people can afford to purchase training and exams by themselves without gainful employment and usually a employer willing to pay to train them. My GSEC alone cost $6,000, there's an co-worker in my company that has 5 GIAC certs, that's 30 grand, no one invests that kind of money without the benefits of employment / experience that goes with them.

junilinux wrote: »

Actually when I see their certs, someone got over 20, 30 certs, I really don't know which career path they are going on (some for virtualization, some stands for networking, some shows off linux, management...)

Can't say I even seem anyone with that many, most certifications expire or are made worthless with advancements in the computer field. After all how valuable are Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP certifications? Typically certifications cost $50 to $100 a year to maintain, so 30 certifications is going cost a lot to keep current.

scaredoftests

Part of the requirements of the job and offers of provided training by the company.

TechGromit

TacoRocket wrote: »

I do it for the knowledge. I could care less about the certification.

Than why take the exam? To prove to yourself you really know the material? I've taken lots of training courses, but didn't take the exam to get the certification, something I regret now.

Iristheangel

A good chunk of mine were for school and others were for career and knowledge. Early on, I didn't know what career path in IT was going to be so I tried systems and security. I have a long list on here but I only put a fraction of my certifications on my resume which are relevant to what I do for a living. Probably a good chunk will expire or have expired (Citrix, EC-Council, CIWs, etc) but I haven't bothered to look.

GSXR750K2

It's icing on the cake for me, and maybe some bragging rights with friends. Some people looks at certs as definitive knowledge about a subject, other's couldn't care less about certs and just want to see proof of knowledge about a subject. The inherent flaw with the vast majority of exams is that they are heavily multiple choice, so deduction can improve chances of passing the exam, meaning someone doesn't have to be well versed in a topic to get certified. I know a lot of excellent test takers who need help tying their own shoes.

However, and not too dissimilar from a college degree, having the piece of paper for an authoritative source that says "this guy/gal knows enough about this topic that we give our stamp of approval" is better than not having it. I've worked at some places that require a given certification for some kind of compliance, which is usually a client wanting people with a certain level of skill handling their stuff.

In summary, certifications are like insurance or condoms, better to have them and not need them than get caught wishing you had them when it's too late.

markulous

I enjoy learning and I enjoy being marketable and it provides both. It helps me quite a bit climbing my way up.

JoJoCal19

The two primary reasons I pursue certs is for knowledge/skills gain, and to help with marketability and getting past the HR filters. One thing I'm looking at going forward is only pursuing either lifetime certs or certs that I only have to obtain CPEs to maintain. I'm trying to cut down on the amount of time I have to invest in studying technology.

dustervoice

Gain/validate knowledge and get by HR Bots. It would be a shame for my 16 years of experience resume/CV to be filtered or trashed because its missing the acronyms "CISSP" or "CISM" a test that I can study for in a month and pass.

Mike7

Agree with the points. And if you are doing pre-sales, certification provides a level of credibility and customers ask less questions.

joelsfood

Prove knowledge (And gain more)
Get past HR filters
Fulfill partner requirements (Vmware and Cisco in particular)

E Double U

Initially it was about getting a raise. Then it became about more opportunities. Now I still consider more money and opportunities, but also taking full advantage of things available to me. My current and former employer pay for training then reimburse for books and exams. Why not take advantage? Not to mention that I love reading and learning new things.

FloOz

For me it was the quick ROI you can get from having them. Liking the technology also helps

RomBUS

I would feel like I was falling behind if I didn't. I also like to challenge myself this way too. I have yet to see certs actually have me promoted or an increase in salary....not sure how others have done it.

renacido

SEO for my resume.

Nowadays your resume is indexed in search engines and job recruiters use those to find candidates. So I look at certs as keywords in my resume. The goal is to be found by as many people who need my skills as possible.

They also help get an interview once they've found your resume.

bigdogz

I originally received them to obtain better positions.

I also get them to broaden knowledge and a benifit for work when it comes to vendor certs. I have another 8+ I have not added to my BIO out of shear laziness.

kohr-ah

Mine was to progress my career but to get more indepth into technology.

I am one that despite some posts on here believes to specialization to an extent. You have to pick a craft to be better at more than generalize. Not saying generalization is bad but I picked networking. I enjoy manipulating the flow and control of packets across the world.

