VCAP5-DCA now or later that is the question

I got laid off on August 30th because of budget cuts (the story of my life) from my dream job after being there for only six months. I’ve been looking for a new job; but sadly there isn’t much out there. I don’t want to just sit around and do nothing. I want to advance my career.

So I am debating about going for the VCAP5-DCA certification. The problem is I don’t know if I should do it now or later. I only have six months of doing basic and I do mean basic real world VMware experience. I don’t want to fall into the trap of getting the certification to get the experience, a trap I’ve fallen into many, many times before.

I know the VCAP5-DCA is different because it’s a hands on exam. Sadly, the VCAP5-DCA isn’t all that well known in the job world compared to VCP. I looked on indeed and there’s only about 10 jobs in the entire nation that specifically list the VCAP5-DCA (two listed the VCAP5-DCA, five listed the VCAP4-DCA, and three listed the VCAP-DCA).

So I am a little unsure about getting a certification that so few people have heard of and the fact that I have so little hands on real world VMware experience.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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tbgree00

I would hold off on the VCAP5 until you were back on your feet and had a lot more hands on experience. It's also a fairly expensive test and would take a lot of time to study for. I doubt studying for it and learning powercli would be a bad use of time though.

Find a job you want, see if you've got the stuff, and work toward that. With MCSE and VCP a CCNA would round you out, you can update your Microsoft, or you could just put all your effort into being better at VMware but hold off on the test.

blargoe

I second the notion of holding off on VCAP for now. It is a very thourough and frustrating exam, and I wouldn't recommend it without a solid year of real-world vSphere experience including implementation and troubleshooting, and basic network storage knowledge. After teetering back and forth for a year or so, it took me a 3 months of studying and labbing (average 4-5 hours/week or so) before I felt comfortable enough to take it, and that is after several vSphere implementations, taking the formal vSphere Troubleshooting course, Performance course, and already being an expert in Powershell.

Haswell

Thanks guys!

dave330i

You'll want to get Sec+. That'll improve your employment opportunity more than DCA.

Haswell

dave330i wrote: »

You'll want to get Sec+. That'll improve your employment opportunity more than DCA.

I have the Security+. I don't put it on my resume because I never see a job that requires it. The only reason why I got it was because I used to be a government contractor.

qcezwadxs

Haswell wrote: »

I got laid off on August 30th because of budget cuts (the story of my life) from my dream job after being there for only six months. I’ve been looking for a new job; but sadly there isn’t much out there. I don’t want to just sit around and do nothing. I want to advance my career.

So I am debating about going for the VCAP5-DCA certification. The problem is I don’t know if I should do it now or later. I only have six months of doing basic and I do mean basic real world VMware experience. I don’t want to fall into the trap of getting the certification to get the experience, a trap I’ve fallen into many, many times before.

I know the VCAP5-DCA is different because it’s a hands on exam. Sadly, the VCAP5-DCA isn’t all that well known in the job world compared to VCP. I looked on indeed and there’s only about 10 jobs in the entire nation that specifically list the VCAP5-DCA (two listed the VCAP5-DCA, five listed the VCAP4-DCA, and three listed the VCAP-DCA).

So I am a little unsure about getting a certification that so few people have heard of and the fact that I have so little hands on real world VMware experience.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

That's very sad. I really hope you get a job soon and a good one too.

But would you elaborate on your sentence "I don’t want to fall into the trap of getting the certification to get the experience, a trap I’ve fallen into many, many times before".

Are you saying that taking certifications and being proactive doesn't help (i.e. - working towards it when you are trying to move up)?

Thank you and best of luck.

RanMic

Sorry to hear you lost your job, that really sucks. I wish you the best in finding something soon. On a side note, I realize VMWare is what you are asking about, but have you considered your CISSP? Infosec is a big thing out there right now and more doors may be open to it vice VM. I know the CISSP is not a cheap test to take, but maybe that would one to help you advance. Regardless of what you choose good luck.