Posted on 06/20/2015 2:22:39 AM PDT by Cronos
Hi. I've been in the business intelligence/analytics business for 15 years now and I've got certifications for Oracle, Teradata, DB2, SQLServer, Business Objects, PMP but I've not really found these certifications to bring any more to my career -- neither in terms of getting a different job (though I move company only, on average 4 years), nor in terms of more money.
what's my fellow freepers' experience? Have any certifications been really useful to you, more than experience?
Oh, and I'm not talking about the learning/reading -- THAT I've always found useful, but those can be done pretty much for free, whereas certifications cost $$
I’m no expert but I think a lot of employers use those to weed out people. It might get you an interview, but that’s about it.
It would have been useful for my first or second job, but now I wonder if it makes sense to pay for this as opposed to just learning and working
Only you would know if you should invest in any additional certifications. That said, without them you do have a much more difficult to!e getting interviews when searching for a job. You need to getast the HR screeners before someone who can really assess your experience will even see your resume.
Just like a college degree, without them doors do not open. Your analysis is skewed because you already have them.
Exactly. After I left government and was trying to get into finance, the first words out of everyone’s mouth were “do you have a degree?” and my perception was that if I had answered “no” the interview would’ve been over before it ever even started.
My apologies, I really can’t type worth a damn on my tablet. let’s try again.
Only you would know if you should invest in any additional certifications. That said, without them you do have a much more difficult time getting interviews when searching for a job. You need to get past the HR screeners before someone who can really assess your experience will see your resume.
From experience I can say that not having a degree does make it much harder to get interviews. Earlier in my career it probably cost me quite a bit in starting salaries. However now that I have a couple of decades of experience, I actually make more than most of the degreed people I work with, even the ones with as much experience as me. Getting past the screeners in most major HR departments is still an issue.
Every bit of continuing education you can document add to your arsenal - it never hurts and shows prospective you’re keeping up.
I recently become unemployed 6 weeks ago and had to look for a position for the first time in 14 years...
To say the job market certainly has changed would be an understatement...
I do not have a degree and it was extremely frustrating looking at positions on job boards were I was an excellent fit based on the job description, but the degree was a requirement...
I finally added on my cover letter why I did not have a degree, but four years of night school, and I was very qualified based on my long track record of success and accomplishments in my field...
The doors started cracking open...
After I added that section to my cover letter I received about six responses and got three interviews...
I think the requirement for a BA in a lot of cases, except for STEM degrees is simply to cut down on the number of resumes HR gets...
I also figured out the cover letter is far more important than you resume' to get the HR to look at your resume' in the first place.
Cover letters need to be a sales pitch on why you will be the best candidate, not some dry summary of your resume'
I start my new position on Monday...!
CONGRATULATIONS, Popman! I’ll be thinking good thoughts about you all day Monday!
Well, thank you very much...: )
Thanks for the advice. I’ve been looking and sending resume’s out for quite a long time now. I get a few interviews but no offers.
Imho certificates are good to enhance a resume as well as to enhance one’s credentials when consulting and submitting proposals for engagements.
In my experience, in very large technical environments, people sit up and notice PMPs and Security certificates (CISSP). The other stuff is “nice” but not always seen as terribly significant achievements.
I get an average of 4 calls a day from head hunters or internal recruiters , some of them even beg. The secret for me has been experience. I started out getting that experience with sandboxing at home. for the past 25 years, I've always had some sort of low-budget Frankenstein network and mini-data center running in my basement.
I pick the technologies based on what I see listed most commonly on job boards and after a while, the rest came naturally. for instance, right now I have a full-blown VMWare cluster running at home, complete with redundant networking, fibre channel storage (SAN), iscsi storage and a simulated DR data center. I spend my free time staying sharp and tinkering with the newest trends. Certifications help when it comes to merit increases and maybe initially attracting attention to a resume, but experience trumps all. when I hire new people, the conversation tells all. Simply studying and getting certs won't get you through that with an experienced IT guy.
I have different goals though. If a company requires a college degree, I wouldn't even talk to them because it's an indicator to me that they don't even know what they need. This often baffles recruiters when I tell them that. I recently even had the outstanding pleasure of directly telling Salesforce, Angies list and Facebook dev that I would starve to death before I considered working for them. I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed that opportunity.
You will know when you are doing it right it right, you won't have to look for a job ever. They will be looking for you.
when building a resume, don't rely on your job history section to list out your individual skills. I always include, immediately after the introduction/goals section, a quick list of all the things I am experienced in. Not only is it excellent keyword bait, it offers the reader an opportunity to see what you are capable of without having to read your entire resume. If they are interested, they will continue to read.
If a company requires a college degree, I wouldn’t even talk to them because it’s an indicator to me that they don’t even know what they need.
Heh. Almost an exact quote of what I told a recruiter, replacing “need” for “want”.
White Americans have been excluded from most IT jobs for several years. Males who are in their 50’s or above will face enormous resistance. Companies just don’t want to hire Americans.
All I can say is that I chose not to get a college degree 35 years ago (for solid intellectual reasons) and I feel that now that decision is really hurting me.
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