But while I hold a CCNP I also learned to branch to an extent in my field. I learned VMWare, I am learning Linux, I learned Python, I learned excel (if you dont know this you can make very good automated scripts to pump out switches in under 5 minutes), Fortigate, and Aruba to name some.

The books teach you the extras of the equipment. You may not use the technology at all or you may use it later but it gives your brain to reference something later.

I have learned experience trumps all but the certs show I am willing to spend the time and money to further myself to newer technologies.

UnixGuy

Structured way to learn a material of interest.

OctalDump

TacoRocket wrote: »

I do it for the knowledge. I could care less about the certification. The thing though is once I do the learning the certification is the next step.

I don't mind dropping money for a certification. ROI or not.

I don't like it when people don't continuously improve themselves after they finish school. It leads to antiquated thought (as evident by the Server 2000 and 2003 machines at my current workplace). People get complacent. I don't believe you should be in this industry.

Almost the same. IT demands that you keep up, keep learning. You can do that without doing certifications, but for me the certifications do a couple of things. You get a "complete" course of study, so you tend to get more even knowledge which ultimately means you are more flexible and don't get stumped on "minor" things. The other is you get external validation of your knowledge, which reassures that you have actually learnt something and allows you broadly to compare your skills eg if I have CCNA and you have CCIE, you probably know a lot more than me about networking, or if she has MCSE Server Infrastructure, then she probably is pretty competent to engineer a complete Windows infrastructure.

I'm currently on a bit of a certification binge because I have the time to finally formalise a lot of things after some years in IT, and even out some of those bumps. One of the problems with learning is that you also learn more about how much you don't know, how much more you can learn.

The complacency thing annoys me, too. I see people that literally seem not to have done any formal study since decades and try to coast along, but it shows in their attitude to technology, management, infrastructure design etc etc. Think back even 10 years, virtualisation, the cloud, XaaS, Security, agile, IT governance etc etc. These guys still running most of their business out of Excel spreadsheets and a Windows 2003 SBS box...

OctalDump

TechGromit wrote: »

Typically certifications cost $50 to $100 a year to maintain, so 30 certifications is going cost a lot to keep current.

Most of the certifying bodies have a single fee to cover all the certs. So, if you have a few from one certifying body, it's relatively cheaper. Others, like MS, don't expire many of their certifications, and provide cheaper paths to keep current. And Cisco you can keep up to date by passing 1 exam every 3 (or 2 or 5) years. So the actual cost might not be so much.

EG:
Net+/Sec+/A+ = $49/year
MCSA Windows 2008, MCSA Windows 7 - upgrade exam every ~4 years = $100/year
CCNA R+S, CCNA Wireless, CCNA Collaboration, CCNA Security, CCNP R+S, CCDA, CCDP - one exam every 3 years = $75/year

So, 12 certs that you can keep current for under $250/year + obligatory study costs. And if you had those 12, you'd probably be earning enough to cover it.

Iristheangel

One thing everyone forgot to mention: The chicks. Totally get them for the chicks

OctalDump

NetworkNewb wrote: »

My goal is simply to see if I can get the entire alphabet in letters. Nothing more nothing less. People who just go for specializations and keep getting certs with the same letters in them are suckers in my book.

This is getting me thinking. I think the ground rules need to be: if there is a common abbreviation/initialism, then use that, otherwise the full name. And aim to get with as few exams as possible.

A+
CCNA: Collaboration (or one of Brocade)
Security+
Cloud+ (or CCDA)
Security+
GISF
GISF
CEH (or RHCSA)
Security+
JNCIA-Junos (any other J options?)
Network+
CCNA: Collaboration (or Linux+)
MCP
Network+
Network+
MCP
MCTS: SQL Server 2008 (there must be a better option)
Security+
Security+
Network+
Security+
VCA-DCV (or Server+)
Network+
Linux+
Security+
ZCE (is there another option?)

UnixGuy

OctalDump wrote: »

..
ZCE (is there another option?)

ZCCA : Zscalar Certified Cloud Administrator

E Double U

Iristheangel wrote: »

One thing everyone forgot to mention: The chicks. Totally get them for the chicks

Scars are better. No AMF