[Justa]

[relee]

So, are you Linux certified yet?

[RLK]

I don't know what to tell you in less tha 15 pages.

[ikka]

Bump for thoughts or comments. Are MCSEs worth it?

[Britton J Wingfield]

Luckily I have my A+ certification, so the world is my oyster!

[a_Turk]

Some additional cheery numbers:

Hey, no fair!

Dude. This too shall pass. Soon there'll be plenty of work in fallout cleanup.

Enjoy the lull.

[ledzep75]

I remember hearing that there were more than 1 million unfilled IT jobs in 2000 (probably just IT certification company's propaganda) If we send all of the HB1/H1B or whatever visa people back to their own country! How many MCSE's or other IT professionals do you think would be more than willing to take those jobs?

Hell, I'm willing to take one of those jobs that only Mexicans will do that Americans won't do.

[Justin Thyme]

Could be worse....you could be a CNE!! Talk about a dinasaur in the IT field.

To answer typical questions, your particular job will determine whether the MCSE (or other appropriate certification) is worth it.

If you are looking for a new job....companies look for one of two types of guys. Some experience, without cert., or certified with minimal experience for more entry level positions. And certified with experience for mid to higher level positions. Other skills such as writing, program management, project management can also greatly affect job opportunities, as well as compensation. Some companies favor veterans.

In short, it varies greatly. But all other things being equal, the person with a cert will get the job over someone without, so it is ultimately in your best interest to get some type of relevant cert.

Good luck to all!

[Looking4Truth]

IT for 20 years, screw it all, I'm opening a Harley custom shop. Sayonarra (phonetic sp so you geeks don't think I'm totally stupid (ego thang, donch'a know)) suckas!!!!!!

[Looking4Truth]

BTW KMA on your certifications. I've been doing fine with my skills.

Trouble is, billy boy forgot to include PEOPLE SKILLS in his little MCSE exams.

Been there, done that. BFD.

[Aura]

Thanks for the info Justa. My dear hubby has been an MSCE for about 4 years, and it is the best move he has made in his career. But there is a remarkable decrease in job opportunities out there for those credentials, and there really has been a massive influx of paper MSCE's in the last few years. CISCO may be the way to go.

[Ol' Sox]

Certifications are merely another revenue stream for the vendor, and a time and money trap for those who seek them. We get kids in here all the time who own nice, fresh MCSE's but have no practical skills or problem solving abilities. Like someone else said, we already had system and network engineers on staff and we sent them for their MCSEs...made no difference in their output or work ethic and they knew most of the material anyway. A waste of money from the corporation's point of view.

That said, I will sign off;

Ol' Sox (MIS, MSCE (lapsed), CLP (lapsed), CNE (lapsed))

[nina0113]

We have an MSCE who freaked that a NIC was broken because he couldn't ping the subnet mask. Yes, you did hear that correctly. That was a couple of months ago. Monday he sent me to replace another broken NIC, he had not bothered to ping the loopback. The wall jack had a loose pair.

[mafree]

Helpful article- thanks for posting it.

I can do a little bit of everything but am not certified. I've toyed with getting some sort of certification but have been unsure as to what to pursue. I've also considered getting some of the books and doing it on my own.

Do you (or anyone else) recommend some kind of Java certification? What would overall be the best kind of certification for someone who likes computers but not programming?

(IB I thought you'd be interested in this article)

[Winged Elf]

Oh, how quaint. They're basing their argument based on web statistics from a small number of online job listing agencies.

Phhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht!

[Harrison Bergeron]

The article was as tedious as the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) course I sat through for one interminable week.

There are better ways to learn how to program a router than paying someone $1000 and watching him flip viewgraphs for four and a half days. I imagine the MSCEs are just as bad. It's as big a ripoff as all those VCR repair schools that popped up in the late 70's promising ambitious young men fame and fortune in the lucrative field of... well... you know.

[Chemnitz]

Nicely done article. I want to comfort a few readers before they jump off the Bay Bridge or volunteer for Hillary's presidential campaign.

I came to Phoenix at the age of 50 with almost no technical knowledge of computers. I have combined community college courses, self-study, certification, and two boot camps for my current level of knowledge. I needed more income and flexibility.

Today someone offered me a very large sum to teach Linux/Unix courses. It would be corporate training - travel involved. This is not going to work out overnight, but I think it will be a good deal for me. What would I teach? Unix, Cisco, that sort of thing.

Whoever gave advice about training in databases is correct. That will always be a good job. A lot of women seem to take to it, also.

I am always wary about people saying a language is hot. As someone wrote, hot languages come and go. I was at one meeting where a guy bragged he would always have COBOL work. Now it is easy to find unemployed COBOL people. Y2K is past. Get over it.

Micro$oft certifications are a reflection of the company. I did some training and found it incredibly boring. I decided not to do anything with M$. I did pass the CCNA.

The two best certification tracks are Cisco and Oracle. However, I tell my students at the community college - "Be the best in your area and they will seek you out." That is what many people overlook. It does not take long to figure out who really knows something. The person with no degree and no certs can make $100,000 teaching - if he knows his material and teaches well.

The saddest case I ran into was a young man who just gave a bootcamp $7,000 to get 7 certs. (What a deal!) He did not have any idea what books he should buy to start. He didn't know where to begin. I think it was cruel to take that much cash from someone and give him no guidance.

I paid $500 for a CCNA bootcamp review. It was well worth it. The going rate now is about $3,000.

Sorry to ramble. If someone wants to be employed, I would suggest three areas for long-term job security: Linux/UNIX (fastest track right now), Cisco, and Oracle. An A+ certification is a good idea all around. I believe it is considered a basic high school diploma in computer science.

Another track to consider is becoming a master of several applications. Someone who can do Excel, Access, and Word can find employment. A real expert can deal with Excel/Lotus problems, etc. Corporate teaching can pay a lot. Some other applications worth learning are: Dreamweaver, MS Project, and PowerPoint.

Someone can specialize in graphics, PhotoShop, Adobe applications. Once again, the skilled person will find work looking for him.

My next certification will probably be Linux+ from Comptia.

[dennisw]

BTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

[BibChr]

One day, I had no MCSE.

A year later, I had one.

I got a job.

It paid THREE TIMES AS MUCH as my pre-MCSE job, glory to God.

Tell me again about what a waste that was?

Dan

[Tony in Hawaii]

Is the University of Phoenix IT degree program any good?

[SamAdams76]

I went through an MCSE program in 1998. I must say it did me a lot of good in my current job (managing a service department). Not only can my employees not bullshit me but I am pretty much self-sufficient with the NT network at the office. I run circles around the guys from Home Office that are supposed to be supporting it and have never logged a single call at the Help Desk. I can create shares, map to them, troubleshoot problems, etc.

The only drawback is that everybody at my workplace used to cast shadows in my office doorway all day long with their problems. "I can't print, I can't see the network, my mouse is frozen, etc., etc." It got to the point that I couldn't get my own work done. So I had to start playing dumb and pretending I didn't know how to fix their silly problems.

Anyway, the MCSE training was pretty rigorous. Passing those tests are not easy. I doubt that I will re-certify on Windows 2000 as I have the base knowledge to pick up on it on my own.