Can too many certs hurt your job oppurtunities?

Hey guys, i'm new in the IT industry. I graduated with my BBA in M.I.S. in December and started my Systems Analyst job the same week I graduated. It's mostly just a help desk job but I get the opportunity to touch on MANY different things, not just your normal reset password/figure out why my computer is slow blah blah. The company I work for is paying for my certifications and so far in the 2 months i've been here i've knocked out my A+, Net+, Security+ and now starting to study for the MCITP/CCNA.

I have alot of downtime at work ranging from 3-5hrs a day so i'm taking advantage of that by studying as well as 1-2hr's a night when I get home. We have every CBT nugget video available at work so I just use that and order one book off amazon as a secondary study source and so far i'm able to knock out a certification about every 2-3 weeks. It only took me 5 days of studying to get a 880/900 on the Net+ right after I got my A+ lol.

I'm way underpaid right now so i'm using this year as getting all the experience/certs I can on the companies dime so when next year comes i'll be able to get a decent paying job offer. I'm worried though that all the certs I plan on getting may reflect negatively upon me though when i'm on the job hunt come December. I learn really fast and i'm pretty sure I can knock out most of the microsoft certs in 1 or 2 weeks of studying a piece. I'm really interested ALL things IT and I love studying for certs b/c even though I won't use the majority of the things i'm learning i'm still retaining that knowledge to be able to communicate in the IT world.

At my current pace I should have A+,Net+, Security+, CCNA, MCITP: Desktop Admin7, MCITP:Enterprise Admin, and some random certs i'm interested in such as citrix/exchange before years end. I have so much free time at work that i'm confident I can finish all of these before the year is out. Will this turn employers off though since i'll have all these certifications but only one year of experience under my belt? I'm not a paper cert holder, I actually soak the information in.. I just love studying for certs b/c it keeps me productive and goal oriented.

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Comments

idr0p

I think that it is fine to have alot of certs, however you will need to have the certs make sense on your resume. If you have your CCNA, RHEL etc. and they dont have jobs or interests on your resume to correspond with then they will not help as much as you think and possibly hurt you

Turgon

AlexMR wrote: »

I have a few friends who have graduated from top schools and programs. J.Ds, MBAs, M.Ds, and Ph.Ds. JrSysAdmin experience sounds like how things roll in top schools. Generally, the level required by the professors and even the methodology of the school, seems to be below what the general student population achieve by themselves esentially because those top schools admit mostly top performers who dont need a nanny to make them study...

Once again, I think the very important experience is vastly overrated. More than overrated is has to be defined so we all know we are talking about the same thing. As Warren Buffett would put it, most people "dont have 10 years of experience, they have 1 year 10 times". That is the problem with experience and that is why to MANY individuals experience is directly proportional to obsolesce.

In the same manner as experience seems to be overrated and the "1 year ten times" seems to be forgotten or even ignored around here sometimes, the education seems to be thought as the one you get in really bad schools, where you' re not prepare at all to create value and make a difference, and the experience is so mediocre that graduates end up saying one day "did i go to college to end up working on this? If I'd knew I'd saved a few years and thousands of dollars!"

Some valid points. While Im all for certification in principle you can overdo it. When I first joined certification boards in 2000 there was a signature list on people bordering on shocking. People collected the things like stamps. I got a few but was way busy collecting experience and real experience at that and I can tell you, when that is happening you just dont have time on work to study for qualification xyz, and when you do get home you are either too tired to do anything, or if you are doing anything its researching whatever you have to do to be ready for the next day to get whatever it is you are working on, installed, integrated or migrated. Often the overcertified are either unemployed or kicking back in the NOC. If you divert 80% of the effort into certs into your actual work, you peform better there and find you need far less certifications to get on in my experience.,

jakecitrix

lol yeah, some ppl with non i.t majors are doing i.t i am like wtf??? What is the point in employers wanting a degree if it is non i.t and its a i.t job ??? Is it so they can see that the person has a degreee???Seriously i had mcitp ea with zero years of exp but knew my stuff and now i am a real engineer working for a top firm

jakecitrix

i guess ppl want a degree to show that the person is educated.

jakecitrix

there r so so so so so many ppl who started in i,t without certs or experience or degreee with nothing basically really got lucky,

TLeTourneau

jakecitrix wrote: »

there r so so so so so many ppl who started in i,t without certs or experience or degreee with nothing basically really got lucky,

I have to disagree with this. I started in IT without a degree or certifications and I do not consider it "lucky". It was the result of determination and hard work that had very little to do with luck.

pham0329

TLeTourneau wrote: »

I have to disagree with this. I started in IT without a degree or certifications and I do not consider it "lucky". It was the result of determination and hard work that had very little to do with luck.

