Why would people say they don't have certs but then you find out they do?

A little back ground

I work for a company that has been bought out so people are scrambling like crazy for interviews, jobs, etc. Well one thing that I notices is people are utilizing the Linkedin tool like crazy. Well, I have received dozens of invitations just recently and notices something. People in our higher level departments have certifications! Only problem is when I asked them while chit chatting, they say they don't. This has been the case for 4-5 people so far. I am not trying to make a big stink about it, but why would you not say you had certs. It's not like these people are complete strangers, they are people I work with and joke around with. I don't hang out with them outside of work unless it's a work related function, but still...........

Have you ever experienced this. One guy has 20+ certs lol. I want to make note, that a lot of their certifcations are older ones like Windows 2000 and SQL 8i so maybe that has something to do with it.

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Comments

Panzer919

maybe their certs have expired or they just hate getting bugged about them so they deny them. I am not one to throw my certs around like some people I know. I just let them talk big and when it doesn't work right I show them how to do it and leave it at that.

tiersten

What Panzer919 said.

It could be much worse anyway. Having certs but not talking about them is way better than pretending to have a cert but not!

waves_rider

Did they just not talk about the certs or right out denied that they had them? Did these people all work in the same department? Perhaps they decided from experience that it's better to keep it quiet?

eMeS

I'm sure there's a good reason. I can give you an example that's kind of similar.

My job titles other than my current job title on LI are incorrect. Many reasons for this, one of which is that certain titles can target you for unwelcome sales calls, etc...

MS

skyline

Panzer919 wrote: »

maybe their certs have expired or they just hate getting bugged about them so they deny them.

I have a friend that achieved his CCNA and since let it expire. He is exactly as you mentioned above.

I've also worked with the opposite, guys who got their MCP and let it go to their head.

pitviper

Since there is a lot of competition for IT positions these days maybe they just don't want to show their hands?

I'm generally supportive of anyone who does anything to better themselves. Funny thing is, a lot of people try hide what they working on / studying. It's almost like they think they are "one upping" people in their own minds.

pert

If you're in a desktop support getting Cisco certs is a pretty clear indicator you want to leave your current position to anyone who thought about it for more than a couple seconds. Only other reason is if you're not qualified for a higher level position, but your certs overqualify you for positions you could actually land.

Fugazi1000

Perhaps those people aren't being so truthful on Linked-in about there certs, but have put them there to try and land a job. Somebody they know asking might lead to difficult questions (however innocent the person asking was being)......

Forsaken_GA

I don't mention my MCP to anyone I work with. I've tried very very hard to get away from having to deal with Microsoft boxes in an administrative capacity, I don't want to give them any excuse to thrust me into a role that even smells like Windows system administration.

QHalo

pert wrote: »

If you're in a desktop support getting Cisco certs is a pretty clear indicator you want to leave your current position to anyone who thought about it for more than a couple seconds.

I see nothing wrong with this. Everyone can have a goal or career aspirations. I've also never met anyone that wanted to stay in desktop support any longer than they had to.

pert

QHalo wrote: »

I see nothing wrong with this. Everyone can have a goal or career aspirations. I've also never met anyone that wanted to stay in desktop support any longer than they had to.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with career aspirations. What's wrong is that if they ever need to let someone go you will be the first. It's just the reality.

hex_omega

Some people like to be underestimated.

tpatt100

I let my CCNA expire because my experience with routers dropped drastically in the last several years. I have Citrix experience but leave my expired CCA off as well. Mostly because I keep getting calls for positions based on keyword searches.

QHalo

pert wrote: »

There is absolutely nothing wrong with career aspirations. What's wrong is that if they ever need to let someone go you will be the first. It's just the reality.

Agree to disagree.

MentholMoose

I like to keep my CCNA valid even though I don't really work with routers or switches, and will list it on my resume. I work a lot with virtualization platforms, and plan on continuing to do so, and CCNA level knowledge is vital. If you don't know what VLANs are, how to subnet, or what ip helper-address does, for example, it will be hard to work with anything more than the most basic virtual environment.

cisco_certs

I don't usually mention what certs I have or what I'm studying for at work or even show it in my email "signature" since I feel like people will think that I'm conceited of what I have. However, all of my certs are in my linkedin and I would tell my co-workers what I have if they ever ask me.

I guess maybe they just dont want you to ask them questions about those certs.

