Most Employer Perspective of Hiring People with Certifications

Hello Everyone,

I have a question in regarding Most Employer Perspective of Hiring People with Certifications (Regardless of Experience).

If Person A has MCSA Server 2012, RHCSA, CCNA v2 and ITIL Foundation

Person B has MCSA Server 2008, MCSE Private Cloud, CCNA v2 and ITIL Foundation

Between Person A and Person B , who have more opportunity to be hired ?

Who would be more marketable ?

Many Thanks

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Master Of Puppets

I don't think you can take experience out of the equation. What is the job they are applying for? Very few people will make that decision based on certification alone. A lot of variables go into this. It depends on a lot of things. Maybe it's just me but I can't give an answer based solely on the information provided. Also, depends on who is hiring.

paul78

Just my own perspective; I suspect that every hiring manager will have their own individualistic style which is dependent on their employer's business need. For me, certifications will not be a factor in a hiring decision. However, certifications may get the resume noticed which would lead to an actual interview opportunity.

eansdad

Ok, maybe I'm confused about the new server 2012 certs but isn't the MCSE Private Cloud a server 2012 cert?

All things being equal (exp and school), if I was a hiring manager hiring for a M$ role, then person B would be my top pick. The RHCSA says to me that that person wants diversity and if my shop doesn't have it then he might leave. Ultimately it would come down to interview though.

Crikey

I've been involved in hiring and from what I've seen, experience trumps certs almost every time. The litmus test is answering direct questions in an interview - you have to get a feel for the person as a whole in relation to your environment. Some people simply don't work well together and that does matter.

I worked with an MCSE that didn't know how to add a printer to the network.

N2IT

paul78 wrote: »

Just my own perspective; I suspect that every hiring manager will have their own individualistic style which is dependent on their employer's business need. For me, certifications will not be a factor in a hiring decision. However, certifications may get the resume noticed which would lead to an actual interview opportunity.

This has always been the case and always will. Certifications can hurt as much as they can help. Without actual data it's hard to say but I would suspect that they help more than hurt. @Crikey that's funny you mention that. I know several MCSE NT, 2000 holders who openly admit and snicker that they dumped the exams. Like Crikey mentioned they don't know how to perform any server tasks. Restart services, build accounts, join machines to the domain, etc. Just really basic stuff you could learn from Google.

instant000

Ch1326 wrote: »

Hello Everyone,

I have a question in regarding Most Employer Perspective of Hiring People with Certifications (Regardless of Experience).

If Person A has MCSA Server 2012, RHCSA, CCNA v2 and ITIL Foundation

Person B has MCSA Server 2008, MCSE Private Cloud, CCNA v2 and ITIL Foundation

Between Person A and Person B , who have more opportunity to be hired ?

Who would be more marketable ?

Many Thanks

This is too vague, without knowing the job description.

Person A is more marketable for Linux and mixed environments.
Person B is more marketable for Microsoft environments.
If the environment was heavy on networking, I'd prefer someone comfortable with Linux, so I'd probably take Person A for that, also.

It kind of depends on what roles are available in your area, though. I know of a company where Person B would be ideal for them, for example.

PKHComputing

Not sure there is any value in even thinking about this - Experience is too important to disregard.

In either case I would forget about what certifications the candidates have and start talking about their experience and what it can bring to the new role.

I have MCSA 2003 and CCNA and have found in the past that having both can work against me...on paper I look like a jack of all trades, master of none - I like people to actually meet me before they realise that is true

I have about 5 different CV templates (Networking, Server Admin, Security etc.) but tend to create a new version for each position I apply for. I always spend a lot more time on my relevant experience than my certifications.

I know that I have not really answered your question but I am trying to stress, like the others have, that experience should never be disregarded - the only people who like to do this are the people without any. If that is the case then start at the bottom and get some!

jibbajabba

If both people applying for an Exchange or SQL then probably neither gets a call. It really needs more details.

Khaos1911

There are other intangibles that companies look for. Of course, one would expect having a bachelors and/or an advanced degree in the field would give you a leg up on the competition. But I think people would be surprised just how important having a personality is, especially in corporate america.

When I interviewed and ultimately was offered a job in Information Security with a fortune 100 company, with only 1 year of infosec experience, which was a internship no less, the hiring manager said he really enjoyed my personality and that's what separated me from the bunch. I was up against a bunch of people with CCNA's/more experience and all kinds of other certs and I only had Sec+, a bachelors, and most importantly... I interview well and can be a bit of a social butterfly when I'm comfy..

I could tell my current manager was a regular guy outside of all his tech knowledge and we sort of started talking football and sports in general before the interview started, touched on tv shows, and by the time we got going we were both really comfortable and he thought that I would fit well within the Security group and would later tell me months after I was hired that the other guys/girls were all too stiff and he respected how I could hold my own on those behavioral interview questions. Dude, when I applied I didn't think I had a chance in hell of getting this kind of job, with this kind of company, and making this kind of money before reaching the age of 30.

So moral of the story, make sure "you" as a hiring candidate can shine. You're more than just some letters on some paper that you studied hard for. Being a good fit for the team/company along with a great resume/certs can be quite the competitor to the guy with just a bunch of experience/book knowledge...hey, it worked for me

Good Luck!

N2IT

Khaos I couldn't agree more it's the most important part of the interview.

Mishra

I'll answer your question directly so you can contemplate... But its shouldn't be taken at face value.

IF both people were applying to very generic systems engineering position in my line of work.
IF both people were direct clones of each other and answered questions -exactly- the same.
IF I only could choose between person A or B.

I, personally (not speaking for 'employers' as you say) would choose person A.

BUT if you add the 100,000 other variables that come into play when making a decision like this, then this direct point probably would get thrown out the window. I would be most interested in if person A/B could recite the knowledge they learned from the certification.

instant000 wrote: »

Person A is more marketable for Linux and mixed environments.

I think this is an OK point... But I'm looking for skills rather than direct knowledge so I think RHCSA shines even for a pure Windows position.. If Person A applied for my position, was able to explain all the knowledge of the RHCSA exam but told me he wants to stick with Windows, I feel like I would have a lot of respect for said candidate. Again, that is me personally which is an out of the box thinker that doesn't exactly apply to most companies.

DoubleNNs

instant000 wrote: »

If the environment was heavy on networking, I'd prefer someone comfortable with Linux

Why is that?

darkerz

DoubleNNs wrote: »

Why is that?

You use Linux far more in Networking environments because the platform itself is powerful and provides extremely useful tools for troubleshooting, configuration automation, implementation and management.

instant000

What darkerz said

TechGuru80

Master Of Puppets wrote: »

I don't think you can take experience out of the equation. What is the job they are applying for? Very few people will make that decision based on certification alone. A lot of variables go into this. It depends on a lot of things. Maybe it's just me but I can't give an answer based solely on the information provided. Also, depends on who is hiring.

Basically. It can depend on many factors. For instance, a company has a mixed Microsoft and Unix/Linux environment yet no need for cloud then A has a leg up. Maybe person A can't interview or talk to people at all so person B has a leg up. Your question is going to vary in so many situations.

It sounds like you are trying to decide what way to go for certifications? Decide what kind of job you want to have first and then go from there. I would imagine cloud will be useful in service providers and larger companies (small companies will outsource usually). Also Unix/Linux certifications don't seem to be listed as often in the U.S. when compared against Microsoft.