While I'm in the same boat as you (I also started in IT without any cert, experience, or a degree), I believe we are the exceptions considering the number of people on this forums who have a degree and are certified, but can't get a job because they don't have the experience.

jakecitrix

the easiest way to sneak in is if u have connections"

most of the times its who u know rather than what u know

piedthepiper

Well about a year ago I applied for a couple VMware roles, and I failed badly. I am a VCP and paid for the course myself. The stuff they were asking while only wanting a VCP I found strange.

Roll on a year later, I am a dual VCAP, I sat down and decided instead of being a jack of all trades I wanted to be a master at one. Most people don't even know the VCAPs, but the people who know...know they are an absolute ball ache to get. No multiple choice, the Admin exam is a 3 hour practical.

Behold the first job I apply for, I steamed through cos I knew my stuff. There is still loads of stuff I don't know, I told them this but every vmware technical question they gave me I answered with ease and confidence, a few I wasnt sure of but I gave my guess and discussed my answers with the manager.

I purposely looked for jobs the specified VCAPs, and they were rare. I have noticed a lot say CCNA but want CCNP level skills and the same for the VCP too. It is like they don't want to mention the advanced level certs because then they have to pay more money.

Anyway that's my opinion on things, also as he said above, knowing the right people plays a big part!

I worked for a bank and I got passed over for promotion so many times because the managers wanted to get their friends the job. In the end the only way to progress was to leave.

kurosaki00

So.... after landing a Systems Analyst job you went for A+?
Thats.... surprising....

I would say include the certs that matter to the job you're applying. No need to display them all.
Like, if you have System Analyst under experience, I wouldnt care if you have A+

Then again, I dont do hiring.

Dryst999

Haha not sure how this thread got resurrected 6 years later. If anyone is curious I obviously didn't finish the massive amount of certs I listed in my original post, I changed jobs and no longer had 5 hours of free time per day. I got A+, Net+, and Security+ in a few short months then slowly knocked out the rest of the certs in my signature over the years.

Help Desk (System Analyst) > Help Desk Manager > System Administrator > Systems Engineer > Sr. Systems Engineer has been my career path. I moved up fast to a System Administrator role and stayed there for a couple of years breaking things before moving into a consulting role. I only study for certs when they pertain to my job now; IE i'm one of our main VMware consultants so I plan on getting my VCIX (VCAP) before the year is out.

michaelwang

i think ccie is entry level if you don't have any working expreices

beads

MentholMoose wrote: »

Well put and seems correct from my experience.

Seen this behavior all too many times. Certify to verify your mastery of material you have been working with not try to use a certification to justify hiring you for a position you have no practical (paid) experience.

- b/eads

beads

michaelwang wrote: »

i think ccie is entry level if you don't have any working expreices

I think you should explain that very concept to the misguided folks over at Cisco Systems, if you would, please.

- b/eads

michaelwang

beads wrote: »

I think you should explain that very concept to the misguided folks over at Cisco Systems, if you would, please.

- b/eads

i have 2 ccie cert, voice and security, when i pass the security on 2008 i can't do any thing , you don't know what's the different 4507 and 4509, 5505 5510 5520, you don't know how to connect to the FWSM on 6500. and so on .... you only can config the device.

techfiend

beads wrote: »

Seen this behavior all too many times. Certify to verify your mastery of material you have been working with not try to use a certification to justify hiring you for a position you have no practical (paid) experience.

- b/eads

I'm starting to realize this now. I thought getting a CCNA would improve my chances of a networking position with only systems experience but it hasn't. Now I'm shifting to MCSA and hoping that will allow me to advance. Since the CCNA I've been receiving more opportunities of system positions that have light networking, it's the route I want to go anyways. I think I prefer being more of a generalist then a specialist as I like to play many different roles and get tired of the same thing quickly. When you get up into the pro/engineer level certifications is probably a good idea to have good experience to go with it.

tmurphy3100

This thread has now got me worried. I have the A+, Network+, and I got the Cloud+(through the ProctorU promo) and passed the Server+ Beta. I am taking my Security plus in 2 weeks...I know I am all Comptia'ed out.