SteveO86

Could be many reasons. I may have listed my certs on my forum profile but that's about I have done to show them. I have half these certs sitting in a draw collecting dusk.

N2IT

cisco_certs wrote: »

I don't usually mention what certs I have or what I'm studying for at work or even show it in my email "signature" since I feel like people will think that I'm conceited of what I have. However, all of my certs are in my linkedin and I would tell my co-workers what I have if they ever ask me.

I guess maybe they just dont want you to ask them questions about those certs.

Your last sentence is the vibe I got when I asked. It was literally crickets, then I did a tactiful followup, which led to more crickets. I'm obviously not going to ask anymore. I appreciate all the different theories, I just found it odd and worth discussion.

Just to go back over how it went down.

1. I asked how he got into his position and he never mentioned certs. I asked him if he had one he said no he didn't. He said all he ever had to do is google it if he had a question. (I don't think he was joking, but I do that myself from time to time).
2. On linkedin he has several certifications listed. I very lightly asked about them with a follow up and nothing was ever said. As soon as I asked another question about something else, he was back involved in the conversation.

O well just found it bizarre. If someone asked me about my certifications I am more than willing to discuss them. I am proud, but mine are all in a filing cabinet, not displayed.

shon541

N2IT wrote: »

Just to go back over how it went down.

1. I asked how he got into his position and he never mentioned certs. I asked him if he had one he said no he didn't. He said all he ever had to do is google it if he had a question. (I don't think he was joking, but I do that myself from time to time).
2. On linkedin he has several certifications listed. I very lightly asked about them with a follow up and nothing was ever said. As soon as I asked another question about something else, he was back involved in the conversation.

That's because he is following the rules.

1st RULE: You do not talk about certificates.

2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about certificates.

Sounds Good

N2IT wrote: »

Your last sentence is the vibe I got when I asked. It was literally crickets, then I did a tactiful followup, which led to more crickets. I'm obviously not going to ask anymore. I appreciate all the different theories, I just found it odd and worth discussion.

Just to go back over how it went down.

1. I asked how he got into his position and he never mentioned certs. I asked him if he had one he said no he didn't. He said all he ever had to do is google it if he had a question. (I don't think he was joking, but I do that myself from time to time).
2. On linkedin he has several certifications listed. I very lightly asked about them with a follow up and nothing was ever said. As soon as I asked another question about something else, he was back involved in the conversation.

O well just found it bizarre. If someone asked me about my certifications I am more than willing to discuss them. I am proud, but mine are all in a filing cabinet, not displayed.

maybe he doesn't really have them and would be half clueless if he were to engage in conversation about that topic therefore looking unqualified

UnixGuy

My theory is that he don't want to help you. He don't you to know how he get the certificates, and he's probably afraid of competition.

N2IT wrote: »

Your last sentence is the vibe I got when I asked. It was literally crickets, then I did a tactiful followup, which led to more crickets. I'm obviously not going to ask anymore. I appreciate all the different theories, I just found it odd and worth discussion.

Just to go back over how it went down.

1. I asked how he got into his position and he never mentioned certs. I asked him if he had one he said no he didn't. He said all he ever had to do is google it if he had a question. (I don't think he was joking, but I do that myself from time to time).
2. On linkedin he has several certifications listed. I very lightly asked about them with a follow up and nothing was ever said. As soon as I asked another question about something else, he was back involved in the conversation.

O well just found it bizarre. If someone asked me about my certifications I am more than willing to discuss them. I am proud, but mine are all in a filing cabinet, not displayed.

jibbajabba

I like to hide the fact I have a Server 2008 Server Admin (MCITP:SA) and Server 2008 Enterprise Admin (MCITP:EA) .. Why ? Because I don't want to look like a fool.

I passed those exams in the beginning of 2008 and haven't even touched any active directory environment since, unless I need a DC for testing other scenarios - Exchange / SQL Mirror - and so on (which lets face it - its a next, next, next install).

I don't want people to think I have cheated because I forgot a lot - hence I prefer to only talk about the certifications I love and topics I am good at (pretty much "had to" go for those 2008 ones)

I still know a lot - don't get me wrong - but certain specifics I just can't remember plus with 2008R2 a lot more has come which weren't "there" before (Branch cache anyone ?)...

