Is there such thing as too many certifications?

A couple of points I wanted to make and of course get the forums opinion

I find that some people on here including myself feel the need to consistently go for certification after certification. Can you remain competitve in the job market and not binge certify? I did two this year and I feel like I have been slacking. Is that normal, something tells me no.

I know this is a certification forum and I am by in no way saying certs are bad or you shouldn't get them. But is it really healthy to set insane expectations to only come up short?

What are some warning signs that you may be falling in this trap?

What are other constructive ways of staying current without certifying?

Thoughts?

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Comments

paul78

You can always control the message by choosing what you share with your employer. It really depends on a persons motive for chasing certifications.

dave330i

kremit wrote: »

I agree. Spread all over the place doesn't make sense, but at the same time I don't know what that would be defined to. CCNA > MCITP:EA > MCSE > VM Certs > BS/MA CS is not spread thin to me. Network and system admins are required to know a lot. Maybe getting every cert in the world would be spreading it to thin

From my experience network people don't need to know much about system. System guys also don't need to know much about network.

drkat wrote: »

N2 - Yes I believe there is such a thing as too many certifications. If you have tons of certs from different vendors on different technologies, I think you send a clear message of "jack of all trades" rather than "Specialist" whether your certs are PMP or Security or Networking/Systems - should def stay on track

I've got certs from EMC, Cisco, MS, VMware, EXIN & CompTIA. Doesn't mean I'm a JOAT.

N2IT

Got to be careful with how much time you spend doing anything.

You only have 657436 hours of life (75 Years). If you spend 2000 hours certifying and testing you spent .3% of your life already. 20 certs at 100 hours a pop

Make those certifications count!

dave330i

N2IT wrote: »

Got to be careful with how much time you spend doing anything.

You only have 657436 hours of life (75 Years). If you spend 2000 hours certifying and testing you spent .3% of your life already. 20 certs at 100 hours a pop

Make those certifications count!

Not gonna pass too many higher level certs studying for only 100 hours.

N2IT

Fair enough

I was just having a little fun. I agree though I already have 40+ hours in RMP and have another 160 to go I would assume. Not to mention I already have 5 months of study for the PMP/CAPM.

Dave on average how many hours do you think you study per high level exam based off of high level assumptions?

dave330i

Only high level cert is VCAP5-DCD which I'm studying for right now. For it, I've read 5.5 books (~300 pages/book), watched 10 videos (~60 min each), read/skimmed 30+ pdfs (~50 pages each). A lot of it overlap with VCAP5-DCA, so its more like studying for 2 high level certs at once.

drkat

Meh

Never said it means your a JOAT, but the message sent if all the certs are put on the table. If you're a vmware professional then sure.. CCNA/Security/MS/TIA etc are relevant skill sets to compliment the VM cert.

But lets say you're MCDST, A+, N+,Server+, CCNA, MCSA, CISSP, ABC, DEF, CGI etc etc etc - and they're all over the place then that's what I'm referring to.. it makes you look unstable.

N2IT

Agreed too many all over the place looks crazy. Almost gives you a seizure

I have very few technicial certifications and part of the reason for that is because of that very thing. I already have a ton of service management and some project management certifications. Last thing I need is a bunch of tech certs shooting out in all sorts of directions. Besides my tech skills are pretty much matched up with my certifications.

Dave your assortment of certifications doesn't strike me as a JOAT.

tha_dub

If you look around at the people who are making good money almost all of them know a little bit about everything but got really good at something. Lots of people know a little bit of cisco and maybe have a CCNA but the CCNP's or CCIE's are making the good coin. Goes for pretty well anything else. Find something you like and get really good at it and get the certs to back it up.

I'm in a bit of an oppositional position to the above statement but my current job requires I work on, Avaya, Nortel, and Cisco phone and data gear. I've done formal education and certs in most areas and am now moving in a strictly Cisco direction with regard to certs.

drkat

Once I get all my certs and start making good money I'm gonna quit and live in the woods

paul78

@drkat - Is there a reason why being a joat is perceived as being less ideal? In my own experience, as I advanced through my own career, being a joat has been a lot more advantageous.

drkat

In the market around where I live, JOAT kinda kills the salary for you - I'm not sure how it is in other markets, but generally speaking when I've applied for positions and they see a boat load of skills on my resume, they're usually asking me "So you're not really GOOD at anything" type of questions and I think it leads to a certain type of perception.

I cant speak for all markets though.

paul78

Thanks for the answer. Makes sense - it must vary widely in different locales and industries. I never had any certs before so perhaps that's probably why I never came across it. It's definitely food for thought on what I would want to show on my resume.

drkat

I just started doing certs this year - but my experience was in many different areas which I think was seen as weak... by potential employers

PeterF

I'm kinda confused on whether I should get more certifications or wait. I'm a College Student (almost done!) but I'm wondering if having certifications will limit my job chances.

I'm presently certified CCNP R&S, CCNA Voice, N+, S+
I'm currently studying CCNA Security.
I wish to get my CCDA next.
* Usually as my college classes covers a specific subject I try to supplement that with a certification.

I'm thinking that I should hide my certifications like someone else suggested when I first go looking for an entry position...

paul78

Hello Peter - welcome to TE. I should clarify my comment from earlier. I don't disclose my certifications because I started to do them partly as a hobby and partly to continue with my passion for hands-on technology. Where I am in my career, the certifications are unlikely to be relevant to my day-to-day job.

The comments that the other folks shared are mostly about what certs to disclose if you are tailoring a resume for a particular job.

So - for example - since you are starting off on your career - if you want to focus on the network engineering side of IT, listing the Cisco certs should be a tremendous help to your job-seeking prospects.

Hope that makes sense.

Devilry

N2IT wrote: »

Got to be careful with how much time you spend doing anything.

You only have 657436 hours of life (75 Years). If you spend 2000 hours certifying and testing you spent .3% of your life already. 20 certs at 100 hours a pop

Make those certifications count!

Love it!