I plan to have my B.S. by year's end and I am at my second Help Desk job. Up next is the MCSA2012 and CCNA. I want to move into a Systems Admin role then to Virtualization and then to Security. Is there something I am doing wrong?

iBrokeIT

Certifications should compliment your experience and the direction you want to take your career.

Collecting certifications just to have them is like listing the last 10 jobs you've had even if half of them were not in IT and some of them only lasted a week.. it doesn't make a better resume.

You need to stop doing a one size fits all resume after you have more than enough material to fit on one page.

Do you really think telling an employer that I have the CIW Web Foundations cert or CompTIA's retired iNet+ cert make me a better candidate for a Sr. Windows/VMware Admin position?

beads

tmurphy3100 wrote: »

This thread has now got me worried. I have the A+, Network+, and I got the Cloud+(through the ProctorU promo) and passed the Server+ Beta. I am taking my Security plus in 2 weeks...I know I am all Comptia'ed out.

I plan to have my B.S. by year's end and I am at my second Help Desk job. Up next is the MCSA2012 and CCNA. I want to move into a Systems Admin role then to Virtualization and then to Security. Is there something I am doing wrong?

Its not that your thinking is wrong its that you may need to work your way into a position from where your at. Generally, I don't see people suddenly moving from service desk to Senior Administrator with little to no experience but a few certifications. Generally, your going to be competing for very junior administrator positions first. In this case certifications mean little without the experience. Think cart before the horse analogy by stressing the BS and experience first; certificates third. Certs are nice to have but as more and more people pay for paper certificates the less exotic thus less scarce/desirable they will be.

Its a weird but tried and true law of economics.

- b/eads

ccnpninja

Turgon wrote: »

Some valid points. While Im all for certification in principle you can overdo it. When I first joined certification boards in 2000 there was a signature list on people bordering on shocking. People collected the things like stamps. I got a few but was way busy collecting experience and real experience at that and I can tell you, when that is happening you just dont have time on work to study for qualification xyz, and when you do get home you are either too tired to do anything, or if you are doing anything its researching whatever you have to do to be ready for the next day to get whatever it is you are working on, installed, integrated or migrated. Often the overcertified are either unemployed or kicking back in the NOC. If you divert 80% of the effort into certs into your actual work, you peform better there and find you need far less certifications to get on in my experience.,

agreed.
I've heard of folks who are sitting all day long at work studying for the CCIE, just to improve the company's partnership with Cisco. They do not participate in tech support or engineering simply because they still can't fit their knowledge in the real world..

kohr-ah

Get the certs that will further you career or compliment your current experience.

I am very glad I did my CCNP and I've read 5 of the books for the IE suggested reading for written but now dabble in Linux and python as I want to make myself a better engineer more than I want a better certification.

bubble2005

Read the job description and place the certs on your resume that are required. Remember, the resume is supposed to be tailored. Keep in mind the other "desirable" qualifications like MS or MBA, and XP (from your past work xp that may be equivalent to what the company wants, not you).

J.Tot

Short answer, depends.

I have 15 years experience in IT. It's fine for me to have a ton of certs.

1-2 years as helpdesk? You shouldn't have the higher level certs, if you did then recruiters/interviewers would wonder why someone with no experience has a MCSE, CCNP, VCP, iTILv3 and got them so quickly.

OctalDump

bubble2005 wrote: »

Read the job description and place the certs on your resume that are required. Remember, the resume is supposed to be tailored. Keep in mind the other "desirable" qualifications like MS or MBA, and XP (from your past work xp that may be equivalent to what the company wants, not you).

Um, yeah. ^^^^ This. ^^^

I'm quite puzzled by all the people saying "Don't get the cert, employers will wonder why, think you braindump etc". Just because you have 25 certs, doesn't mean you need to list them all. You should be tailoring your resume and cover letter to the job you are applying for. Maybe if it comes up in the interview "oh, do you know anything about x" then bring up the other certs.

There's also the reality that some people are just good at learning things and doing tests. If you are one of those lucky ones, don't forget to let your current employer know so that your career can progress and you get the complementary hands on experience.

Knowing stuff, even stuff way beyond your pay grade, isn't going to hurt you

Graduates find themselves in this kind of position all the time. Fresh out of a degree where they've been exposed to cutting edge stuff, full of ideas but land a job where they don't get to do much more than exactly what they are told. Eventually someone will trust them to do some actual work.