Where have certifications taken you?

InterestingName

After many years within the online marketing industry, in 2017 I moved into the world of Data Protection, Privacy & Information Security. My motivation was the imminent arrival of the EU GDPR (I'm in the UK and although we were leaving the EU the data protection laws were created to align with the EU) as I knew how the majority of martech & adtech providers as well as the middlemen/agencies would be unable to navigate through the new regulations so I wanted to be the first to provide help to the industry. I invested in training by obtaining my GDPR practitioner certification (which I later found out was a very expensive piece of paper that barely counted for anything - yet is still being offered as a course by education organisations!). I also took the Certified Information Security Management Principles (CISMP) from the BCS and then I completed the Prince2 certification. After these I went down the IAPP route and took my CIPP/e and CIPM certifications, and since then have worked with a handful of clients within the ecommerce retail space. 2020 didn't work out too well on getting contracts so I started reading about cloud computing and took the AWS CCP certification and am now studying for the Solutions Architect certification.

The objective is to piece all of these together in order to help organisations apply relevant technical and organisational controls when it comes information security and data protection, as well as users' privacy when it comes to personal data collection & processing, and if this involves moving from legacy on-prem systems to more agile and efficient solutions such as the cloud, then I would like to advise and work with them on migrating in a safe and compliant manner and of course bring in the appropriate technical resource where applicable (hence where the Prince2 training comes into play).

Any thoughts/comments/feedback greatly appreciated!

TechGromit

I had a co-worker that was pretty much a wiz in a application called Mercury Test Tools, which was software that did quality testing of other applications, which now is part of an HP suite of tools that do the same thing. Anyway he was working in Florida at the time earning mid-30's. He took a course and exam for a Mercury Test Tool certification a couple of thousand dollars on his own dime. His co-workers thought he was crazy, A week after updating his Resume on Monster,com, a Company contacted him for contract position they had with the Federal Aviation Administration, he ended up relocating to NJ and got a bump to 100k+. . .  

chrisone

Certs have always been a great tool in my career. Past three employers have confirmed part of their decision was based on my certs. They also were hires based on current valid status of certain certifications. 

Current employer requested status for CISSP
Previous employer requested status on Cisco CCNA/CCNP Security
Third, past employer requested status on Cisco CCNA/CCNP Routing & Switching 
Employer before the above, I moved from systems support to network administrator based on my ongoing Cisco studies. 

I am just one example but yes 100% certifications have helped me land the job. If this has any valuable input, in addition, my current employer I only targeted them and got the job. My previous employer I targeted two employers and got both jobs. The employer before that I applied for 4 jobs and I blieve I got accepted for 2 of them. 

Money wise, I have always moved up and have never taken a step back. Not stating that as a gloat or to stroke my ego, it is just data for the question asked. I would take a paycut to work for an employer I truly admired and wanted to work for.

matt333

Same for me as well, my certifications helped me get ahead of the curve when applying for a position I was interested in. It's well worth the time and effort but don't expect them to carry your career you have to be willing to put in the time on big projects and continue to learn in areas that are not directly related to certifications. 

iBrokeIT

For me, studying for certifications offer a structured methodology for learning concepts and technology.   I view certifications as marketing material for my knowledge and capabilities.  Some people are interested in it and some aren't.

The knowledge gained along the way has taken me from entry level IT to a technical security lead for a multi-billion dollar business unit of a F500 making +$100k.

Jon_Cisco

I can update my original post.

My CCNA and 2/3rds MCSA landed me a full time IT job. I prepared for a career switch for quite some time but I am now almost two years into my new career.

SteveLavoie

Usually, the first few certification have the most impact.. Be it A+, Network+, or another.. the first few certs have usually the most impact, because it helping you get notified. Then the next good certs is usually when you want to move to a new hot market niche.. by example now market is hot for Cloud and Infosec people. So getting a cloud certification now will get you more attention from HR and management.  However whatever certification you do, make sure you do it because you love it, because you love to learn, per example dont do a cloud cert because it is hot if you want to do SQL administration.

In my case, A+ helped me get notified (2002), then next important cert was VCP in 2008 (market was hot for virtualisation then), then CISSP in 2018. I got many others certifcation, but those 3 milestone are the most important.