VMWare VCA

504tech

Is the VCA 6 exam worth it?

iBrokeIT

IMO, no. Get the VCP

quickman007

The free course on VMware's site was literally just like "This is what a hypervisor does. This is what vMotion is. This is what [insert feature] is." Wouldn't consider it certification worthy, you can Google most of that in a few minutes.

tbgree00

The problem is they charge 120 for an open book test. If you go for the VCP there's a different vSphere foundations test that is also 120. I would look into that one unless your job depends on the VCA. We actually have a role that has the VCA as a cert requirement.

joelsfood

You really have a job asking for VCA? Maybe I should put mine back on my resume.

cyberguypr

I always have a hard time seeing the value for the VCA. Unless you need it for tbgree00's open position, I just don't see it.

Having said that, IBM want's a guy with VCA, VCP, VCAP, VCIX, and/or VCDX certification: https://krb-sjobs.brassring.com/tgwebhost/jobdetails.aspx?jobId=37455&PartnerId=26059&SiteId=5016. I would love to talk to whoever wrote this posting.

tbgree00

Well if you're a CCIE wanting a Virtualization Engineer II job then go ahead

Edit: Those positions were filled, just speaking that we had it as a cert requirement.

My team's posted cert requirements were level 2 - VCA, Level 3 - VCP or VCAP5-DCA, Level 4 VCAP5-DCD.

So I guess at least one employer in the history of IT has actively looked for a VCA.

upnorth77

I only have it because they were offering it for free for a while.

upnorth77

iBrokeIT wrote: »

IMO, no. Get the VCP

The problem I had with VCP is VMWare requiring one of their certified courses/bootcamps to pass. Is that still a requirement?

joelsfood

tbgree, maybe as a side gig to pad the checkbook, but not as a main job, no.

iBrokeIT

upnorth77 wrote: »

The problem I had with VCP is VMWare requiring one of their certified courses/bootcamps to pass. Is that still a requirement?

Yes, an approved class is still a requirement which is part of the reason why the VCP is valued so much.

jibbajabba

tbgree00 wrote: »

Well if you're a CCIE wanting a Virtualization Engineer II job then go ahead

Edit: Those positions were filled, just speaking that we had it as a cert requirement.

My team's posted cert requirements were level 2 - VCA, Level 3 - VCP or VCAP5-DCA, Level 4 VCAP5-DCD.

So I guess at least one employer in the history of IT has actively looked for a VCA.

I get Level 2 / 3 ... Although could argue that Level 1 / Helpdesk is good for VCA - But Level 4 for DCD ? Don't see how a design certification can help in a support environment.

tbgree00

The job levels map really weird here. Level four is our VMware Architect. He creates/approves all the designs and the direction of our VMware environment. He plans out the upgrades, new product POCs, etc. They're using that to justify the DCD and I don't exactly disagree. It's also a way to quantify the person *should* know VMware at that VCAP level.