PC509

Gomjaba wrote: »

I like to hide the fact I have a Server 2008 Server Admin (MCITP:SA) and Server 2008 Enterprise Admin (MCITP:EA) .. Why ? Because I don't want to look like a fool.

Yea, they will feel more like they have a need to "test" you. Throw you into an obscure problem and if you can't fix it without research, you cheated and shouldn't have passed the exam. I feel the same way, and it's happened...

jibbajabba

PC509 wrote: »

Yea, they will feel more like they have a need to "test" you. Throw you into an obscure problem and if you can't fix it without research, you cheated and shouldn't have passed the exam. I feel the same way, and it's happened...

Glad I am not alone lol ... to be perfectly honest with you - I didn't even feel much of an accomblishment (spelling?) after passing those exams.... with Microsoft exams in general ... stupid multiple choice questions doing my head in .. I am approaching MCITP no.3 (once again, only because I got 'bribed' in doing it lol

) - but most job offers I am looking at are vSphere related (got 3.x and 4.x VCP too) - which I am really proud of ..

Although having said that - MCITP no. 3 is Exchange 2010 and I love it - second love now after vSphere ... Already deployed one live multi server deployment within a day - always nice to impress

cisco_trooper

Let's not overlook brain dumpers. Fact of the matter is there is a large population of certified folks who do nothing but brain **** exams. This creates a problem for them - they don't know what the heck they are talking about even though they are certified. I imagine at least some of these people eventually figure out they are technologically retarded for someone with their "qualifications" and find it easier to deny having the certs they didn't earn in honest fashion. Imagine a CCNA who didn't know what CDP was? This stuff happens. I worked with a guy at Sprint who couldn't draw out a physical layer diagram of 8 to 10 devices using CDP neighbors and this guy was a fresh CCNA.

jibbajabba

cisco_trooper wrote: »

Let's not overlook brain dumpers. Fact of the matter is there is a large population of certified folks who do nothing but brain **** exams. This creates a problem for them - they don't know what the heck they are talking about even though they are certified. I imagine at least some of these people eventually figure out they are technologically retarded for someone with their "qualifications" and find it easier to deny having the certs they didn't earn in honest fashion. Imagine a CCNA who didn't know what CDP was? This stuff happens. I worked with a guy at Sprint who couldn't draw out a physical layer diagram of 8 to 10 devices using CDP neighbors and this guy was a fresh CCNA.

At least Microsoft seems to START going into the right direction. Getting more scenario questions now. Also a block of certain questions where each question has the same 8-10 possible answeres with different questions.

Braindumps ruining it for everyone .. that is one of my points - I never used any braindumps but if you do say you got exam xyz and you don't know any specific spot on, you are easily classified as dumper and no one believes you that you studied for months.

I started my Exchange training in August last year (started at "0" basically) - and only now I passed that exams with endless hours of labs, reading and whatnot ..

Now imagine I don't work with Exchange for 5 years and someone puts me "on the spot", asks me about xyz and I simply forgot - what are the chances I am classified as braindumper ? 99.8%

(

Turgon

Gomjaba wrote: »

At least Microsoft seems to START going into the right direction. Getting more scenario questions now. Also a block of certain questions where each question has the same 8-10 possible answeres with different questions.

Braindumps ruining it for everyone .. that is one of my points - I never used any braindumps but if you do say you got exam xyz and you don't know any specific spot on, you are easily classified as dumper and no one believes you that you studied for months.

I started my Exchange training in August last year (started at "0" basically) - and only now I passed that exams with endless hours of labs, reading and whatnot ..

Now imagine I don't work with Exchange for 5 years and someone puts me "on the spot", asks me about xyz and I simply forgot - what are the chances I am classified as braindumper ? 99.8% (

Braindumps have been ruining it for everyone for over 10 years now. In my experience the regular posters on TE are not indicative of the wider community. People study hard, invest time and money in good study resources and have home labs. I have only met one other network professional that had equipment at home in 14 years. The dumping will continue as well all the prejudice against certification. I imagine most cert takers are dumping these days. Concentrate on learning technologies as well as you can and getting the experience you need in the field to back up what you say you know something about with an implementation in the field that validates your skills.

Turgon

Fugazi1000 wrote: »

Perhaps those people aren't being so truthful on Linked-in about there certs, but have put them there to try and land a job. Somebody they know asking might lead to difficult questions (however innocent the person asking was being)......

Lots of people lie on linkedin to harvest profile views.